Archive of Our Own ^beta

Their arctic commune had been quieter lately.

Not that Technoblade minded, it had been one of the reasons he'd moved so far away in the first place. Constant snow and temperatures ill-suited for his piglin blood were things he had chosen to suffer in exchange for some darn peace, a place he could live where people wouldn't find and disturb him. As fate would have it, that wasn't exactly in the cards for Techno. Perhaps he should have expected as much, considering what terms he left on. Despite his original retirement plans not panning out though, Techno was still content with the home he had built, alongside Phil and Ranboo.

But Ranboo was gone. And the commune was quieter than it used to be.

Technoblade sped up his step whenever he passed that shack now. It felt like a stain, an eyesore that hovered at the edge of his peripheral vision and refused to be entirely looked away from. Phil and he took turns going there to make certain the animals were fed or to trade with the villagers. And for a short time, Tubbo had lived there with Michael too. But aside from that, it remained empty.

Sometimes, he would see its former owner. Much like the odd atmosphere around the commune these days, they seemed strange and hovering. Fragile, almost. Painful and raw. Boo waved at him from the window sometimes when they caught Techno's glances.

Technoblade never talked to them if he could help it.

("You're hurt," he had said when he first saw the ghost, as if that at all made it easier to bear that he had been there to see the wound inflicted. And he had not stilled Sam's hand.)

Yet life remained the same, days passed and Techno continued because it's what he did. He persisted. He survived. He found that carrying on was as easy as waking up each morning and watching dawn break over the tundra while ringing his bell to pay respects to those who had fallen. The voices were quieter too recently and part of him wanted to believe they were grieving alongside him. Chat had adored Ranboo for some reason. Almost as much as Technoblade himself had adored them.

Chat was also the one who warned him of Wilbur's approach today. Their continuous chants broken up with warnings.

One of us

E

E

Will we get lore today?

Oh, it's them

E

Aside from Niki, visitors came by his home even more infrequently now than they had before. Technoblade was weary of everybody who did go through the trouble to travel this far into inhospitable territory because they had to be dead set on their intentions - good or bad. Since it was Wilbur though, he was likely coming around for Phil rather than Techno himself. They'd lived together for a while, but Wilbur left. Something about him moving into a van? Honestly, Techno hadn't really been listening. Another side effect of how far away he lived from the main SMP was that he often didn't keep up with current events. He still went outside to greet the man when the voices told him Wilbur would be dropping by.

Their relationship wasn't hostile, but saying they were friendly would be pushing it a little. Strained might be the word Techno would use to describe it. Technoblade didn't think Wilbur was a bad person, but he didn't exactly trust him either. It was complicated.

And speaking of complicated: as he stood on the wooden porch that connected his cabin to Phil's, every exhale becoming a cloud of condensation due to the cold, Technoblade could see that Wilbur wasn't traveling alone. He had brought Tommy with him.

The sight was not surprising with how much time those two spent together, but seeing them like that reminded Techno oddly of Pogtopia - in that nostalgic, painful way memories sometimes festered. Back then Tommy also used to follow Wilbur around like a lost puppy sometimes. Though the desperation behind it was anything but adorable. Techno was not the type of person to regret, his choices were his own and he'd deal with the consequences without wondering what would have happened if he'd made different ones. But that didn't mean he couldn't help but let his thoughts linger sometimes, thinking of that ravine and to what extent he'd let his own ideals blind him back then.

Technosoft, the voices mocked him and he scoffed.

The snow made a wet noise, crunching beneath their shoes as they stepped up onto the porch. Wilbur kicked his boots against the wooden balustrade to rid them of the excess that clung to them. As if trailing it inside would be some travesty.

As Techno already expected, Wilbur came to see Phil.

A bit of a relief, honestly, since Techno had enough chores to tend to without being forced into social situations he'd rather not be in. Lately, the urge to hibernate had been sneaking up on him because the weather was turning bad. But he needed to check the turtles before he gave in. He lingered just long enough to exchange the basic pleasantries expected of him, carefully avoiding eye contact because it might invite more conversation. Distantly, he noted the worry lines around Phil's eyes eased when he saw Wilbur. Techno noticed the way Phil's gaze flitted up and down, silently assessing something. Whatever he found there made Phil happy. Techno looked away.

He wasn't planning on sticking around or eavesdropping. He hadn't planned on getting involved at all, really. But after they'd gone inside, Techno only had time to go into his own house to get his gear and his legwarmers and pull them over his hooves before he stepped back out again at the same time as the door to Phil's house opened.

Techno had been celebrating too soon, thinking he'd manage to avoid any awkwardness today. Tommy and he must have stood there in complete silence for upwards of ten seconds.

Unconsciously, Techno felt himself going through a similar routine as Phil had done with Wilbur. He hadn't really seen Tommy a lot since Doomsday. They definitely hadn't talked. Techno had heard about Tommy dying - again, he was fashionably late to receive the news because they didn't exactly get a newspaper in the arctic - and then his subsequent revival. Those were things that changed a person, Techno knew.

Maybe that's why it was oddly amusing for him to note that Tommy didn't look too different from what Techno remembered. Aside from the strange white streak in his hair (another trait shared with Wilbur. Techno couldn't help but wonder if Tommy was happy about that, collecting any similarity between them like badges of honor to be paraded around. As if it was some great blasphemy to a universe that hadn't made them related despite how clearly they should have been), Tommy was the same. The same too long blond hair, the same cornflower blue eyes with bags beneath them, the same too thin frame as if the kid barely ate, the same shitty red sneakers that got soaked in the snow and soft cardigan not suited for this weather.

Techno could trace every scar on Tommy's face and know its origin. Even if he wasn't there for them, Technoblade was too experienced with war wounds to not know from a glance which were burn marks half-healed and which was a sword coming a bit too close to severing an artery. Tommy had a cut on his eyebrow, just the smallest of little white lines, mostly faded.

His own hands had done that, grappling in the ravine's pit. Technoblade would never forget.

"What are you staring at me for?" Tommy asked. His voice had risen a bit in anger, affronted by Techno's gaze being stuck on him. But mostly he just sounded tired.

Technoblade could relate. He was downright exhausted himself.

Snapping out of his own musings, Techno chuckled a bit as he looked away to check the legwarmers again, though it lacked real humor. He'd rather have the braces attached properly before he'd get caught knee-deep in the snow and lost one while trudging around. Chat would never stop making fun of him. "You're on my porch, so it's kinda hard not to look at you."

"Well, cut it out. It's fucking creepy." Crossing his arms, Tommy leaned back against the balustrade. As if Tommy's stress wasn't clear in… pretty much everything else he was doing, he was also tapping his foot insistently. Techno remembered that particular habit from back when they lived together.

The whole situation with Wilbur must be about ten times as hard on him.

"Tommy, why are you out here?" Techno asked. Satisfied with the leg warmers having no chance of slipping loose, he straightened his back. "Unless you fancy freezing to death."

"Wilbur wanted to talk to Philza by himself," Tommy answered. There was something about the way he said that. As if the very thought pained him. As if he was being shunned from yet another important conversation, another decision he couldn't be a part of.

Techno glanced at the cabin. He had no idea what was being discussed in there, but it wasn't his business and Techno didn't know if it was Tommy's business either, but it probably should be. With a shrug, he checked that his sword and pickaxe were in place. "Well, I would invite you inside, but you know… I value my gapples a bit too much to risk it."

Tommy blinked at him in surprise at the joke, before breaking off into a short but genuine laugh. "Oh, fuck you, man. Fuck you!"

"I'm just sayin'!" Techno raised his hands in defense. "I'm not taking any chances."

This was good, right? Make a joke, lighten the mood. Techno wasn't good with people, sometimes he didn't know if he did things right.

But it was better than having Tommy all sulky.

Technosoft

The child is back!

E

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And he pretends he doesn't still care?

E

This was going to be a long day with Chat mocking him every breathe, Techno could already tell.

"Now I'm definitely getting in there and stealing them," Tommy threatened. "Say goodbye to your gapples, asshole."

"Nah, nah, we're not doing that." When Tommy pretended that he was going to try and run past Techno, the man caught him by the arm. Tommy flinched a little and stepped back, and Technoblade let go quickly, acting as if he hadn't noticed. If Tommy knew he had, he didn't let it show, playing it off with a continued grin.

"Whatever, I don't want your damn gapples anyway. I can get my own."

"Yeah, I'm sure you have a whole stack of your own stashed away somewhere," Techno shot back sarcastically. He took two steps down the staircase then stopped. "Are you coming or what?"

"What?" Tommy echoed immediately, making Techno smirk. Sue him, it was a little funny.

"I need to check the turtles. Are you coming with me?" he asked.

The fact that Tommy hadn't expected him to offer was written all over his face, but to his credit he recovered quickly enough. "Beats standing around here," he said. Instead of getting off the porch normally, Tommy jumped down the wooden steps, which led to him almost slipping and falling onto his butt. Techno shook his head.

The Arctic was quieter than it used to be. And perhaps some part of Technoblade had missed the noise.

"So, Wilbur huh?" Techno ventured as they started making their way to the turtle farm. He was almost instantly grateful for those legwarmers because the snow reached up to his calves and was a pain to get through.

"What about him?" Tommy said, sounding a bit suspicious. Techno frowned. He didn't think he was doing anything wrong just by asking.

"You're, uh… hanging out a lot? He's doing okay?"

At his genuine curiosity, Tommy's face softened. "Oh, yeah, he's doing- he's working on it. We've been spending time together a lot, it's been nice. Like the old days."

"The old days, hm?" Techno couldn't really tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Tommy didn't hesitate to enlighten him.

"You know, before all of this-" Tommy gestured around, and Techno knew he meant the server as a whole rather than the tundra they were currently in "- went to shit. When things were like, simple, I guess?"

"Can't say I remember things ever being simple."

(He remembered being paranoid and alone and hated for a crime he hadn't wanted to commit, hand forced by another. And then he remembered them taking all the things he had worked for, turning around and ignoring his voice, then fighting him with that same gear.)

"Oh, bullshit. Pogtopia was pretty simple, you just farmed potatoes for twenty hours a day and slept for the other four. It was insane." When Tommy spoke of that time, it was with an almost smile. As if it was a fond memory rather than a cutting one. Techno envied that, a little. "You used to fall asleep standing up, do you remember?"

"Can't say I do," Techno lied.

Liar

Technodeceit

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Is that called trauma suppression? /s

L

"Tubbo found you like that once, you were standing up and leaning on the hoe like a weirdo, he took a picture and everything!" Tommy insisted.

"Pics or it didn't happen," Techno said.

Tommy made a face that was so funny Techno was almost sad he didn't bring a camera himself. He'd never seen somebody look so downright insulted. "I literally just said there's at least one picture of it."

Techno didn't grant that with a response. He preferred this atmosphere they had going on now, light and casual. There was a time when hanging around with Tommy always felt like this, but that had long since been wiped away. Maybe it was selfish of him to pretend they could emulate that.

Maybe Techno was just tired of the fighting, honestly.

"What about you, big man? How have you been doing?" Tommy asked next. He skipped ahead in the snow a bit, watching his own footsteps make a trail. Techno dragged his own legs because it would tire him out less quickly. And the legwarmers meant it didn't matter if he got covered in sleet up to his knees. He only had to raise his tail so it didn't get stuck in the snow.

"I've never done anything in my life," he said at first, only because he knew it'd be annoying to the kid. True enough, he got Tommy to stick out his tongue in response. "I'm good," he added with a chuckle.

Tommy nodded to himself. "Just good?"

"Just good," Techno agreed.

(Techno woke up every day. Ranboo was still dead. He rang his bells and did his chores. People didn't come to visit him as much anymore. When he was done he read or slept or did whatever he needed to do to get the rest of his time filled. The shack remained empty.

Techno was content.)

"Man, since when have you been this boring?" Tommy complained.

"Since I moved into the middle of nowhere to stop people from asking me annoying questions." Techno was not the person of myth others often gave him credit for. It was kinda amusing they still didn't get that.

"Yeah, sure. That's why you're collecting potion ingredients. Because you're so boring."

Tommy was probably only saying it in jest but Techno hummed his agreement. "Boring or not, you never know when there's another nation that needs blowing up."

"When there's another nation you feel deserves to be blown up?" Tommy said sharply. Techno stopped walking.

"Last I remember somebody else pulled the trigger." Or pressed the button, he should say.

Wilboom

Are we still bringing this up?

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That's forever ago

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Boom

Guess he's still salty

"That doesn't make what you did okay," Tommy said. He had also stopped, turning around so they could be face to face.

Techno's claws dug into his palms. He really didn't desire to have this conversation again. There was a lot he could say, every single thought of it burning on his tongue as if it would scald him if he threw them out there. Each one more unnecessary than the next.

But there was only one thing he could say, wasn't there?

"It doesn't."

And no matter what Tommy was expecting, it clearly wasn't this. His mouth already halfway open in retort snapped shut so quickly Techno wondered if his jaw ached from it.

"But it still happened," Techno continued. "A lot of things happened and I'm getting kinda sick of talking about them when nobody's listening."

"I'm listening right now," Tommy said and it made Techno laugh, sardonic humor at this statement not concealed at all.

"You've never listened to me," he said bitterly, "not without only hearing what you wanted to hear."

(When Tommy left him to fend for himself against the crowd, Techno wished he could have been surprised. Or insulted. Or maybe even prideful that Tommy thought so highly of him, that the idea that Techno would be scared when alone against a dozen people wanting his head would not even make him flinch.

Really, Techno could only feel vindicated. Because part of him knew this would happen from the start. People only stuck around as long as they needed him, right?)

Instead of backing down, Tommy took a step forward. Every gesture, every inch of him appeared to Technoblade as if he were being sincere. "Right now, right here then. I'll listen. Try me bitch!"

(The houses that you burnt were my home, that expression said. Justify it to me.

And Techno couldn't, because it had never been about justice.)

Stunned into silence, Techno leaned back onto his hooves a bit. "Okay…"

Tommy made no move to interrupt him. That had to be a first.

"You might not want to believe me, Tommy, but I had a reason to do the things I did. That wasn't just me having a field day." Prime knew that others would credit him for craving violence like a feral animal.

Blood for the blood god, Chat mused as if to disprove his point. But if Techno was completely stuck to their will, he wouldn't be where he was today.

Tommy nodded. "Just because you had a reason also didn't make it okay," he said after a moment.

"Nah," Techno agreed. "That's the thing about people, right? Just because you have your reasons to do the things you do or say the things you say, that doesn't mean you're not going to hurt others with them. That's bound to happen even if it's not your intention. That's what sucks about human nature, after all."

("I'm a person too." His throat had been raw with it, torn open. No matter how much he screamed, it never got further than this dark pit in his gut.)

"And for what it's worth, I'm sorry I hurt you," he said - and meant it. "But I won't be sorry for making my choices, no matter if I would make them again or not. Because they have already been made."

There was no going back, only learning from your actions and making changes based on that. He had a group of people he trusted, and whom he wanted to protect. He had the idea that maybe, they could make a difference if they worked together.

As they continued walking, Tommy didn't say anything. Techno had no idea if his words had hit home. But he could hear Tommy trailing behind him, feet dragging in the snow.

The turtle farm had been left unattended for a while. Techno always hated to make the trip over when it was blizzard season, and he knew he should motivate himself to make the effort more often but as long as he kept up the weekly visits it was probably fine.

Still, there was a lot of snow… basically everywhere.

Cringe

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L

Yeah that's your own fault lol

Poor turtles

E

With a sigh, Techno got to work. "Are you going to help or are you just going to stand there," he asked Tommy, who was lingering at the side watching him go at it. "I remember you being pretty good at this."

Tommy stuck out his hand reluctantly. "Give me a shovel."

They cleared the snow out in record time. Tommy was quiet throughout it, face scrunched up in concentration as he methodically shoveled snow into the corners and pressed it tight to form little snow walls. Or maybe he was thinking about what Techno had said. The turtles slowly crawled around their feet, grateful for every square inch of sand that was cleared up for them. Techno hadn't thought the logistics through when he made the farm here, part of him always thought the turtles would die from the cold. Which was the main reason he didn't want to grow attached to them, no matter what Chat said. Toby was the only turtle Techno had ever bothered naming, and unlike his hounds, he couldn't tell them apart.

He collected the eggs when they were done. Tommy looked at him, wiping the sweat off his forehead. Combined with the freezing arctic wind that was sharp enough to cut even through Techno's multiple layers, it left Tommy shivering a bit. Despite the noon sun shining down on them it was never really warm this far up north.

Cold, Chat told him helpfully. They might think Techno was lacking eyes. Even a blind person would be able to see Tommy was cold.

He knew they wanted him to do something about it.

Help

Shoat

He's going to freeze after all

Good riddance

Shoat cold

Technoblade would hate to imagine what Tommy would say if he knew Chat considered him a shoat. They couldn't exactly help it, since it was more so Techno's own instincts that would register Tommy as such and they were merely singing along to the same harmony.

But he could already hear Tommy complaining about definitely being a big man.

Still, he reached up to unclasp the cloak around his shoulders. Techno would be able to stand the cold without it. Yes, he was a piglin but he'd become so accustomed to this climate he was almost better adjusted to it than some humans were. His clothes were definitely more suited for it, furlined to keep the heat in and with a water-resistant coating. He'd be fine.

Tommy went completely still when Techno draped it over his shoulders.

The kid swallowed, hard. "What are you-"

"You're shivering so hard I can practically hear your teeth," Techno said. He kept his tone lighthearted, trying not to put any weight behind the gesture that Tommy wouldn't want there to be. Techno giving him his cloak didn't need to mean anything.

Or more accurately: if it meant anything to Techno, that didn't make it mean anything to Tommy either.

"It's not that cold," Tommy bit back. Techno wondered - not for the first time - if it ever got tiring being that darn stubborn.

"Well, if you don't want it." He went to lift it back up but Tommy quickly grasped the edges of the cape, fingers curling in the red fabric and pulling it down over his shoulders protectively.

"I didn't say that." The way he hunched down made him look even smaller.

Tommy had always been on the lanky side in his physique - much like Wilbur, yet another way those two resembled each other. But when he stood like that he seemed so tiny it was almost ridiculous. Piglins did not age the same way as humans and no matter how much Techno's mind screamed at him that Tommy was practically an adult now, it was hard to see him as such.

Techno had already turned away, giving the area one last check to make sure they'd got it all covered before heading back home when Tommy spoke up again.

"Thanks." His voice was small, so he could play it off as a cough if needed. But Techno didn't want him to.

"You're welcome."

"And… I'm sorry too. About all the shit that happened."

Techno almost cringed. He hadn't quite coped with the whole emotional talk thing earlier, he didn't want to return to that topic. "You don't have to be sorry, Tommy."

"No, you were right. I don't think I regret anything, really, but… I also hurt you. And for what it's worth I'm sorry about that." Having his own words echoed back to him was almost funny. Awkwardly, Techno nodded.

"Uh, yeah… thanks?"

"You're such a jerk!" Tommy said suddenly. When he lifted his head, his cheeks were a bit red. To Techno, it was impossible to tell if the reason was the cold or embarrassment. He'd like to think it was the former, just for his own peace of mind. "Here I am trying to be sincere and you're just going to brush me off?"

"I'm not-" Techno cut himself off, throwing his arms up in exasperation. "What do you want me to do, throw a parade?"

"I don't know what I want you to do," Tommy admitted desperately. When he looked at Techno again his eyes were a bit wider, a bit more upset. "There's you and there's Wilbur and there's Tubbo and Ranboo is-" Tommy cut himself off there, unable to continue.

They were friends too.

They had been friends.

"Everything got really hard when it used to be so simple," Tommy said. He pulled the cape around his shoulders even further. "And I don't know how to fix this anymore."

"You can't," Techno said.

He hadn't meant it as a bad thing but Tommy still looked at him as if Techno had physically punched him.

(The pit wasn't an arena. The ground was too rough with ravine stone and the walls lacked any rafters. There was no referee to call it quits and all Techno wanted was to find a place for his anger to go so it didn't burst inside him like those fireworks had. He hadn't cared. None of them had cared, or at least they had pretended they hadn't when others asked.

That was the last night Techno had felt safe among those who were supposed to be his friends)

"But-"

For somebody who put up a whole argument about not being listened to, Techno was doing a lot of interrupting today. He figured he had an excuse though. This was something Tommy really needed to hear. "Sometimes you can't fix things. You just have to learn from them and move forward."

Tommy grimaced and looked away. "What if I don't know how to do that either." There was snow stuck in his hair. He was going to get sick if this continued. Techno's instincts hummed.

He cleared his throat. "It's fine so long as somebody takes the first step right?"

And Techno could not keep the moral high ground if he refused to listen to his own advice. That would just be cringe, right?

E

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Very cringe

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Oh finally

Like before, Tommy's entire body practically froze up when Techno touched him. But instead of letting it stop him, Techno awkwardly pulled the younger boy closer. As far as hugs went, it was a bit skewed and a bit clumsy and Techno thought Tommy probably hated it. Techno definitely felt like he should.

(He didn't though. Not really.)

"What are you doing?" Tommy asked, voice half-smothered against his shoulder.

"I'm painting a fence. What does it look like I'm doing?"

"It looks like you're trying to hug me but you're, like, extremely bad at it." Except even as he said it, Tommy's arms came up to cling back and he buried his nose somewhere in the crook of Techno's neck though he had to stand on his tiptoes to do so. His skin was cold.

But between the two of them, it felt warm.

"Is this moving forward?" Tommy asked.

(Tell Tommy I hope that he finds what he's looking for, Techno had written in neat cursive. Back when he didn't think he was headed off for certain doom but he had to consider the words he'd want to leave as his last if he did. Part of him was always mournful that those they were meant for never got to hear them.

Maybe he'd just have to learn to speak them out loud.)

"Nah, we're pretty much standing completely still." Tommy laughed. Techno could feel it against his chest. Then the kid kicked him, just to be petty about it but he didn't mind that either. "It can be," he added. "If you want it to be. And if you don't eat all my gapples again, because we're going straight back to being mortal enemies again if you do."

"You're such an asshole," Tommy said again. Like he had a dozen times before. But the words were slightly undercut by him only hugging Techno tighter. As if now that he'd finally allowed the embrace, leaving it again would be impossible. "I'd like that. I'd like it to be moving forward."

Tommy sighed into his chest. Then he shivered again. "Especially if it means I can crash at your place because I'm fucking freezing out here."

Lmao cringe child can't stand the cold

Weak

Shoat

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Technosoft

"I guess I'll allow it." When he placed his hand on Tommy's shoulder, it almost but not quite felt like it belonged there. He knew that in due time, it would. "You can come home, Theseus."

And it didn't quite sound like the old, simple times again either. But maybe it was something close enough so they could work towards it.

There weren't many things worse than being woken up from hibernation.

Though, if Technoblade hadn't been on the cusp of waking up anyway, then the howling outside wouldn't have done the trick. Somebody could probably drop a bomb on the server and Techno would be able to sleep through it when he was hibernating. That was one of the reasons why he didn't give in to the urge often, or waited for Phil to be around.

The wind slammed fiercely into the outside of his cabin, the familiar noises of creaking wood and air forcing itself through the little holes in the floorboards was louder than usual. Probably a storm then, but one that had mostly passed and was unleashing its final moments of fury. Louder than the storm still was the howling, swallowed up by the wind in such a way Techno could have mistaken them for being one and the same. The few odd barks caught between the whining told him differently.

It was his hounds.

Techno rolled over, grunting at a sharp stab of pain in his frontal lobe. Did he mention waking up from hibernation was the worst? His body needed some time to catch up, every muscle pulled down by lethargy while his brain struggled through the heavy lingerings of sleep to function properly. The dogs barked louder. They wanted to be let out, probably.

If he went back to sleep, Phil would take care of it. The old man must be out on an errand, but he was aware of Techno's hibernation so he should have been taking care of the animals and chores for a couple of weeks already. Phil would be back soon and let the dogs out. And maybe he'd come up to check on Techno too. That'd be nice, then Techno could get Phil to grab him food and stuff, he wouldn't even need to get out of bed.

E

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Technolazy

Bruh making them wait is animal abuse

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Dogs are better than sleeping

E

Oh right, he forgot about Chat for a moment. Silly him.

They were always quieter around hibernation (maybe they slept too? Techno certainly never asked) but if there was one thing guaranteed to get them jolting to attention again it was the dog army. Ugh, there went any hope that he could get back to sleep.

The voices did not take pity on his annoyance, noticing his wakefulness as if they could read Techno's mind. They couldn't, he was quite sure of it. But they had some sort of awareness that wasn't worldly. Not that having a choir of observers in his head could ever be worldly by any stretch of the definition.

"I'm getting up, I'm getting up," Techno grumbled - getting loud jeering and cheers as a result. Some of them seemed to be trying to mimic the sound of bells and that made him smile.

Pulling his heavy body from the blankets and already shivering at the cold, Techno forced himself to stand on wobbly legs. He wasn't in top form right after hibernation, though that didn't stop Chat from making fun of his unsteady gait. Some of them were crying for something else though. "I thought you wanted to see the hounds?" Techno asked. Their yelling couldn't agree.

He walked over to the bell that sat next to his ladder.

"Just a little bit then," he hummed. "If you overdo it I'm waiting another week."

Eagerly, the voices agreed. They promised to be good, as if they hadn't promised that a million times before. They were liars, all of them. Techno picked up the hammer anyway.

The first ring was light and echoed around the cabin pleasantly, a soft vibrating chime that arrived in Techno's still sleep-muddled brain just right. He would almost call it pleasant, even. Pity that Chat had to ruin it with their yelling. Despite them breaking their promise, Techno kept sounding the bell a few minutes more, hoping it would keep them calm after he was done. The last thing he wanted was them heckling him when he was still in post-hibernation mode. It always took a while for him to fully mentally shake off the deep sleep.

Physically too, Techno was a bit more shaky than usual as he climbed down to the living room. He was dizzy and slightly nauseous. Not eating much for over a week ironically had the opposite effect, making his stomach cramp unpleasantly at the thought of food. The wind had died down to an ambitious breeze and the hounds were still howling. Techno put on his thickest clothes - another effect in the direct fallout of his hibernation was that he didn't deal with the cold as well anymore - and headed outside.

The sun was sitting low in the sky, indicating it was late in the afternoon. That lined up with Techno's assumption that Phil wasn't around because he was running errands. Techno saw that the snow in front of that cabin was freshly disturbed, a mound pushed up against the railing by the door opening and closing repeatedly.

(He didn't check the shack. Techno never did anymore.)

"I'm on my way," he said mildly, either addressing Chat's continued screaming for him to hurry up and get to the dogs already or the dogs themselves. Several of them were jumping up against the fence eagerly, tongues lolling out in excitement. Animals always seemed happy to see him, unlike people. Techno couldn't imagine why.

Doggies!

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Look at their little snouts. Pet them!

YES

E

Oh yes petting time

I think they want out

Techno walked over to the gate into the doghouse, reaching over and pushing several overexcited hounds aside that were already nipping playfully at his fingers. It was kind of preventing him from pulling on the latch.

"Yeah, I'm letting you out. Calm down."

Chat made fun of him for talking to his pets but little did they realize it was better than talking to them. At least Steve made him feel like he was having a constructive (if one-sided) conversation once in a while.

"There we go." After a few more seconds of fumbling, he managed to grab the iron and pull it up, stepping aside so he could open the gate. An avalanche of fur and claws poured out of the enclosure, knocking Techno over. Normally he'd not be floored by something like that but again: hibernation wasn't great for his balance.

Grasping onto his moment of weakness, he got a face full of dogs for his trouble. Techno pushed off the one that tried to lick into his mouth, at least. He might be a pig, but that was just gross. "Shoo, off with you!"

After grabbing the fencepost Techno managed to get himself upright, brushing the snow off and quickly looking around to make sure nobody had seen that little mishap. Not that anybody really could have, Techno would know. He left the commune more infrequently than Phil did. There was never anybody around.

Niki visited even less than she used to. Techno did not have it in his heart to hold it against her and a bigger part of him understood why. Ghostboo had found something interesting in Snowchester to occupy themself with. Techno wouldn't remember the last time he had seen Wilbur.

(The dogs barked so loud that he couldn't hear the voices. Or maybe that was just an excuse.)

With no destination in mind, Techno started walking. When he took the hounds on a walk normally he'd do so while going to check on the turtles or maybe gather some resources. He didn't feel like going very far today though, not with the heavy cloud of hibernation looming over him and dragging down on his shoulders. Vaguely, he wondered if it would be an option to go back to sleep after this but somehow he doubted it. Once Chat got this restless it would be hard to calm them down again. He might need to file that one under lost causes.

Eh, Techno could move up the schedule for his next hibernation. Not like he had anything better to do.

He went as far as the plains over the hill next to their commune. From up there, Techno could look all the way to the ocean. It was a nice view, and while it hadn't at all played into his reason for building his cabin there - no, back then Techno was only concerned with getting away from those that harmed him. He did not have aesthetics on his mind, but defensibility and escape routes. He wondered when that changed - he'd come to appreciate it in time. The way the light reflected on the frozen waste and choppy waves had some melancholy to it. It itched the part of his sensibilities that cared about poetics. The part he didn't often indulge because this server had proven over and over it valued the sword over the pen.

Maybe Techno should get back into writing?

E

Technonerd

Focus please

They found something

E

Nerd

E

What's that? :0

WAIT IS THAT-

Techno whistled for the dogs to return but they didn't, because they were stubborn and did not like adhering to what was convenient for others. They'd found a mound of snow to mess around with and didn't want to give it up. Techno was planning to be patient and wait for them to grow sick of it until he spotted a flash of bright red among the white.

That… that wasn't normal. Had the dark shape he could see vaguely in the distance been a shadow or a boat? Somebody who had crossed the ocean to get to their cabins, but got caught in the blizzard on their way?

As fast as his wobbly legs would take him, Techno stumbled down the hill. He almost face-planted several times but nobody was around to see, least of all the person the dogs were busy digging out of the snow pile they got stuck in because they weren't moving. Which - really - if Techno thought about it for more than a second he could realize that was definitely a bad, bad sign.

Then he got closer and saw who it was that had fallen unconscious at his doorstep. And things instantly got a whole lot worse.

E

ITS THE CHILD

Oh not again

E

E

I can't believe Tommy's back

Techno couldn't believe it either.

He hadn't seen or spoken to Tommy since the short and awkward visit back when Wilbur came around. It had been a good conversation overall, he wouldn't deny that. There might have even been some hugging involved. They weren't really friends again though. They were passable acquaintances at best.

And there Tommy was, left for dead in the Arctic, with Techno looking down at him. He couldn't believe it.

But it didn't really matter if he believed it or not because Tommy was curled up rather pathetically in the snow and pale as could be. Considering he must have gotten caught in the storm, it was a miracle he was alive at all. The dogs were licking at his face and bouncing around him, oblivious to the fact that their keen sense of smell has managed to save a life. Techno shuddered to think what could have happened if he'd turned over and gone back to sleep. If he had decided to wait for Phil to let the dogs out.

They would be digging a corpse out of the snow.

E

E

If you wait long enough you'll also be digging a corpse out of the snow

E

Shoat cold

Shoat hurt

Ignoring the fact that his instincts decided this was the moment to pipe up again, Techno quickly came to his senses and bent over so he could scoop Tommy out of the snow. The boy didn't have a ton of body heat left but was alive if the moving of his chest in shallow exhales was anything to go by. His skin was cold to the touch, making Techno flinch a bit.

As Techno trudged back to the cabin, he hoped Tommy wouldn't accuse him of kidnapping or something after this.

Obviously, he had to be on his way to the commune to begin with. But Tommy wasn't exactly known for his sound decision-making or common sense. If this got spun into Techno being a bad guy for trying to help out, he'd be pretty pissed off.

"I only want to make sure this guy doesn't die in my front yard, Chat. That would lower the property value worse than the cobblestone towers did."

E

Technosoft

Aw, the denial is so cute

E

E

Take care of the shoat now o/

E

The warmth inside the cabin bit at Techno unpleasantly. Prickles danced along his nerve endings. One of the dogs had followed him inside, Techno didn't bother putting them back in the paddock. He closed the door with his hoof and contemplated the ladder.

On one hand, he didn't know if he wanted to put Tommy in his own bed. It might be a bit weirdchamp, to be honest. And also climbing up there with Tommy's lanky dead weight over his shoulder sounded like a bad idea. On the other hand, because of his recent hibernation, his room was the warmest in the house. It was all set up to stay that way for a prolonged time comfortably. So probably the best room in the cabin to recover from hypothermia.

After a few moments of hesitation, Techno decided that screw it, if Tommy was going to get angry at him for saving his life he could do that later. Techno was not going to be held responsible for that crap. Awkwardly, he managed to haul Tommy up the ladder without braining him on the wooden rungs. Techno's bed was a mess, so Techno just kinda dropped Tommy in there and folded the blankets closed after removing the kid's soaked mittens and coat, calling it a day when he was done.

There, good deed of the day all taken care of.

Techno had checked Tommy over for any signs of frostbite but found none, so that was a good thing. All that needed to be done now was wait for him to warm up. Maybe make sure there was soup in the house or something? Sick people liked soup. It was extremely likely that Tommy would get a cold after this. If not pneumonia.

E

E

You could give him a hug to share body heat

E

LOL

Yessss snuggle time

E

Will it be as awkward as last time though? I cringe at secondhand embarrassment kekw

Techno raised his hand as if to physically wave away Chat's less than helpful suggestions. "He's fine, Chat. He's going to be fine."

At this point, Techno didn't know if he was trying to convince them or himself.

He looks so tiny like that though

E

We could just kill him

E

Omegalul

Why would you even say that

E

Shoat small

Shoat very cold

Take good care of shoat

Techno couldn't remember the last time his instincts were this loud. They often felt sharper around hibernation, a vague itch that settled in his hindbrain and that he rarely gave into. He probably should more often since ignoring them wasn't exactly healthy, but Techno had never been a shining example of good self-care. It had taken a lot of convincing for him to hibernate semi-regularly and not just wait until his body started to shut down on him.

It was hard though, with Tommy all curled up like that. Techno stubbornly pressed down the chuff building in his chest and turned around.

Well, maybe a tiny bit would do no harm.

Techno owned surprisingly little gold for a piglin. The gleaming metal was appealing to him, it called to him with cravings of home and safety and sounder that he hadn't related to since he was a shoat himself, crawling along the netherrack looking for food. When it came to combat practicality though, gold was one of the softer metals. It didn't come close to the protective qualities of netherite or even diamond. Most of Techno's gold came in the form of jewelry - pieces he never parted with.

Gingerly, Techno removed all of it except for the crown.

Then he laid them out on the bed, encircling the sleeping Tommy with them. He wouldn't go as far as to actually put them on Tommy - if he did that he would never see these items again. The little gremlin would just steal them. But it made his brain buzz pleasantly seeing the light catch and give the scene before him an aureate glow.

E

E

Shoat safe

Shoat taken care of now

E

What are you doing?

At times like these, it was disconcertingly hard for Techno to keep his instincts and the voices apart.

Did Tommy need anything else? Warmth was the important thing, right? Rest? Food. Maybe Techno needed to get food for Tommy. Gapples would be good, gapples would make Techno feel less frazzled probably.

Gapples for shoat

E

E

Oh he's not doing great

E

Shoat cozy

E

Technosoft

Techno struggled with the latch on his chest before managing to open it with clumsy fingers, disappointed to only find a single gapple in there. The rest should be downstairs. He huffed and climbed down the ladder again, almost falling down because his head hurt so much.

Right then was when the door opened, making Techno hiss at a cold gust of air. Phil had to press his back into it behind him to close it again. The storm had picked back up, Techno could hear it rattling against the windows. "Oh, mate, you're up."

Too busy looking through his storage to answer, Techno offered up a small grunt in greeting. Finding those gapples suddenly felt like the most important thing in the world to him.

"Did you eat yet?" Phil asked, not taking his silence as a bad thing. Not yet anyway.

When Techno ignored him to continue looking, that's when Phil got concerned.

"Techno?" A hand landed on his elbow, trying to gently steer him over to the couch. "How long ago did you wake up?"

"A while," Techno mumbled, reluctantly letting himself be led into sitting down. "I had to let the dogs out."

"You could have waited until I came back." Phil frowned, reaching over to press the back of his hand against Techno's face. "Yeah, you're freezing. You shouldn't go outside when you're fresh out of hibernation, mate."

"They were barking," Techno offered meekly. Phil wouldn't push the issue. As annoyed as he was at Techno putting himself in harm's way, he also realized it was pointless to chide him. Techno was his own person, he was going to do what he wanted to anyway. But that wasn't the more pressing issue at hand. "We found Tommy out in the snow."

And that clearly did catch Phil off guard. "You what?"

"I think he was on his way here but got caught in the blizzard. I, uh, I put him in bed. He's upstairs."

Phil blinked dumbly. "Is he okay?"

"I tried," Techno said.

E

E

We took good care of shoat

God this is so lame

E

Shoat has gold

Shoat is warm

Good care of shoat

E

He blinked and Phil was gone. Going by the noises, he was upstairs. Techno must be more groggy than he realized if he missed Phil climbing the ladder. He tried to stand, muscles aching with the strain. Ignoring his body earlier was coming back to bite him, hm? He sunk back down.

"Did you cover Tommy with gold?" Phil asked, already coming down again.

Techno nodded. "I was trying to help."

"How exactly was the gold supposed to keep him from freezing to death?" Phil prodded, amused. If they hadn't been best friends for literal decades, surely Techno would be embarrassed. As it was he simply shrugged.

"I was going to get him food next."

"You really suck at taking care of sick people, hm?" Phil chuckled. Techno glared at him, putting what little energy remained him into fond anger. Chat praised him for his effort in trying to look after the shoat, but if Chat thought he was doing a good job that was definitely a bad sign.

"I'll look after him," Phil said. "You should eat something too and get some rest."

"I'm perfectly capable," Techno insisted. A statement that probably would have done more to be convincing if he wasn't saying it while melted into the couch.

"No, you're a stubborn bastard. And the last thing I need is two patients." Phil looked at him. "I'm glad you found Tommy." There was something there, hesitant and fragile.

Phil had spent some time with the kid but Techno couldn't exactly define a relationship between those two anymore. If he were to guess, it was the same as Tommy and himself. Horribly complicated.

"Yeah, me too," he said.

Techno didn't protest a second time when Phil told him to stay seated and eat. He had some carrots while waiting for Phil to make stew, actually. Stew would be good for Tommy. Techno remembered Tommy used to like it when he added potatoes.

"Oh, hello!" Ghostboo floated into his field of vision. They hadn't knocked, they never did. And since they were incorporeal they kinda could just go and come as they pleased.

(Chat fell very, very quiet. They always did when Boo came around.)

"Hi Ghostboo," Techno greeted.

"You're here," Ghostboo said. Almost sounding surprised that they would find Techno in his own home. "I came by before and you weren't here."

"I was asleep," Techno told them. Did Ghostboo remember that he hibernated?

Probably not because a pale face craned to the side unpleasantly, Techno imagined he could hear every creak of that bent spine. "That's good. That you're here, I mean."

"How so?" Techno asked.

"I've been trying to find people lately but finding people is hard. I can't find some people anymore."

Swallowing uneasily, Techno gestured with his carrot. "Well, I'm right here. So is Phil. And Tommy, actually. He's upstairs."

"Tommy's here?" Ghostboo spun in a small circle before Techno could get to the end of his sentence. "That's great, he was one of the people I couldn't find. I was getting worried. I thought he might have left, like Wilbur."

"Wilbur left?"

Phil was staring at Ghostboo in what Techno could only describe as vague horror. Wilbur must not have told him. He hadn't told any of them.

(He probably told Tommy. That might be why Tommy was on his way to the commune.)

"He went far, far away. So far that I don't think we can reach him anymore." Ghostboo hummed. "He really needed to leave, I think it was good for him. Not very good for everybody else though."

"He didn't tell me he was leaving," Phil said, a little choked.

Techno got up. "Phil-"

"No, it's fine, right? Wilbur's an adult." Phil turned around so he could continue stirring the stew. Techno didn't need to see his face to imagine the strained smile that had found a place there. "He can do what he wants, I'm glad it's good for him."

Techno opened his mouth, but words fell awfully short. And Phil would not appreciate him mentioning it anyway. So he bit his tongue and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I think I'll go check on Tommy."

He wasn't feeling completely like himself again, but Techno needed to escape the stifling awkwardness that had fallen over the room. So he curled his hands around the wooden rungs and pulled himself up. He hadn't picked up any more gapples but that was fine, he could just-

"What the heck?!"

Tommy flinched badly enough that he banged his head on the top of the open chest he was digging through. Him falling back with a pained cry and grasping the red mark that would become a serious bruise soon was enough vindication for Technoblade.

He wished Tommy hit his head every time he tried to steal something. That'd be the only way to get rid of that nasty habit.

"Dude, what the fuck?" Tommy yelled at him as if Techno was the one at fault here. "Don't fucking scare me like that."

"Seriously?" Techno said. He climbed the rest of the way up. "I take you into my home out of the kindness of my heart and you repay me by yoinking my stuff?"

"I was just looking for food, I'm starving," Tommy complained. He showed no signs of suffering any ill effects from the hypothermia at first glance, aside from the worryingly pale pallor. Also, before Techno could answer he was already stifling a cough into his elbow so. Probably sick, then.

Techno did not listen to Chat this time. They didn't know what they were talking about.

"Phil made stew," he said simply. "You're welcome for me digging you out of the snow, by the way."

"I'm not thanking you before I get something to eat," Tommy said abrasively. "No point in me not freezing if I'm going to die from starvation in your cabin anyway." The way his nose scrunched up at the accusation was all too familiar.

Techno didn't know if he should be glad or not that all the tense, emotion-laden stuff from last time was something Tommy clearly didn't want to mention. He had no particular desire to get back into that either but…

But maybe him opening up his house was enough.

"Get down there then." Techno nodded at the ladder. "Also, you're sleeping on the couch tonight. I don't want your disgusting germs in my bed."

"What germs?" Tommy asked - then sneezed. Techno scowled. "I'm going, I'm going." Holding his hands up in defeat, Tommy slid past him and to the ladder.

He did not ask about why Techno would let him stay or the silent implication that it could be a while before he left again. Techno did not mention the last time Tommy crashed at his place and all that it led towards.

Neither of them said anything about Wilbur, nor did Phil as he smiled brightly at seeing Tommy up and poured them both stew.

There were probably a lot of things none of them were saying.

But the cabin was warm and the storm outside raged on. The wind whistled along Techno's floorboards again, his head pounded with the echoes of his hibernation not fully cleared up. He could do with some quiet.

Though he also knew well enough that with his new roommate, quiet was going to be harder to come by than ever.

Tommy had been living in the cabin for well over a week before the subject of Wilbur leaving got brought up again.

Techno was fairly stressed about it - or as stressed as he usually allowed himself to become about anything. Overall, he considered himself to be a practical person and concentrated on whatever was in front of him. There was no use worrying over things he couldn't reasonably control.

But Phil was on edge too. He had questions that went without answers, festering inside his ribcage. Tommy was the only one who was there when Wilbur left, so he was the only one who could say what exactly happened. Techno knew Phil well enough to be able to tell how much the uncertainty was killing the old man. Techno also knew Phil was not going to pry. He was going to stew in it like he always did. And if they had to wait for Tommy to share on his own accord, they'd probably be waiting until the Nether froze over.

Techno wasn't one to prompt difficult conversations though, especially not with a sick person. The pneumonia he had predicted Tommy would catch from being stuck in a snow drift never came, though he did feel under the weather for a couple of days. So for that time, Techno was happy to ignore the elephant in the room and concentrate on making sure the blizzard hadn't done any significant damage. Getting distracted was good. He didn't need to ask about Wilbur.

That didn't really help with all the other aspects of the situation which stressed Techno out.

Tommy was in his house. He was eating Techno's food and occupying Techno's couch and there was something there, settled at the periphery of his mind. Forgiveness was a far cry from forgetting. Techno was just good at pretending he'd moved past things. He didn't know how Tommy felt about it either, so that was… fine.

Tommy seemed to have bigger issues anyway. Techno could sense it in every breath. He could feel it in the way Tommy insisted on coming with him to chop wood or how he'd practically glue himself to Phil's side whenever the avian dropped by.

E
E
Separation anxiety
E
He's like a puppy now
E
I think Wilbur leaving really messed him up
Lol
E
Just get rid of him

Techno swallowed around Chat's chanting and continued shoveling the snow that had piled up in front of Carl's stable. The horse exhaled a warm puff of air against his cheek, pressing its snout into Techno's shoulder. Maybe he could sense the stress basically dripping off his owner.

"Catch!" Tommy yelled, seconds before a snowball hit Techno in the back of the head.

"Seriously?" Techno asked, half turned around already. Tommy had the decency to look a little bit regretful.

"You told me to clear the snow," he said.

"With a shovel, not your hands."

Tommy shrugged, bending down to make another snowball. Techno knew where this was going. But the paddock was cleared enough anyway, so he didn't really mind. They could goof off for a bit. Meanwhile, Chat urged him to start an all-out snow war.

E
E
Destroy the child
E
GG EZ
Blood for the blood god
E
Kill him /j
E
Blood for the blood god
Snow for the snow god

It was tempting enough. It wouldn't even be a challenge to kick Tommy's butt.

Before it could get that far, Phil touched down between them. The snowball Tommy had just chucked at Techno knocked into one of Phil's wings. The appendage twitched slightly, feathers wet with sleet. They'd recovered well from the explosion and Phil had only started being able to use them again for short flights since a couple of months ago.

Tommy laughed at Phil's deadpan stare.

"What are you doing?" Phil asked.

"We're shoveling the snow," Tommy said before Techno cleared his throat to correct him.

"I'm shoveling snow. Tommy is not doing that."

"You're not being very pog right now," Tommy accused. He walked over to the fence, leaning against it dejectedly at having his game so rudely interrupted. Techno could never figure that kid out, his mood seemed all over the place.

Ghostboo was floating in front of their house, petting one of the cows that had strayed out of the farm. The fences were starting to degrade, but Techno hadn't found the energy to fix them yet. He still gave Ranboo's old house a wide berth.

"Ranboo! Hey, Ranboo!" Tommy waved excitedly at the ghost. "How are you with snowballs? I bet we could 2v2 these pricks."

Phil made eye contact with Techno, the grin on his face betraying more amusement than annoyance at Tommy's attitude. And maybe a tad of maniacal glee.

One didn't challenge Philza 'Angel of Death' Minecraft to a fight unless they had a death wish.

Techno put his shovel against the side of the stable, gave Carl another quick brush through his mane, and then walked over.

"Oh, I wish," Techno heard Ghostboo say when he got close enough to understand the ghost's muttered words. "I'm afraid snow is… It's no good. No good for me."

"It burns you?" Phil asked, a tad of sharpness in his voice.

"It burned Ranboo too," Ghostboo said. "This burns differently though. I think it burns less, but that doesn't mean I want to go rolling around in it. Dying wasn't fun the first time either." They smiled, the corners of it stretching their cheeks.

There was a beat of uncomfortable silence during which even Tommy seemed to fall uncharacteristically quiet. Techno wouldn't be able to tell what he was thinking.

E
E
Missing Ranboo?
Missing Wilbur I think
E
So no snowball fight? :(
E

"I shouldn't have brought them up," Ghostboo said suddenly. "It's my bad for bringing them up."

"Bringing who up?" Tommy asked. He was looking ahead so intently, that Techno could only see the side of his face.

"Ranboo!" Ghostboo shifted in the wind, a movement so close to the nervous jitter of their alive counterpart it made Techno uncomfortable to watch. "I know you guys miss them so I'm trying not to mention them. Sometimes I think it'd be better if I didn't bring them up at all. Or maybe it'd be better if I wasn't around as much."

"Of course we miss Ranboo. That doesn't mean we mind having you around," Phil said quickly. His voice had an almost monotone quality to it, strained.

Techno was unpleasantly reminded of watching Phil interact with Ghostbur back in the day. Something so artificial and fragile about it. The tired bags beneath Phil's eyes and the forced nature of his smile when he assured Techno he was fine.

It was fine. All of them were fine.

(All of them were pretending this was fine.)

"It really fucking sucks we can't just find Dream and beat him up until he gives us the revival book," Tommy said casually. His eyes were a little too wide, too desperate.

Techno didn't like it.

"We might not need the book," Phil said.

Surprised, Techno took a step forward. His fingers curled around Phil's elbow automatically. Phil patted his hand twice.

"Just something I've been working on. I'll tell you about it later."

"What the fuck does that mean?" Tommy complained. The fact he didn't immediately jump into badgering Phil until he told them was pretty telling though. Tommy had become remarkably good at being kept out of the loop, and Techno didn't mean that in a good way. Perhaps it was just another evidence of Wilbur leaving his mark.

"If you bring Ranboo back, maybe you should look into bringing Wilbur back as well," Ghostboo said. "I think people would like that. They've been asking about him."

"Who has?" Phil inclined his head.

"Hm, lots of people. Quackity and Niki and that guy with the serious face that I don't like."

Techno crossed his arms. "You're socializing with Quackity?"

"I socialize with everybody! I'm different from Ranboo in that way." Ghostboo seemed a little proud of that fact.

As if there was some happiness in defying expectations. Techno would never quite get the hang of this whole 'ghosts not being the same as their living counterparts' thing. He missed Ranboo.

"I don't think Wilbur is ever coming back," Tommy said. He waved his hand dismissively, completely missing how Phil's back straightened at his words. "He was pretty fucking happy never to see us again."

"Did he tell you where he was going?" Phil asked.

And there it was. Tommy looked at them as he leaned into the fence more, making Techno happy that he had made it pretty sturdy. Phil was waiting, hoping. He had that look on his face like he didn't quite know if what he was about to hear would hurt, so he was bracing himself ahead of time to be sure.

"Some place called Utah," Tommy said. "You know he took me around first? He told me he wanted to do better and he apologized to all these people. Like he wanted to make things work out." Tommy scowled at the memory. "And then he just like, got on a fucking boat and went off. Didn't even matter to him what I thought about it." A small pause, a shaky exhale. "He's a fucking prick for that. Making me think he was getting better."

Tommy hitched a breath, rubbing at his eyes with the sleeves of his cardigan. The fibers were frozen and clumped together. They didn't properly wipe away the tears.

"I really thought he was fucking getting better," Tommy choked out.

(The 'I'm such an idiot for thinking that' was silently implied, Techno could tell.)

Phil reached out a hand to grasp Tommy's shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "I thought so too."

For a moment, Techno felt horribly awkward for standing there and watching it go down. Like he was intruding on an intimacy he shouldn't be. Wilbur and he had never been as close. Close enough for Techno to care, close enough for betrayal to sting. But not this.

Ghostboo hovered sideways, oblivious to the weird tension in the air. But maybe that was a good thing, as it prompted them to change the subject.

"What's Utah?"

"I think it was a place on SMP Earth," Techno said.

"Wait, WHAT?!" Tommy reared back. His eyes were still wet and puffy from crying, but apparently what Techno said came as a surprise to him.

"It is?" Phil asked. He also didn't remember.

Techno knew studying those maps every hour of the day would come in handy.

"Yeah, not sure where though."

"Wait, what's SMP Earth?" Ghostboo asked.

"Another server." Techno's fingers tugged on the clasp holding his cloak closed, the blazing sun symbol crafted out of gold and beset with sapphires. "Phil and I used to pretty much own the entire place."

"We ran a little faction called the Antarctic Empire," Phil said with a mischievous glint in his eyes. He dropped his hand from Tommy's shoulder when it was shrugged off.

"Last I remember your little faction was disbanded for war crimes," Tommy laughed. "Unlike Business Bay, the coolest nation to ever exist."

"We managed to sway the judges." Techno shrugged.

E
E
Man, that's so long ago
E
ANTARCTIC EMPIRE NEVER DIES
E
Good times, good times
E
Wilbur went to fucking UTAH?

Yeah, Techno was wondering about that too. He thought the entire server was taken out of commission. Maybe Wilbur knew something they didn't.

"If you used to run an empire, isn't that a little bit hypocritical for a literal anarchist?" Ghostboo asked sincerely. "No offense."

Tommy smirked as if this was the first time this particular contradiction was brought up to him. "Hey, yeah! What the fuck, Techno?"

"People can change their minds," Techno said smugly. He knew the non-answer would piss Tommy off and that was good. Getting Tommy heated was better than having him sobbing.

Besides, the true reason - that experience was the best teacher and it's exactly because Techno has known firsthand the damage of tyranny that he knows the importance of anarchy - was probably not half as interesting.

The last thing he needed was to start a political debate with Tommy.

Tommy opened his mouth, no doubt primed to sling some other witty retort his way (sarcasm on the witty part) but was interrupted by a snowball hitting him in the face. This time Phil was the assailant.

"SMP Earth is where I got my nickname, remember." Phil was already rolling up another round of ammunition. "Are you sure Bussiness Bay wants to challenge the Antarctic Empire again?"

Techno was no idiot. He could tell what Phil was doing.

Since he had even less of a desire to process his emotions - not to mention Tommy's emotions - than Phil did, he wasn't going to intervene.

E
E
I think that's called avoidant behavior or something
E
Blood for the blood god
Antarctic Empire ftw!
E
They just need to ignore the Wilbur thing I think
E
No emotions pog

Chat could think about that whatever they wanted.

"You're on!" Tommy said - instantly intercut by another one of Phil's snowballs nailing him in the forehead.

(Ghostboo watched them, silent. The entire commune had felt so quiet for so long.)

And if afterward found them sitting on the couch, one of Phil's wings draped over Techno's shoulder and the other around Tommy who was lying against Phil's side soundly asleep, as Ghostboo petted Steve and listened to them recount more stories about the Antarctic Empire in the glory days, then Techno could find peace in that.

He didn't know how long this would last. He had seen the unrest in Tommy, the itch in Phil's desire to fix things. This might only be the beginning of something else entirely. Something none of them would ever be ready for.

But that could be fine too.

It didn't feel half bad to fall asleep to Tommy's soft snoring and Phil's voice speaking about snow-peaked palace walls and laughter ringing across a bridge - simpler times.

Technoblade waited two whole weeks before confronting Phil about his weird behavior.

It wasn't something he enjoyed doing. Overall, one of the reasons their friendship worked so well - aside from things like shared interests and common goals and a history together that had irrevocably tied their past and future into a knot - was that both Phil and Techno had a very acute awareness of their respective needs for independence. Phil had his own things going on and Techno had his. Whether they shared those things, good or bad, was always a choice.

They shared more often than they kept things to themselves, spoken about in quick words exchanged on the porch before going off for the day or relayed in great detail while drinking tea on the couch in the evening. But whenever one of them did decide to hold onto a secret, it was always because of reasons that had nothing to do with trust. When Phil didn't tell Techno something, it didn't feel like a betrayal. They just could be comfortable having their own lives run parallel to each other and intertwine when wanted, not because of obligation.

But Techno had to draw the line somewhere. Phil's safety was a hard line.

Also, focusing on that was easier than focusing on Tommy still living in his cabin.

Things had been… fine, really. Everything was quiet and mundane and mind-numbingly domestic to the extent that Techno was starting to second-guess retirement. Sometimes he wondered if it would be worth it to move back to Hypixel for a while. Leaving the server behind and finding some excitement sounded like a two birds with one stone deal. Chat liked the idea, but they liked any idea that would lead to more bloodshed. Techno didn't crave violence, he just craved not having to be confronted with Tommy's strange mood swings and jumpy behavior and blank expression when anybody so much as breathed Wilbur's name within earshot.

He couldn't change the things that had happened. Techno couldn't do anything about the past.

What he could do was confront Phil and figure out why he'd been burning sage and oakwood relentlessly for the past three days straight. The smoke was messing up Techno's windows.

"I think I have a way to bring back Ranboo."

E
E
Wait is he for real?
E
Phil killed Dream and stole the book lol?
Ranboo pog
E
Nice

Techno shook his head, though as usual, it didn't really clear it of Chat's insistent nagging. It might be closer to a physical tic at this point. There were a few different questions he could ask. What he settled on eventually was, "Without the book?"

"Without the book," Phil confirmed. "Dream isn't the only one who can mess with the powers of gods."

"Sure," Techno said. It's not like he wouldn't know, being connected to a deity himself and all that. But raising the dead was another matter entirely. That went above what most gods were capable of. Most, except maybe one or two. "You've asked Kristin?" he realized.

"You know how I told you I was having a hard time contacting her?" Phil asked. "Turns out the connection was fine, there was just some kind of… I don't know what to call it. Like a fucking interference on the line?"

"Weird," Techno said. Despite being the Blood God's conduit, he wouldn't pretend to know much of the other gods and their chosen ones. His own bond had never wavered, so whatever Phil was talking about had never occurred for him. Maybe it had something to do with the server specifically?

Infinite respawns but three impactful deaths that could kill you permanently… Techno always found that to be rather fishy. No other server he knew operated like that.

"It doesn't really matter. I've figured out how to circumvent it," Phil said.

"So you've been burning crap and lowering my property value to talk to your wife," Techno drawled. "That's great, Phil."

The joke drew a smile from the other man. Techno wouldn't voice out loud how relieved that made him. Between Tommy's behavior and Phil's weirdly glum attitude ever since Wilbur left (hidden well, but if anybody could see through Phil it was Techno), it was nice to see him grin so sincerely.

"Your property value is already shite, mate. You've got ghosts living across the road and cobblestone towers in your yard."

"I keep telling Tommy to knock it off."

E
E
He started again huh?
Thought we got rid of that
E
Isn't that good? He's back to his old self?
E
He likes Techno again
E
Techno likes him too

Techno absolutely did not like Tommy. He didn't trust Tommy. He wasn't Tommy's friend.

"So did Kristin tell you how to bring people back from the dead? That's pretty pog," he said. It hadn't really sunk in yet that this meant they could bring Ranboo back. Or it had, but how he felt about it was delightfully delayed.

Techno wasn't entirely sure how they'd go about this development either way so he would gladly shove any emotions connected to it into a box to concentrate on other things. He was fairly good at that.

"She can help us do it," Phil said. "If I can work out a way to fully summon her. There's a lot of materials that are hard to come by."

Oh, now they were going to summon the goddess of death. Sure, this could be Techno's life now.

Through the cabin's window - slightly obscured by the dense smoke of burning sage that lingered against Phil's ceiling - he could see Tommy. Not building a cobblestone tower. It would have been better if he was. No, he was sitting on the fence of Techno's doghouse, staring into the distance. The direction of the prison, of L'Manburg. The direction of Ranboo's shack, too.

"What do you need?" Techno asked.

---

"How much further is it?" Tommy complained behind them.

Techno sighed, hauling some of the wood higher up onto his shoulder. In the ideal world, they could have left Tommy home for this. But even a blind person would have seen them prepare for the ritual, so Tommy started to ask about it and Phil had told the kid exactly what they were planning. Predictably enough, Tommy wanted to be involved.

It's not like Techno actually cared whether Tommy was around or not - No, Chat, it wasn't like that. It really wasn't. From what he could put together though, what they were attempting to do would be pretty risky. Techno was worried about the distraction.

E
E
Or worried about Tommy?
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Are we at the point where he'll admit that yet?
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I miss wilbur :(
E

"Just over here," Phil said, indicating a clearing a little way ahead of them. They were surrounded by trees on all sides. Phil had told them that Kristin's connection was more powerful in these woods. They were grown from her influence.

(Techno hadn't really noticed the random forest that had spawned around their commune seemingly out of nowhere. In his defense, he'd spent three months in prison and things had been pretty hectic since.)

"There's nothing here?" Tommy asked as they came to a stop. The snow was deeper, reaching up to their ankles. Nobody on the server would venture this far. Hopefully, that meant they wouldn't be disturbed.

The only person who knew what they were doing was Niki. Phil and Techno had informed her as a member of the Syndicate and as a friend. A friend of Ranboo's too. She did not have time to join them for the ritual itself but was both worried for their safety as well as pleasantly surprised at the prospect of having Ranboo back.

Techno didn't know if it was unfair to her, to get her hopes up. What if this didn't work?

"There's not supposed to be anything here, Tommy." Phil dropped his bags against a tree. "We need to get stuff set up. Can you get a fire going, Techno?"

"On it." Techno started to pile the wood they had brought, with bundled-up stalks of sage and lavender in between the branches. Phil was directing Tommy to collect some of the larger stones around. He laid out the items from his bag: totems of undying, emeralds, Ranboo's memory book…

Techno had gone and got it from Ranboo's shack. He'd had to riffle through Ranboo's stuff to find it - an action made slightly more awkward with Ghostboo watching him.

"Are you getting Ranboo back?" they had asked. "Is that why you need his stuff?"

Techno had nodded, grabbing the book from where Ranboo had left it buried beneath some supplies. He hadn't cleaned his home before being thrown into the prison, clearly. Techno didn't open the book to read it.

"I'm glad. You guys all want him back."

What would happen to Ghostboo - Techno didn't know. Using the revival book had killed Ghostbur. Or… send him away? Techno had no clue if this ritual would do the same on Ghostboo. He didn't think it would make a difference in their decisions.

When the fire was burning strongly, Phil started throwing some other stuff in it. They were powders of mixed-up ground and minerals. Techno had helped him farm netherrack, obsidian, and a bunch of other stuff. Phil had taken apart some chunks of their table in the Syndicate room too. Turned out the material it was made of came from Kristin's domain.

Techno placed an eye of ender in the middle, watching the glassy texture blacken and scorch.

"Stand back for this," Phil warned. Techno did as he was told, not much feeling like being vaporized by the Goddess of Death by accident today. He pulled on the back of Tommy's shirt to get the kid to keep his distance also. As tempting as it was to let Tommy suffer the consequences of his poor choices.

Despite how long Techno had been friends with him, he had never seen Phil invoke his patron before.

It was nothing like how Techno spoke to the Blood God. Every deity had its own rites, after all. So it made sense that Phil had to call upon his wife in a unique way.

While they watched in silent apprehension, Phil's words made the smoke bend and twist into strange shapes. His eyes seemed alight with a purple glow, though the concentrated expression on his face did not betray any pain. Techno trusted more than anything that Phil knew what he was doing. But as the very heat was sucked from the air around them through the cold touch of death, it was hard not to feel a trickle of anxiety.

Then that melted away when the smoke revealed the figure of a woman.

She strode forward with such joviality, immediately rushing to enclose Phil in her arms. The traces of decay hung heavily in the air and on her skin, yet it felt like it suited her, almost. Her grin was easy and kind. She held Phil's face and kissed his lips.

Techno would have loved to give them a moment to reunite - he did understand Phil did not get to spend a lot of time with his wife and all, seeing as they were from different layers of existence - but that was rudely intruded upon by Tommy loudly pretend-gagging next to him.

"Oh fuck, get a room you two!"

Techno snorted a laugh, breath coming out in a quick puff of white due to the cold. It made Phil pull away with a cackle and a few muttered curses under his breath.

"Hello Technoblade. Hello Tommy," The Goddess of Death - known to those who had the privilege of actually interacting with her as Kristin - looked at them. She grinned slightly at Tommy's expression. "I wish I didn't see you again so soon."

"What?" Tommy's frow burrowed. Phil waved it away.

"I'm afraid we don't have a lot of time for conversations. How long will you be able to remain?" He held Kristin's hands in both of his own, reluctant to let go even while rightfully pointing out they should be getting down to business.

"Long enough for this to work." She pulled away, looking around at the clearing. "I see you've got everything sorted. That should save us some time." She pulled her skirt up over her ankles so she could walk over to the items laid out and pondered them for a moment. Then she picked up the memory book and one of several totems. "So who is going to do the retrieving?"

"The what?" Tommy asked loudly. How lost he was with the situation would be comical if only Techno wasn't equally confused.

"We were on a time crunch so I didn't have time to really explain how this would work," Phil said.

"Ah, right." Kristin picked up something else from the pile. It was a netherite sword. One Techno hadn't seen before. "Well, simply put, one of you will have to die."

"Bruh…" Techno did not like the sound of that.

E
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TECHNOBLADE NEVER DIES
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Not it!
E
Kill Tommy then
E

"Die?!" Tommy repeated. "Fucking- What?!"

"Only for a little while," Kristin assured with that same smile. Like this was not a strange thing to request at all. For her, it might truly be the most normal thing in the world. "I cannot go into limbo to retrieve souls. But I can send one of you there. All you have to do is find Ranboo and bring him back."

"And you've always just-" Techno gestured vaguely with his hands, "been able to do this?"

"There was a lot of preparation, some conditions that needed to be met." Phil stepped forward. "We're not doing this lightly, Technoblade, trust me. But it will work. I'll go and-"

"Nah," he said. Phil blinked, perplexed.

"What?"

"You're not going." He stepped up to take the book and totem from Kristin's hands. "I am."

Phil didn't ask why. He knew Techno too well for that to be a mystery. He only nodded. "Okay."

"Are you being fucking serious right now?!" Tommy asked. Techno had half a thought that he might be trying to hide his panic over this entire plan under a veneer of anger to not let it show how scary this was for him. And despite not being very frightened by the thought of death itself, Techno could understand how for Tommy, this could put him on edge.

Just not enough to let it actually influence his decision.

"Yeah, it'll be fine. In and out of limbo, right? I've done it before." He held up the totem, the gold warm in his hand. Small gleaming emerald eyes stared back at him. "No big deal."

E
E
But Technoblade never dies?
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Techno dies sometimes I guess lol
E
It's fine, we trust Phil

Chat was right. Techno did trust Phil.

"We don't have a lot of time," Phil repeated. "Kristin?"

"Right." She stepped forward with the sword in her hand. "I'll give you a quick rundown of how this works. I'll have to kill you, but instead of sending you to your own limbo, I'm sending you to Ranboo's. That's what we need the book for, so I can form a connection. When you find him, make sure to touch him in some manner. Then when I activate the delayed totem it will bring both of you back. Simple, right?" Her lack of worry was a little reassuring. Though maybe Kristin wasn't worried because she couldn't die.

"I think I can manage," Techno said.

"Be quick about it," Kristin warned. "Time might pass slower on the other side, I can only keep the totem's powers at bay for a handful of seconds. So you don't have much time. Do you understand?"

Techno nodded. "No dilly-dallying. Easy."

"Good. In that case-"

"Oh hey guys!" Connor pulled on the rope in his hands, dragging along a very unwilling pink sheep that didn't look very keen on being in these woods. Animals probably sensed death even better than people.

"Connor?" Phil asked. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Oh, I was around. You know. Just around." He tugged on the rope again. The sheep made a choked sound but trodded after him into the clearing, hooves dragging in the snow. "Saw you guys headed off into the distance and thought 'Hey I wonder what those guys are up to!'"

"We're kind of doing something important here," Techno said. He still had the book and totem in his hands. Kristin held the sword. Connor did not seem fazed by the display.

"Yeah, you're bringing me back right!"

"What?!" Tommy's vocabulary was pretty much reduced to only that word and curses.

"You're bringing me back from the dead? Because Wilbur killed me and that wasn't very cool of him." Connor indicated the large gap in his chest. Huh, now that he mentioned it, he was a little pale. Techno really should invest in getting a newspaper delivered because he missed half the crap that happened on this server.

"We're not- We're working on bringing Ranboo back right now," he said. "Do you mind?"

"Oh no, you can just bring me back after." Connor knelt down to pet his sheep, sitting down in the snow. He didn't seem bothered by it. Maybe not all ghosts were affected by water the way Ghostbur and Ghostboo were.

"We don't really have time for this," Kristin said after clearing her throat. "Techno, are you ready?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. So what do I do?" He caught Phil moving behind him from the corner of his eyes but didn't get a chance to say anything before Kristin put her hand on his shoulder.

"Hold still."

She drove the sword into his chest swiftly, cutting cleanly through bone and muscle. Techno gasped, a physical reaction before he felt any pain. The exhale was forced out of him by the pressure, rather. Chat was screaming, shrieking. The sword pulled free again and Techno fell backward, into Phil's waiting arms.

It hurt.

It hurt so bad his entire body felt on fire.

Kristin touched him, maybe his forehead or some different part of his face. Techno's eyes closed and then there was nothing - no pain anymore. Not the sensation of the cold winter air or the snow clinging to his hair. It all fell away into oblivion.

For a few seconds, he drifted in it, blissful. Chat was silent. Or maybe Techno had finally found a place they couldn't reach him.

Then he was rudely shocked into awareness again by his body hitting the water.

His instinct was to freeze up, but that only led to Techno starting to sink. So he swam back up to the surface, heavy clothes dragging him down. He gasped for air when he broke free from the waves, looking around him. There was nothing in sight at first except more water in every direction. Not the most reassuring thing. Then Techno saw something on the horizon. The shape was too vague to make out, it might not be land. He didn't really know what else it could be though. And it would beat drifting until his body grew too tired to keep him afloat.

Techno swam against the current, cursing himself for not taking off some of his gear and armor. Who the heck would have expected him to be sent into limbo with all his baggage attached? Kristin could have at least given him a heads-up. The shape he was heading towards didn't seem to be growing any bigger. His muscles started to burn with the ache of pushing past his own limits. How much time did he have?

At least his body didn't bear the wound of Kristin killing him, or he would have drowned before getting anywhere near Ranboo.

Ranboo!

The shape in the distance, outlined a little more clearly against an endless gray sky, was a person. It was Ranboo. It had to be!

"-oblade?!" And that was definitely Ranboo's voice too.

Not in a position to call back, Techno tried to swim as fast as he could (maybe Kristin should have sent him with a boat, but hindsight was twenty-twenty and all that). When his hands finally curled against a rocky, unstable ground, relief washed over him. He didn't know how much longer he could have kept going.

"Technoblade?" Ranboo's voice spoke closer to him now, next to his ear. Hands reached for his shoulders, his elbow. Tried to drag him onto the small excuse for an island that could barely accommodate one person. Techno had a few choice words for Ranboo's brain if this was the limbo it came up with.

But all of that didn't matter. He'd found Ranboo.

"Technoblade, what are- how did you get here?!" Ranboo asked, all panicked and high-pitched. "Wait, did you die?"

"Long story," Techno said, scrambling to get out of the water though he couldn't really. He settled for grabbing hold of Ranboo's wrist. So tight it might hurt the enderman a bit, though there was time to apologize for that later. Techno wanted to hold on and never let go. "We're getting out of here."

"You came to get me?" Ranboo sounded so… Techno couldn't place it. His head hurt.

"I'm not here for sightseeing, Ranboo."

There was a lot more he should say, probably. About Tubbo and Michael and how Techno did his best after the prison break to get that whole mess sorted out. About how everybody else was also waiting for Ranboo back home. About how he wished he could have done this sooner.

About how much he missed Ranboo.

He didn't get the chance to. Everything was too bright and too much and his spine must be splitting into two.

All Techno could do was try to not let go of Ranboo, not when he was finally within reach again. And hope that it would be swift.

---

Tommy did not like what they were doing one fucking bit and he was not going to hide that.

He wasn't going to complain about it out loud either because man, he seriously doubted his opinion would matter for shit. Also, it's not like he… didn't want Ranboo to come back. They'd gotten off to a rocky start way back, but Tommy quite liked Ranboo. And Tubbo really liked Ranboo, so since Tommy also really cared about Tubbo he was kind of forced to care about Ranboo by default. Otherwise, that would make him a shitty friend. Plus, Technoblade was like a fucking mule. If he'd decided to do something, he was going to do it anyway. Ain't no changing his mind. Pigheaded, Wilbur would call that sometimes in the trenches of Pogtopia they dug for themselves and he would laugh about it.

That didn't mean having to see Technoblade get stabbed was fun.

Tommy had an embarrassing moment of simply staring in shock but he didn't think anybody noticed. Phil was there to catch Techno's body as it slumped and lowered him onto the ground. There was so much blood, pooling out of him and soaking into the snow. Turning the white into this disgusting shade of pinkish sludge.

Kristin reached out so she could touch the totem, covering Techno's fingers that were clenched around it with her own. She had her eyes closed, she was moving her lips but Tommy couldn't hear. There was blood stuck on her face. On her knuckles.

(The prison had obsidian walls that radiated heat and there was a constant dripping sound from the water that ran through the cracks. Tommy couldn't breathe and the fist that reared back to punch him in the face had knuckles covered in blood too.)

"Tommy!" Phil snapped at him. The harsh tone was unlike him, but it helped Tommy blink out of the image wavering before his eyes. "Potion, now." Phil nodded towards the bags.

Tommy tripped over himself in his haste to get it. He handed the regeneration to Phil, who popped the cork off and poured the liquid over Techno's chest. The stab wound quickly started to close up.

"How long?" Phil asked. Tommy didn't step back, kneeling there awkwardly. His tongue felt too big for his mouth, leaving him to swallow around it.

"Maybe ten more seconds?" Kristin answered.

The gold of the totem cracked with an audible snap. Kristin was holding it together by what Tommy could only assume was sheer force of will. Man, who the fuck was this lady?

"Is it working?" he asked.

"No way to tell," Kristin said casually. There was no sweat dripping down her face, not a single hair out of place. Then why did Tommy get the impression that this was costing her a lot of strength and effort?

"Come on," Phil muttered - but he was probably not talking to any of them. The pink sheep on Connor's - Ghostor's? - leash watched the scene impassively, bleating softly while he stroked it. Tommy wished he could go back to this morning when things weren't so fucking stressful.

Then, unable to be held back any longer, the totem shattered. Kristin pulled away, watching the sharp shards of gold cut open Technoblade's palm. The green glow was overpowering for a moment, and it made Tommy flinch back with a hiss. Then Techno's eyes snapped open with a strangled gasp. He looked like he was about to puke.

Yeah, if being revived with the totem was anything like being revived with the book, Tommy could relate.

Techno frantically looked around as he searched for something. "Did it work? Did it-" A cough broke up the sentence. He was shaking.

Tommy wanted to do something about that. He didn't, though.

"It worked," Kristin said. "Hm, we should have had the foresight of bringing his remains."

"Gross," Tommy spat. The mental image of Ranboo's half-decayed corpse was not one he wanted to get stuck with, thank you very much.

"I meant the ghost," Kristin amended with a smile. She was really chill with everything going on here, huh?

"You're fucking weird," Tommy told her.

"So I've been told."

"I don't think you should get up yet, mate." Phil was (poorly) attempting to keep Techno from standing. Techno ignored Phil pushing on his shoulders in favor of sitting up. Pigheaded, indeed.

"I'm fine," Techno insisted. "We should go find Ranboo."

"What about me?" Connor asked bluntly.

Everybody just kind of stared at him awkwardly. Tommy was the first who could break the silence. "Who the fuck are you again?"

"Do we have more totems?" Techno asked loudly, probably to try and keep them from starting an argument or something. Tommy hated it when he did that.

"Yeah, I brought backups," Phil said. "Let's just- Let's bring Connor back quickly and we can be on our way?" He looked at Kristin, gauging if she was capable of doing this. She gestured him over, already picking up the sword she'd dropped on the ground earlier.

"I can do it," Techno offered, but Kristin shook her head.

"Sending you twice in a row would be too hard on your body. We'll need to have Phil do it." She handed Phil the totem and grabbed the potion in preparation of healing him up after. "Do you have anything we can use for a connection?"

"I have this sheep," Connor offered happily.

"It'll have to do." She took the leash from him too.

"This better be fucking worth it," Phil muttered as he stepped up in preparation for being stabbed.

Like with Techno, Kristin did it quickly and cleanly. She knew exactly how to drive the sword into Phil's body to pierce through it completely, the netherite coming out from his back covered in blood. Tommy wanted to look the other way but part of him refused. It was a gnarly thing, all bunched up in his throat where he could easily ignore it. She pulled the sword back out and used Phil's shoulder to guide him against her in the same motion, so she could gently hold him in a semi-embrace while he died. It covered her gown in blood.

Tommy frowned. Is that what people considered romantic or some shit?

Then he was distracted by a noise next to him, Techno trying to get up.

"What part of don't move do you not understand, bitch?" Tommy asked him, pressing down on Techno's shoulders a little harder.

"Being revived is not that big a deal," Techno said. Tommy was about to lose his shit.

"Can you- Can you just not be a dick about this? For five minutes?" His hands were shaking.

Why were his fucking hands shaking?

Techno looked at him, opened his mouth as if to say something, then thought better of it and closed it again. "Can you reach Ranboo?"

"I'm not leaving," Tommy said angrily. He was sick and tired of people cutting him out from-

"On your communicator, Tommy."

"OH!" Tommy fumbled for the device, glancing at Kristin and Phil while he had the chance. Kristin was stroking Phil's hair, keeping the totem in their interlocked fingers. It was already cracking. Connor was using a stick to draw in the snow, unconcerned. When he got his communicator out, Tommy rubbed his thumb over the faded stickers Tubbo had put on there ages ago. "Uh, what do I send?"

"Anything," Techno said. "I want to know if it worked."

"Kristin said it did." But Tommy did end up typing some words.

Then he stared at the screen anxiously, waiting for a reply. When he saw an indication that Ranboo was typing, he sighed in relief. "Yeah! Yeah, it worked."

Techno lied back down. "Good."

Tommy bit at his lip. "What was Ranboo's limbo like?"

"It was-"

Before Techno could answer, Connor screamed. Phil gasped and Kristin helped him sit down as he blinked his eyes open, trying to gain back his awareness after the crude revival. Connor - or the ghost he had actually become - was rapidly melting out of existence and his huddled form remained. Somehow, he was bursting from his own skin.

He was alive again.

(Tommy was very glad they had not brought Ghostboo.)

"It worked?" Phil asked.

"Looks like it," Kristin said with a smile. She pulled him close to kiss him again. Once more, Tommy mimicked a loud gag. Just because he could.

"We should go check up on Ranboo," Technoblade said, getting up. This time nobody stopped him. Tommy knew they should really not stay there. Then why did his knees feel frozen to the ground?

He couldn't tear his eyes away from all the blood that had soaked into the snow.

(He missed Wilbur, somehow. Funny. Seeing the blood made him miss Wilbur.)

"Tommy?" Techno's hand fell on his shoulder. Then, slowly, it moved down. A silent offer to help him up.

Any other day, Tommy would have shrugged it off.

Today, Tommy took it.

"Yeah, let's go."

Technoblade would like to amend the statement he made previously about the commune being calm these days.

For a while there, he really thought retirement was a thing in the cards for him after all. Yeah, ironic. Chat could have a field day with that one. After several wars with mixed outcomes, being executed in the most cringefail way possible (and it didn't even stick), starting a secret anarchist organization, helping to take on a brainwashing eldritch horror egg, being locked up in prison for three months, and then staging a prison break for that same place, trouble finally didn't come knocking on his doorstep anymore. Things were calm, Techno's life was peaceful again.

Or that's what he'd thought before all that limbo business came around and threw his life into disarray again.

And sure, Techno wasn't happy with how peaceful everything was - but when was Techno ever happy? Truly, fully, completely happy in that way people waxed poetically about in the epics he read? That sense of contentment that could capture one's soul tightly on a fundamental level of existence and not let go? Techno had his doubts that was a real thing people experienced. Or if it was, it wasn't for folks like him.

But that didn't mean he wanted the chaos back.

E
E
That's a bit dramatic, bruh
E
Who's waxing poetic now lol
E
I don't like it when he's sad :(
E

Techno dismissed Chat's idle chatter as he usually did and continued to concentrate on his breakfast. Because as mentioned, the commune was not calm anymore. So Techno had taken to waking up before sunrise, when everybody else was asleep and he didn't need to think about how not-calm it was. He had taken up a lot more cooking than he used to, because going outside this early in the morning wasn't an option unless he wanted to fight off mobs the entire time in the woods. Sometimes Techno preferred that. But more often than not, he occupied himself indoors.

Through the window, he could see a flicker of warm light illuminating the window of Ranboo's home across the snowy tundra. Techno did wonder if it was because the enderman didn't sleep anymore or if dying had made him afraid of the dark. Ranboo's limbo was pretty bright, but Techno didn't think it was out of the realm of possibilities.

Steve nudged into his leg, probably noticing his despondent mood. Techno smiled and scratched behind the polar bear's ear. "Ah, you're just buttering me up because you want food, right?"

In a way, dealing with animals was a lot easier than dealing with people.

Animals were pretty straightforward, they had no hidden motives. Techno didn't have to worry about where he stood with them, what they wanted from him. If they would end up stabbing him in the back when his usefulness ran out. He picked up one of the pieces of dried meat he had hanging over the fireplace, the salty and rough exterior gone hard. Taking out his dagger, Techno cut off a few pieces for Steve to eat.

When he was done, he started making pancakes.

E
Aw, that's sweet
E
Do you think he noticed?
E
E
Technosoft

Techno continued to ignore Chat as he gathered the needed ingredients. They were only half-lucid at the best of times, he'd learned to take it in stride when he couldn't understand what the heck they were yapping about. Especially in the morning, since whenever Techno slept it seemed to leave Chat even more confused. Having to exist for several hours without any stimuli must be disorienting for them. Or maybe they took particular pleasure in annoying Techno when he was still only half-awake himself.

The act of cooking could be very relaxing though, Techno had to hand it to Niki. Sure, he made food before. He wasn't even too shabby at it, unlike Ranboo. But it was mostly just making food for the sake of making food, so he could eat and not die. Nutrients and all that. Techno wasn't really prone to trying new recipes or expanding his horizons. He'd started, early in the morning, to make things he didn't usually take the time to make. Trying new things. Putting some real effort into things.

Techno was making pancakes.

He'd been a bit too lost in thought to realize before, muscle memory could be tricky like that. But as he flipped the first pancake, caught it on the edge of the skillet, and watched it drop to the floor in a pathetic heap, he blinked. Blitz darted over to eat the half-congealed puddle of dough.

"Don't laugh at me, Chat."

Chat was very busy laughing at Techno. Even more so when he flipped the second pancake with the same result. Then the third. Blitz was having a whole breakfast buffet on the floor.

On his fourth go, Techno finally caught the flipped pancake in the skillet without dropping it. "First try, baby!" he said gleefully.

"Are you making pancakes?!" Tommy asked from the doorway.

He was rubbing the sleep from his eyes and automatically Techno glanced at the window, wondering if he'd lost track of time. Maybe it was a lot later in the morning than he thought it was. But it was barely dim outside, only the very first rays of the sunrise peeked over the horizon, making the snow look like it was glowing slightly. Tommy didn't sleep in the way he used to anymore.

"Uh… yeah." Techno looked down at the pan rather lamely, unable to not notice Blitz eating his failed attempts. "Trying to, anyway." Chat was cackling again, though he'd gotten pretty good at cutting that out. Laughing was - if Techno were to estimate - their favorite activity.

"Nice." Tommy stretched his arms over his head as he walked over, yawning widely. "I didn't think you'd actually listen."

Techno dropped the pancake on a plate and nodded towards it so Tommy knew he could take it. "Hm?"

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He forgot
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That's adorable
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Does that mean he's not even doing it on purpose? Big brother by nature lol
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"I asked for pancakes a couple of days ago?" Tommy said, tilting up at the end like it was a question. "I mean, I was just nagging at Phil but I'm not complaining." Taking the plate, Tommy dropped down into his seat at the table. Techno did not want to face the fact that Tommy apparently had a designated seat at his dinner table at all. When did that happen?

"Uh-" Techno hesitated. He could either admit he hadn't really consciously decided to make pancakes for Tommy at all, and then he'd come across as a sentimental sap. Or he could lie and say this was totally what he'd meant to do, and then he'd still come across as a sentimental sap, just a different kind of sentimental. His reputation would suffer either way.

Or it would have, if it wasn't for a hesitant knock on the door saving him. Techno watched Tommy go so very motionless, as if he wasn't breathing anymore. Every muscle tensed in anticipation of… something. It reminded Techno too much of back then.

He grabbed his ax on the way over to the door, just to make sure. You never knew on this server. But when he opened the door, it was just Ranboo on the other side.

"Hm, oh- hi." Ranboo's eyes darted to the ax in Techno's hand. Techno thought they had passed that part of their acquaintance. The weird, jumpy, 'Techno is a violent murderer who kills indiscriminately' part that so many people had to go through for some reason, because almost none of them bothered to get to know him. But maybe it was just that dying had made Ranboo overly paranoid. There were bags under his eyes too.

"Hey Ranboo," Tommy said - or something close to it. His mouth was full of pancakes while he spoke, so the words were pretty jumbled.

"I couldn't sleep and I saw the light was on," Ranboo said, skipping about half the conversation there. Techno stepped out of the way so he could let the kid in. He put his ax down too. "You're up early."

"Hm…" Techno wasn't going to get into it. Probably, Ranboo was only asking to be polite. "I'm making pancakes."

A sharp, foul smell caught his attention. Techno's nose was slightly better than a human's (and a lot better than most endermen, who couldn't smell anything at all). He rushed over to the stove, muttering under his breath as he removed the skillet and upended the burned pancake on the counter. Tommy laughed loudly.

"And how is that going for you?" Ranboo asked lightly. He wiped his snowy boots off before folding himself onto a chair next to Tommy.

"I saved your life, you know?" Techno shot back. Ranboo smiled. They'd talked about it very briefly, in passing. Techno wasn't good at handling big emotions, or big talks. But Ranboo had thanked him. And Techno had told him not to. And that had been the end of the conversation.

Tommy chewed loudly, swallowing the last mouthful. "They're pretty good, you should have some."

Techno didn't remember offering to make pancakes for them. He was only trying to make breakfast for himself. Still, he put some more batter into the pan. There was something almost painfully domestic about this. Techno tried not to think about it.

"Where's Phil, actually?" Tommy asked suddenly. "I haven't seen him around in forever."

"He's been gone for three days," Ranboo corrected easily. Tommy glared at him.

"He's doing things with Kristin, I guess." Techno turned around to drop the pancake on Ranboo's plate and had a hard time not chuckling at Tommy's completely offended expression when he mentioned Phil's wife. With how hard it was for Kristin to manifest herself in the mortal realm, he didn't think it was very odd for them to take advantage.

"He's off on a date?!" Tommy complained. "What kind of date lasts three days?"

"A very good one?" Ranboo offered. "Or- or a very bad one, maybe? Like, a terrible date where you keep trying to get away and you can't so you start pretending somebody else is texting you but they obviously don't believe you?"

"That would never happen to me," Tommy said with confidence. And Techno did snort then. "You might not know this, but all my dates are good because I'm the perfect man to date."

"Isn't Ranboo literally married?" Techno asked. Ranboo's eyes did that strange darting thing again. Also not a conversation they'd ever directly had and maybe Ranboo felt guilty about keeping it hidden for as long as he had. Techno wasn't angry about it. He was… maybe not even 'hurt' would be the right word. He and Tubbo didn't get along before the saving Michael thing so it's not like he couldn't understand where Ranboo was coming from but still-

Too complicated. Dismissing the thoughts again, Techno returned his attention to making pancakes.

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Oh he's just fully in denial
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Trying to ignore his own angst lol
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"Whatever. It's fine as long as she doesn't kill him again," Tommy said bluntly.

Techno frowned at the skillet. "Why would she do that?"

"I dunno, she seemed so casual, like she didn't really give a shit." Techno didn't need to look over his shoulder to imagine the way Tommy would pick at his fingernails, teeth catching on the inside of his cheek. Nervously shifting in his seat like he never used to before, yet they were gestures Techno had become intimately familiar with over the course of a few weeks.

"Was it- Was it that bad?" Ranboo asked hesitantly.

Techno opened his mouth to say something to the effect of Tommy exaggerating again. All things considered, going into limbo to fetch Ranboo hadn't been that big a deal. Sure, Techno wasn't really fond of getting stabbed or anything. But the situation had been resolved quickly and efficiently. What else could he ask for?

But Tommy cringing held him back.

"It was horrible."

Techno swallowed, concentrating on flipping a pancake without dropping it again. Ranboo's silence felt dense and inescapable growing behind his back, pushing against the confines of the cabin.

(In those first few weeks after the prison break, the water running red was all Techno dreamt about. Watching Sam's sword slice through Ranboo's skin like paper. Watching Ranboo's eyes go so, so wide and his body crumple like a deck of cards)

"I don't ever want to watch anybody die again," Tommy said. "It fucking sucks."

"Yeah," Techno muttered more to himself than them. "I can vouch for that."

"You don't get to say that, you let her kill you too," Tommy accused.

"For a good cause," he replied.

"That doesn't make it easier to watch."

Techno kind of shrugged. He could feel Ranboo's gaze land heavily on his shoulders.

"Uh, not that I'm… ungrateful," Ranboo articulated the word with a lot of clarity. The kid had a tendency to overthink everything. "But since you only have one life, why did you-"

"YOU WHAT?!"

Techno frowned at Tommy's shouting. "Can you yell a little louder, there might be somebody left all the way in the ruins of L'Manberg who hasn't heard you yet?"

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LOL
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LMAO
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The cats out of of the bag now huh
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Cat's
Shut up
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"You didn't know?" Ranboo asked a little louder, horrified at himself. "Oh, fuck, I-"

Techno waved it away, turning around so he could deposit another pancake on each of their plates. He was definitely getting the hang of this. "It's fine," he said.

Despite him not going out of his way to tell folks he only had one life, it's not like Techno hid it either. Phil only having one life was common knowledge. It came up with the syndicate, so both Niki and Ranboo were aware of Techno's situation too. He told Tubbo the other day. Heck, even Wilbur might be aware.

And it might be a bit petty, but Techno didn't feel like Tommy had the right to be offended at Techno keeping it to himself. Not after everything that had happened between them.

"You're fucking mental," Tommy said. He was looking down at his food, expression unreadable. "Letting yourself be killed when you only have one life."

"Eh, it's different for us."

Phil and Techno were touched by the gods. Their lives had been forfeit to their respective patrons long ago.

"I-"

Another knock at the cabin door interrupted whatever Tommy was about to say. Not even bothering with the ax this time, Techno went over to open it. He was a little surprised at the brightness outside, he'd lost track of time and it was already early morning. Techno was more surprised still to find Connor standing on his doorstep. He did not bring the sheep this time.

"I saw the light was on," Connor said, squeezing himself past Techno and into the room with no preamble. Techno regretted not taking his ax.

His table was getting awfully cramped with this many people around it.

"My home is a bit suckish for making food in," Connor added. "So I thought I might as well come by and see if I could get some here. Oh, pancakes." He happily took the plate Techno had been making for himself.

Techno did not have the mental energy to fight him on it.

"Is your house the one on the mountain?" Ranboo asked. Connor had moved in while Ranboo was dead and Ghostboo never showed much interest in the other man, dead or alive. So it made sense he didn't know.

"Calling it a house seems a bit generous," Techno said as he closed the door again.

"It's a work in progress," Connor said. "Hey, do you have any chocolate syrup?"

Ignoring the question, Techno returned to his stove.

Ranboo's communicator went off and he picked it up to answer. Techno hoped this would be enough to distract everybody from the previous topic, but as usual the universe would show him no such kindness.

"Didn't you get executed once?" Tommy asked loudly. "And you only have one life?"

"I used a totem, remember." Techno didn't want to have this talk. He didn't want to have people in his cabin this early in the morning. He didn't want to be making breakfast for them. He definitely didn't want the voices to keep going on about never dying.

Nobody ever cared what Techno wanted, did they?

"Dying still hurts though," Tommy said. "It's not- Dying doesn't-"

"Dying was fine for me actually," Connor added. "Being a ghost was the real fucked up thing. I couldn't taste anything. This is great." He gestured at the pancakes with his fork.

"You remember being a ghost?" Ranboo asked, having hung up already.

"You don't?" Tommy said.

This was all getting a bit hard for Techno to follow. He wished he could go back to bed.

For the third time in a very short time span, somebody knocked on his door. At this rate, Techno was half hoping it be Quackity coming to try and murder him again. Techno would let him.

But Ranboo raised his voice over the ruckus of Tommy and Connor discussing ghost senses. "Oh, that's Tubbo. Can you let him in?"

"Why is Tubbo at my door, Ranboo?" Techno was already walking over. He wouldn't let the fragile truce he'd built with Tubbo go to waste by letting the kid freeze on his doorstep.

"He was coming over to visit me, so I told him I was in your house?" To his credit, Ranboo did sound halfway apologetic about it.

"Fair enough." Techno opened the door and immediately stepped aside to let Tubbo in. No use letting even more cold seep into his cozy cabin. It was getting beyond crowded, especially since Tubbo wasn't alone.

Michael snorted at Techno, raising his tiny arms in the universally understood gesture of wanting to be picked up. Tubbo did not hesitate to heft the toddler into Techno's arms (who mostly just took him because he didn't think Tubbo or Ranboo would be happy with him dropping their child on the floor). "Hey big man, how are you? Man, it smells good in here."

"We got pancakes," Tommy said cheerfully.

Tubbo grinned back at him. "Sick. Load me up a plate."

Hefting Michael onto his arm properly, Techno returned to his stove once more. He showed the baby piglin how he flipped the pancakes, earning himself delighted huffs and clapping hands. Techno might not like children, but he did like how easy it was to impress them. And it gave him a good reason to ignore all the other people inside his house.

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Cute
Uncletechno awww
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Uncletechno!
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Now we just need Phil to come back and it'll be like a whole family reunion
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Techno wouldn't say he enjoyed the domesticity of this, making food while conversation resumed behind him. At least having Tubbo around distracted Tommy a fair bit. The kid was all grins and stupid jokes again, covering up any uncertainty with bravado. Like back in the ravine.

Like back when Wilbur was around.

Techno should have gone into psychology instead of getting an English major. He wasn't equipped to handle this.

When somebody knocked on the door this time, it was barely heard over the sound of laughter. Techno flicked his ear at it, letting Niki inside with a small sigh.

"Wow, it's crowded in here," she laughed. "Hi, Michael." Chuckling, she tickled the young piglin's tummy. The child giggled, burrowing more into Techno's arms to get away from the playful assault.

"Yeah, I decided to start a daycare. Hadn't tried that before. Though it might be fun." His deadpan earned him another smirk.

Niki looked past him. "I was only popping by to check up on you guys. Looks like you got your hands full, though."

"Did you have breakfast yet?" Techno asked. "Because there are pancakes."

And yes, Chat might make fun of him for the rest of the morning. But Techno couldn't deny that waking up as early as he did could get a little lonely. Also, he needed Niki by his side quite desperately. To balance out all those teenagers (and Connor).

"I'd never say no to pancakes." She took Michael, who by now was extending his arms toward her eagerly. His tiny clawed fingers played with the gold jewelry hanging around Niki's neck.

They barely noticed the day slip away, the sun rising and settling higher in the sky. Even Chat's continued teasing was drowned out by the comfortable noises that filled the small interior of the cabin. Crowded, yes, but not in a way Techno would usually abhor. That claustrophobic feeling he'd so come to hate.

Dare he even call it nice?

And when the conversation was once again interrupted by a knock on the door, Techno barely paid it any mind. How quickly it had come to feel almost natural to him.

"Oh." Fundy kind of ducked his head in the doorway, shying away from the warmth and noises inside. Techno could never have claimed to be overly familiar with the other man, yet it still struck him how… different Fundy looked from how he expected him to. A tail of dull fur wrapped around Fundy's leg, nervous little jitters of movement that caught Techno's eyes. "Sorry, I didn't know there'd be this many people here."

The way he said it sounded hollow.

"Me neither," Techno joked. Maybe he hoped it would ease the tension, though all Fundy did was offer him a wry smile.

"I was actually looking for grandp- for Phil," Fundy corrected himself. "He's not home?"

"He'll be back later."

A moment of hesitation, where Fundy pinned his ears back against his head. "I need to talk to him… it's about Wilbur."

The sharp silence that fell beneath them was harshly contrasted by the laughter pouring out of the room behind Techno, somebody asking who was at the door.

The commune had not been calm for a long while.

"Why don't you wait inside, Phil shouldn't be long," Techno said.

And almost immediately, Fundy nodded.