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They say the pen is mightier than the sword.
The second prince of the empire, Wilbur, is an example of this.
With his honeyed words and sharp wit, he can bring a kingdom to its knees with barely a whisper of violence.
Or so they say.
They also say that he is kind to those he cares about, kind to those who have his loyalty.
(Almost no one has his loyalty, his cruelness shining through.)
(But those who do, oh does he care for them.)
And nowhere is this clearer than with his family.
Everyone knows how much the royal family cares about each other.
Everyone knows that they would destroy kingdoms for each other.
And they have.
Technoblade, the first prince, the sword, the protector.
The pen is mightier than the sword, yes, but when manipulation won’t work, when brute force is needed-
That is when Wilbur calls upon his brother.
Technoblade cuts down his brother’s enemies as if they were his own.
They are his own.
You go against one member of the royal family, you go against all of them.
And no one wants to go against Philza.
Wilbur and Technoblade are the pen and the sword, but he is the Emperor.
Commanding his power with an easy smile, always a kind word for his people, the even-tempered counterweight to cruel Wilbur and silent, brutal Technoblade.
But for his foes, oh for his foes, there is only cold fury.
(Any attempt at a coup is crushed long before it can get any traction.)
(Any attempt at a coup is a fool’s errand.)
Unavoidable, the three of them.
Inevitable.
\(oo)/
Tommy walked a few steps behind the man, waiting for an opportunity.
The brown-haired man turned, looking towards a market stall.
Now!
Tommy strode forward, bumping into the man as he did.
“Sorry.” He said, before continuing to walk.
He slipped the coin purse into his pocket, glad that the man had worn it on his belt, something that only tourists or nobles did.
(The nobles had guards, even if Tommy was usually able to avoid them, and the tourists who hadn’t been to the capital before didn’t quite understand how bad the theft problem was and were overconfident.)
Tommy was hoping that the man was a tourist, considering the nobles tended to want their money back.
And usually actually had the means to chase him down.
Tommy heard the man curse, before he felt eyes on him.
Fuck.
Something happened, Tommy wasn’t sure what, before-
“Halt!” someone shouted, and Tommy glanced back to see a guard, his badge shining on his deep blue tunic.
Fuck.
Tommy ran.
He darted through the market, and he could hear the guard start to run after him.
Tommy wove his way through the market stalls, hoping to lose his pursuer, before ducking into an alleyway.
Tommy ran through the alley, able to hear the footfalls of the guard chasing him.
He hadn’t lost him.
“Shit shit shit-!” He said as he turned a corner, running straight into a crowd.
He slowed his pace, trying to blend into the crowd.
That was the easiest way to lose the guards, he’d realized that a while ago.
None of them wanted to deal with searching an entire crowd for one thief.
He glanced behind him, seeing the guard scanning the crowd.
Tommy quickly whipped his head back around, keeping his eyes on the ground as he went with the movement of the crowd.
He waited a few minutes, moving with the flow of people, before he looked again.
The guard was gone.
Tommy smiled to himself, before taking the coin purse he’d stolen out of his pocket.
He counted through it, before sighing.
He’d picked a bad target. There was only a few gold coins in the purse, the rest of it filled with small trinkets, nothing valuable.
“Bastard.” Tommy muttered aloud.
The guy’s annoying yellow sweater should’ve clued him into the fact that he had nothing of value.
(The sweater had looked high quality, though.)
Tommy sighed.
Whatever.
It was at least enough for lunch.
\(oo)/
Wilbur tapped his foot against the ground as he waited for the guard to come back.
Some thief had stolen his purse, and he would prefer it if he got it back.
It wasn’t like he had any real money on him, not when he went out without an escort, but still.
He’d had some fun little trinkets in there, cool rocks and a wood carving from Techno.
He really wanted that carving back, it was of an adorable little wolf.
And Techno had made it for him.
The guard came out of the alleyway Wilbur had seen him chase the thief down.
Without the thief.
Or Wilbur’s purse.
He sighed.
He hated when this happened.
(He’d gotten pickpocketed a few times before, an annoyance when he went out without an escort.)
(For all that the kingdom feared him, and his family, if he or Tech dressed casually, almost no one noticed it was them.)
(Their dad couldn’t get away with it, everyone knowing his face.)
(It was entertaining when he tried to, though.)
(He usually got through all of one sentence before they realized who they were talking to, and dropped into a bow.)
“I’m sorry your majesty, I couldn’t-“
“Quiet.” Wilbur said, the man immediately falling silent.
The guard seemed nervous.
Good.
“I’m sure you’ll be able to find him, yes?” Wilbur said, polite and implying violence if the guard didn’t.
The guard frantically nodded his head.
“Yes your majesty, don’t worry-“
Wilbur waved a hand, dismissing the guard.
The man hurried away, probably to tell the rest of the guards who they needed to find.
Wilbur hummed to himself as he started the walk back towards his home.
Maybe Tech would get a kick out of this.
He’d make fun of Wilbur for getting pickpocketed, sure, but he always enjoyed when Wilbur scared the guards.
(Something about the captain of the guards thinking he could beat Techno in a fight. Wilbur hadn’t really paid much attention to why his brother had a rivalry with them.)
He wondered who the thief was, he’d really only seen their blond hair and red cloak before they ran off.
No matter.
He’d find out soon enough.
\(oo)/
Tommy sat on a rooftop, kicking his feet as he ate the sandwich he’d bought with the few gold coins from that bastard’s purse.
He was still annoyed that the man hadn’t been carrying that much money.
Seriously, what was the point of dressing like a noble (or tourist, he guessed, but most of the tourists still had a lot of money on them!) if you weren’t going to have any money?
Tommy sighed.
Whatever, he’d just have to pickpocket someone else today.
He needed enough money to grab a room for the night.
He’d had a big score awhile back, some visiting minor noble, and that had paid for food and his room for a few months.
But he’d run out of money, still unable to find any place that would hire him.
(He’d been arrested a few times when he was younger, before he got better at avoiding the guards. It gave him a bit of a reputation among the business owners in town.)
Tommy shoved the last bit of his sandwich into his mouth, before laying back on the roof.
It was early afternoon, the sky clear.
It was a nice day.
Tommy yawned.
He’d been up so late last night, trying to get together money for dinner.
Maybe he could just…
\(oo)/
Tommy woke up slowly, before bolting upright.
Fuck, what time was it?
He looked up, seeing that the sun was setting.
Shit.
After it was dark out, he’d have no chance of pickpocketing anyone who wouldn’t immediately stab him in retaliation.
He shouldn’t have taken that nap.
Tommy scrambled off the roof, climbing down halfway before jumping off the side of the building onto a pile of old blankets that whoever lived here still hadn’t gotten around to throwing out.
There was a reason that Tommy tended to hang out on this roof.
He ran back to the market from earlier, darting through alleys and side streets.
The chances the guards were still looking for him were low, but it was still risky to hit the same place twice in one day.
(Well, the chances were low if the man had been a tourist.)
(Tommy really hoped that the man had been a tourist.)
It was the only place he could guarantee would have people this late in the day, though.
Tommy stuck to the shadows, looking for anyone who looked rich or at least looked like they had some money.
Half of the market stalls were packing up for the day, but there was still a decent amount of people milling about.
One of them, a young woman, was wearing a slightly fancier dress than Tommy would expect from someone who wasn’t rich, or at least living comfortably.
He zeroed in on her, trying to figure out where she kept her money.
She was carrying a small handbag. Probably in there, then.
A risky target, too.
If they were holding their bag, they tended to notice the moment that he took it.
Still, he needed the money for a room.
(The last time he slept on a rooftop, he’d woken up to all of his stuff gone.)
(There were a lot better thieves than Tommy out there, after all.)
Tommy stepped away from the wall, casually walking over to look at the market stall next to the woman.
He’d just have to grab her bag and run like hell.
He glanced around, checking if there were any guards close by, but he couldn’t see any.
Good, at least he wouldn’t have to deal with one of them being close enough to grab him right away.
He pretended to look at the market stall, all the while watching the woman in the corner of his eye.
He turned, about to grab the bag, when-
“Hey.”
A voice said, as someone grabbed Tommy’s wrist.
What the-
Tommy whipped around to see who had grabbed him.
A man stood there, badge pinned to his deep blue tunic.
Fuck.
“Hey big man, what’s the problem? I’m just looking at these here, uh, journals yeah! Ain’t doing nothing wrong-“ Tommy rambled, trying to throw the guard off.
He tried to tug his wrist away, but the man held firm.
“You are under arrest for the theft of Prince Wilbur’s coin purse. Please come quietly and cooperate.”
Tommy froze, his face draining of color.
What?
That bastard earlier had been Prince Wilbur?
Wasn’t he supposed to have an escort, or something?
Fuck it didn’t really matter.
Tommy’s screwed.
He is so enormously screwed.
The royal family was terrifying.
And he’d stolen from them.
Tommy looked around, seeing that there were three other guards walking towards them.
Of course there were, he’d stolen from the fucking prince.
He turned back to the guard holding him.
Nothing for it. He couldn’t exactly let them take him in.
The royal family were not known for mercy, that’s for sure.
“Yeah, I don’t think I’ll do that, thanks.”
He kneed the guard in the balls.
He groaned, dropping Tommy’s wrist.
Before he’d even let go all the way, Tommy was running.
He didn’t look behind him as he ran through the market, knowing that all he’d see was the guards chasing him.
Think think think!
Where could he go?
He dashed through an alleyway.
There was no way he could get onto the rooftops before one of them caught him.
And he knew that going towards the city center was suicide.
He turned a corner.
“Stop!” One of the guards yelled, right before one of them tried to tackle Tommy.
He twisted out of the way, the man crashing to the ground.
Tommy risked darting through a group of people. They scattered around him, none of them trying to stop him.
Good.
The guards weren’t deterred, but Tommy had bought himself a few seconds of lead time.
He’d have to go for the city outskirts. He preferred to stay away from there, too little people to pickpocket and too many criminals who would rob him, but he had no choice.
Getting caught would mean death, he was sure.
Or at least a very long prison sentence.
The guards would be hesitant to follow him out to the outskirts. They wouldn’t have backup that far out.
He ran through the streets, cutting through alleys and groups of people as he ran for safety.
Shit wait, backup-
A guard stepped out in front of Tommy, already in motion to grab him.
Tommy tried to slip around him, but the man managed to slam his arm into Tommy’s stomach, knocking the wind out of him.
Shit.
He slowed down, still running, but his lungs were burning.
He needed to find a place to catch his breath, he wouldn’t be able to keep running much longer like this.
He frantically looked around.
Where could he go without the guards seeing?
He glanced back, seeing that there were still three guards chasing him.
The one who’d tried to tackle him must have fallen behind when he fell.
At least that was one less person Tommy had to deal with.
He spotted an alleyway, one that he knew cut directly through another alley. The second alley was a dead end, but-
If he managed to get to the crossways fast enough, he could lose them for a moment.
He abruptly turned, dashing down the alley as fast as he could.
Only a few more feet-
He slipped into the second alley, pressing himself against the wall, the evening shadows hiding him.
Hopefully.
He heard the guards thunder past, and he saw their blue tunics disappearing around the corner.
Thank Prime.
Tommy took a deep breath.
There was no way the guards wouldn’t realize their mistake at some point, but he at least had a minute.
Tommy took another deep breath.
His chest hurt. He was going to have a bruise from where the guard had hit him.
He took a minute, maybe two, before he stepped out of the alleyway.
He flipped the hood of his cloak up.
Okay.
He’d pickpocketed the prince.
All the guards in the city were probably looking for him.
Because Prince Wilbur was well known for tracking down anyone who stole from him.
Tommy had known that some other unfortunate pickpockets had been caught after stealing from the prince, but he’d never considered that it could happen to him.
(Tommy wasn’t sure what had happened to the others who’d stolen from the prince.)
(They’d just…disappeared.)
He had thought that the prince always had an escort, and that the other thieves were just overconfident or stupid enough to go after the prince.
But no, apparently, the prince just liked to visit the market in disguise.
Without an escort.
For some fucking reason.
Tommy looked around, thankfully not seeing any guards.
He started to walk towards the edge of the city.
…There was no way that the prince would bother looking for him for more than a few days, right?
He just had to wait for the heat to die down.
Tommy made it through four streets before he saw another guard.
Who also saw him, her eyes widening.
Damnit, could he not catch a break?
Tommy turned away from her, hoping that she would assume she hadn’t actually seen him.
Of course, that didn’t happen.
He turned to face another fucking guard.
Prime, did they have the entire guard out looking for him?
Tommy glanced around.
This street didn’t have any alleyways coming off it, all of the buildings packed together or the gaps leading onto other streets, which were just as likely to have guards as this one.
Oh, this wasn’t good.
Tommy turned sharply, ready to run, but-
A bottle broke at his feet.
A potion-!
His legs went out from under him, causing him to crumple to the ground.
He saw another guard standing in the shadows of a building, more potions on his belt.
Shit, they really sent out one of the magic users to go after him?
They only called those guys in for like, murderers and crap.
Tommy felt himself began to lose consciousness.
He struggled to stay awake, but-
It was impossible.
His eyes closed, and he felt one of the guards pick him up, right before he passed out.
\(oo)/
He woke up in a cell.
Fuck.
He sat up, his vision swimming slightly.
Was this what it felt like when you got hit with a potion?
Ugh.
He glanced around, seeing that the cell’s bars faced towards a blank wall.
He laid back down.
“I’m so fucked.” He whispered to himself.
He was dead.
He was absolutely dead.
There was no way he was getting out of this one.
The other times he’d been caught, he’d been young enough that they just shoved him in an orphanage, not bothering to charge him.
(He never stayed in the orphanage. He preferred the streets.)
But he was sixteen now, there was no way that would happen this time.
Not to mention that he’d stolen from the prince.
He could not fucking believe that bastard was the prince.
“He’s right down here, your majesty.”
Tommy scrambled upright, standing just in front of the bed.
What the hell, was the prince coming to see him?
Why the fuck would he be doing that-
Tommy checked the pockets of his pants-they’d taken his cloak at some point, leaving him in just his red tunic-and there was nothing.
They’d taken the coin purse back.
Did the prince just want to kill Tommy himself?
Something about that thought felt wrong.
Tommy was pretty sure that Prince Wilbur preferred not to have blood om his hands.
He asked his brother to do it, according to the rumors.
So why was the prince coming to see him?
Tommy felt a chill go down his spine.
He didn’t know for sure that Prince Wilbur was who the guard had been referring to.
Fuck, it could be Prince Technoblade.
Or Emperor Philza.
There was no way it was the Emperor, right?
No way.
Tommy heard footsteps approaching the cell, and-
It was Prince Wilbur.
Tommy really should not have felt relief at that, but he did.
“So.” Prince Wilbur said, tilting his head slightly.
“You’re the one who stole my coin purse.”
He looked at Tommy a moment more, before he frowned.
“You’re a kid.”
Tommy felt indignation rise within him at the prince’s tone.
Fuck it, in for a penny in for a pound.
“I’m not a kid, bitch!”
The prince’s face filled with shock.
And then he laughed.
“Oh, you’re a fun one, aren’t you?”
It was Tommy’s turn to be shocked.
What-
“And really, you are just a kid. What’s your name?” the prince said, something amused and fond in his voice.
Tommy had no clue what the hell was happening.
“What the fuck?”
The prince smiled at him.
“Your name, sunshine.”
“…Tommy.”
He had no clue what the prince was playing at, but he might as well go along with it.
(And maybe the nickname made him feel a little warm inside, but that didn’t matter.)
“Tommy. That fits you, I think.”
The way he said Tommy’s name was unsettling, something almost possessive mocking in it.
“It’s my name, fucker. Of course it fits me.” Tommy said with a scowl.
The prince laughed again.
“Oh, Tech is going to love you.”
Tommy narrowed his eyes.
What the hell was he talking about-
The prince hummed as he took out a key, opening the cell.
Tommy’s eyes widened.
Was the prince…letting him go?
He took a step forward.
Then another.
The prince’s lips curled in a wide smile, before he reached out towards Tommy.
Tommy froze.
The prince grabbed Tommy’s hand, before starting to lightly tug him out of the cell.
“C’mon, I want you to meet Tech.”
“What the-“
The prince twisted to smile at Tommy. There was something underpinning the smile, a look of-
Something.
“Don’t worry, you’ll have fun!”
He pulled Tommy along, Tommy going with it because-
What else was he going to do?
They walked past a guard, the one that must’ve been talking to the prince, who did a double take when he saw them.
The prince glared at him, and he went back to standing at attention.
Huh.
That must be nice, having that kind of power.
Tommy was pulled along by the prince, out of the dungeon, into the main part of-
The castle.
He was in the castle?
He’d assumed that he was somewhere else, the prison maybe, not-
Not the castle.
Only the royal family, nobles, and the staff and guards were allowed in here.
And apparently, they had a dungeon underneath it for prisoners.
Tommy had a bad feeling that he was the only person who’d ever left that dungeon alive.
And he still didn’t know why he had. Why the prince had decided to do, whatever this was?
The prince pulled him through multiple hallways, all of them twisting in on each other in such a way that Tommy was sure that he would get horribly lost if he tried to navigate them by himself.
The prince hummed the whole time, something simple and repeating.
It was almost soothing.
Finally, the prince pushed open a set of doors, revealing a library, rows of bookshelves stretching throughout the room.
“Tech! I found the kid who pickpocketed me!” the prince said excitedly.
Tommy cringed at the reminder of what exactly he’d done.
Prince Wilbur was acting- strange, but there was no way the rest of the royal family would be the same.
Wait, ‘Tech’?
Like Prince Technoblade-
“What do you mean ‘kid’-?”
Prince Technoblade rounded the corner of one of the shelves, blinking when he saw his brother and Tommy.
“That is a child. Wil, why do you have a child?”
Tommy scowled.
“I am not a child!”
Prince Wilbur twisted to pout at Tommy.
“Aw, am I the only you’re gonna call names?”
He sounded at once disappointed and pleased. It was a strange combination.
Prince Technoblade ignored his brother, seemingly with years of practice.
“Wilbur. Why is there a child?”
Prince Wilbur turned back to his brother.
“Well,” He said, stretching out the word “he pickpocketed me. And he’s fun.”
Prince Technoblade sighed.
“So you brought him into the castle?”
Prince Wilbur shrugged.
“I mean, I think it was a great idea.”
Prince Technoblade rolled his eyes, before turning to Tommy.
“What’s you name, kid?”
Tommy scowled at being called a kid again, before remembering-
Oh. This was Prince Technoblade.
The man who destroyed kingdoms at a whim.
Tommy had almost forgotten, with the exasperated way he acted with Prince Wilbur.
“It’s Tommy.” He said quietly.
Prince Wilbur frowned, before turning to glare at his brother.
“Techno, you’re scaring him!”
“I am not scaring him.”
“You are! Look at him-“
The princes started to argue, both of them seeming to forget that they had an audience.
Tommy stood there awkwardly, not really sure what to do.
He still had no clue what was going on, why Prince Wilbur had dragged him here, or released him-
“Whatever.” Prince Technoblade said, cutting off what his brother had been saying.
He turned back to Tommy, a blank look on his face.
“I didn’t mean to scare you. Sorry.” He said flatly.
Prince Wilbur hit his brother in the arm.
He sighed.
“I’m sorry that I scared you.” He said, sounding more genuine this time.
Tommy shrugged.
“It’s whatever big man, you know how it is-“
Tommy cut himself off.
Right now was not the time to be rambling.
Prince Technoblade tilted his head.
“Huh.”
Prince Wilbur turned to his brother, a wide smile on his face.
“See! He’s fun.”
There was something in the way he said ‘fun’, something that made Tommy think there was a double meaning to the prince’s words.
Prince Technoblade hummed.
“Yes. I see what you mean.”
Tommy looked between them.
He did not like the feeling he had that he was missing something important.
Prince Technoblade focused back onto Tommy.
“Kid, Tommy, did Wil even explain anything?”
Prince Wilbur pouted at his brother, but didn’t say anything.
“Uh…no.” Tommy said.
Prince Technoblade rolled his eyes.
“Of course he didn’t.”
He looked Tommy in the eyes.
“He wants another brother. Specifically, he wants you.”
Prince Wilbur hit his brother again.
“You’re gonna freak him out!”
“Wil, I’m pretty sure you already freaked him out. Not exactly something you can avoid.”
Tommy was not paying attention to any of that, however.
He was stuck on what Prince Technoblade had said.
What the hell?
That wasn’t-
That wasn’t true.
Right?
He’d literally met the prince today.
While pickpocketing him!
But-
Tommy remembered something, a rumor that almost no one paid attention to, because it was ridiculous.
The rumor that the princes had been street kids, once upon a time.
That the emperor had found them, taken one look at them, and decided they should be his sons.
Was-
Was it true?
If that was how the emperor was-
It could explain why Prince Wilbur was doing whatever this was, if he had been accepted by the emperor as family the moment he saw him.
But that wouldn’t explain why Tommy.
He didn’t-
Look, he didn’t have any illusions about how frustrating he was to deal with.
Many, many adults had beaten it into his head, sometimes literally, that he was a burden, a hassle.
There was a reason he didn’t have a family.
A hand waved in front of Tommy’s face, snapping him out of his thoughts.
Prince Technoblade looked at him with a small bit of pity, but underneath it was the same look Prince Wilbur had when he looked at Tommy.
Something, something maybe like love. And possessiveness.
“Theseus, are you- He’s back.”
“Theseus?” Tommy asked, latching onto that small detail instead of dealing with…everything else.
“Nickname.” Prince Technoblade said.
Oh.
Another nickname.
Prince Wilbur looked nervous.
“So, uh, I don’t-“
He took a deep breath.
“You’re fun. You’re interesting and you swore at me, no one does that, they’re all too scared to. And you’re just a kid, and I looked at you and went “Oh. That’s my little brother.””
Tommy blinked at the onslaught of words.
That was…a lot.
“I- Prince Wilbur-“
Prince Wilbur groaned, cutting him off.
Prince Technoblade snorted.
“You are horrible at this.”
“Shut up! It’s not like I planned this!”
Prince Wilbur turned back to Tommy.
“You can just call me Wilbur, sunshine. Or Wil, if you want.”
That was not-
Hm.
Prince Technoblade nodded.
“Same for me. Techno or Tech.”
Prince Wilbur -or Wilbur, apparently- smiled softly at Tommy.
“I know it’s…a lot.”
There was a twist to his smile for a moment, something darker.
“You are going to stay here, though. Even if you don’t want to. You’re my little brother.”
Tommy glanced to Technoblade, who nodded along to Wilbur’s words, before speaking up.
“Wil, you should probably take him to see Dad.”
Wilbur beamed, the darker slant to his face disappearing.
“You’re right! C’mon sunshine, let’s go-“
He grabbed Tommy’s hand again, trying to tug him away.
Tommy didn’t move, though.
“No. What the fuck is going on?” Tommy said, pouring his confusion and anger into his voice.
Wilbur pouted.
“I just want to take you to see Dad-“
“I am not your brother!” Tommy yelled.
Wilbur’s face fell, and Tommy could see Techno’s face go blank.
Wilbur frowned.
“I just told you that you are-“
He sounded frustrated.
Tommy leaned away, causing Wilbur to look hurt.
He felt bad about that.
He shouldn’t feel bad about that, Wilbur was trying to, what, kidnap him? Force Tommy to be his little brother? Something like that.
(Tommy ignored the part of him that didn’t care about the kidnapping, or Wilbur wanting him to be his little brother.)
(He ignored the part of him that wanted a family more than anything else.)
Techno sighed.
“Wil, give us a minute.”
Wilbur shot Tommy one more hurt look, before stepping out of the room.
Tommy slowly turned to face Techno, wariness in his movements.
“Look, Theseus. I get that this is…unconventional. Better than Wil does. I was older when Dad found us.”
There was a pause.
The rumors were true, then. About them being street kids.
That was, strange, when taken with the other rumors and stories.
About how powerful and ruthless they were.
(Something in Tommy wondered if he could be powerful like that.)
“But,” Techno’s face hardened “You are still our little brother. Wil was right. That’s all I see when I look at you. My little brother. And I’m sure Dad will feel the same about you being his son.”
Tommy took a half step back, but-
What exactly could he do, if the princes had decided this?
If they were so confident the emperor would feel the same?
He couldn’t do anything.
(He wanted a family.)
“Okay.”
Techno smiled.
“Okay.”
“Aplogize to Wil, I think you hurt his feelings.” Techno said with wry amusement.
He opened the door to the library, Wilbur immediately walking in.
“Sorry, Wil. I was just, overwhelmed.” Tommy said.
The worst part was that he was sorry.
He still didn’t want to be trapped here, didn’t want to be part of the royal family (though some part of him did-), but he did actually feel bad about hurting Wilbur’s feelings.
(And maybe it was because when he looked at Wilbur, and Techno, he couldn’t help but see-)
(His older brothers.)
(Fuck.)
(He was so screwed, wasn’t he?)
Wilbur beamed.
“No worries, sunshine. Now come on, I want to go see Dad!”
He held out a hand.
Tommy took it.
\(oo)/
It took them a while to find the emperor.
Wilbur seemed annoyed by it, but still smiled brightly whenever he looked at Tommy.
Finally, a maid, who looked like she was trying very hard to ignore Tommy’s presence, told them that the emperor had gone out to the gardens.
Wilbur beamed at her.
“Thank you!” He called as he tugged Tommy away.
It took a few more turns before Wilbur pushed open a door, leading Tommy out into the gardens.
Rows and rows of flower covered hills, tress planted artfully throughout to give various areas shade. Tommy could see wide open areas of grass, maybe for events? Regardless, the gardens were the size of a street’s worth of buildings.
Wilbur hummed as he led Tommy through the winding pathways, seemingly having a destination in mind.
They walked for a few minutes, before finding the emperor.
In all of the paintings, statues, public appearances Tommy had seen, the emperor always wore a deep blue, flowing robe, golden crown perched on his head.
He looked regal.
It was a far cry from how he looked with his hands covered in dirt, a green bucket hat sitting crooked on his head, the sleeves of his green tunic pushed up to his elbows.
When the maid had said he was in the gardens, Tommy hadn’t realized she meant ‘he’s working in the gardens’.
The emperor looked up, a wide smile on his face as he noticed Wilbur.
“Wil! You come to help me with- Oh.”
He noticed Tommy, his attention immediately pulled away from Wilbur.
“And who are you, little one?”
Tommy almost scowled. What was with these people and calling him a kid? He was sixteen-!
Which none of them actually knew, he realized abruptly.
And he had always been small for his age.
Well, might as well set the record straight.
“I’m sixteen.”
The emperor tilted his head.
“Really? Well, apologies.”
Tommy felt himself deflate slightly.
He’d been ready for an argument, for some reason.
“But still, who are you?” He said, with a glance towards Wilbur.
Wilbur beamed.
“He’s-“
“I’m Tommy.” Tommy said, cutting off Wilbur.
Wilbur looked at him with a pout.
Tommy glared at him.
He wanted to see what the emperor was like before he realized that his sons had apparently decided Tommy was their new brother, thanks.
The emperor hummed.
“Call me Phil, mate. Want to help me with these hydrangeas?”
Tommy was thrown by the question, but.
“Yeah, sure.”
Phil beamed at him, before he turned to Wilbur.
“Wil? You gonna stick around?”
Wilbur rolled his eyes.
“I think I’ll go hang out with Tech. Tommy, just- Well. I’ll see you later.”
With that, Wilbur walked away, leaving Tommy with Phil.
Phil turned to Tommy.
“Have you done this before?” he said, motioning to the small box of green plants, seedlings, next to him.
Tommy shrugged.
“Nope.”
Phil smiled.
“It’s easy, all you have to do is…”
\(oo)/
It took them a while to plant all of the hydrangea seedlings, maybe an hour.
Tommy wiped his hands against his pants.
That had been…surprisingly nice.
Phil was gentle with his instructions, kind when Tommy got something wrong.
And it had been fun, planting something.
Phil stood up, before holding out a hand to Tommy.
“Let’s go figure out where your brothers ran off to.” He said with amusement.
Tommy nodded, taking Phil’s hand, before the words hit him.
He looked at Phil sharply.
“You know?”
Phil chuckled.
“Wilbur was not very subtle. And it was naïve of him to think that the guards didn’t tell me the moment he released you.”
That…made sense.
Phil’s gave Tommy a soft look.
“You doing okay, Toms? I know that Wilbur can be…a bit overwhelming.”
Tommy was nodding before he really processed the question.
He was doing okay, somehow.
He couldn’t really do anything about what was happening.
And Phil was so kind.
And Techno was so strong, and safe.
And Wilbur was so loving, and he’d looked at Tommy and decided that Tommy was his, that he was family.
And Tommy looked at Phil, and he saw his dad.
“I’m okay, don’t worry,”
He hesitated for a moment.
“Dad.”
Phil smiled at him.
Tommy grinned.
And they left the gardens, off to find the rest of their family.
(Techno and Wilbur would smile when they saw them, when they saw how easily Tommy called Phil Dad.)
(Tommy would smile back.)
(Phil would look at his sons, and think ‘How did I get so lucky?’)
(And they would be a family.)
\(oo)/
The youngest prince, Tommy, was a sweetheart.
The people loved him, from the moment he was introduced to them.
There weren’t stories about Tommy destroying kingdoms, weren’t stories about his anger or cruelty.
There were stories about his kindness, his sense of humor, his joy.
He seemed to love the people of the kingdom, in a way that the other members of the royal family didn’t.
He was the heart of the kingdom, keeping his brothers and father in check.
Of course, this was just what the kingdom saw.
Tommy was just as vicious, just as protective as the rest of his family.
He preferred to show it in private, still unused to being royalty, being the center of attention.
He was the heart of their family, yes, but.
All that meant was that he was the best and worst of all of them.
(Sometimes, he thought that he might regret the choice he’d made.)
(Maybe, if he’d screamed and fought he might’ve been able to go back to his normal life.)
(But his normal life hadn’t been all that good.)
(Tommy didn’t have any regrets.)
Tommy was just the same as his family in all the ways that mattered.
And he loved it.
He loved being Tech and Wil’s brother, loved being Phil’s son.
He loved his new life.
He loved his family.