Chapter Text
Techno startled as he heard the ring of his doorbell, halfway through making potato soup for dinner.
It was a cold night in the middle of February, A cold rain drummed on the roof, and outside Techno’s small apartment, the streets were filled with puddles. He was fairly sure the parking lot might have been a little flooded, but he didn’t really have a reason to go out and check.
The hero was enjoying his night off. Normally at this hour he would be stalking the streets with Niki, keeping an eye out for trouble, but when the rain had started up that afternoon he had been informed that Squid would be taking his place.
He wasn’t complaining. The other hero’s main element was literally water. Techno would have been fairly useless next to him, with his normally intimidating size and costume choices working against him. Any villains nearby would have heard him splashing through puddles and swearing as he tried to wring out his cape long before Techno ever saw them.
So that evening, Techno was at home and making a nice warm bowl of potato soup.
At least he had been.
With a sigh, Techno put down the ladle in his hand and headed for the front door. What dumb salesperson would be out in this weather trying to sell him shoes or vacuums, he had no idea, but he was bored. At the very least he could get a laugh at the sales pitch. Or if it was a neighbor, he could possibly improv his relations with them. Prime knows he needed to actually find out their names….
And if it was Phil, well. Of course he would welcome him in with open arms. Even if the man technically shouldn’t be seen anywhere near him.
He swung open the door, hoping to XD that the wind wasn’t going to blow anything wet into his house.
And then stared. Then–
“What.”
A young man, draped in a large trench coat, was huddled on Techno’ s small porch. A man, whom Techno recognized as he looked up at him.
“Soot?”
“Hey, Techno,” Soot greeted, an edge of nervousness in his voice. “M-mind if I come in?”