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"- and they all lived happily ever after. The end."
Techno breathed a sigh as he finished the book, reaching over for a sip of his water.
"Can we read this one next!"
"No, this one!"
"I want-"
"Hey, hey, what did I say about fighting?" Techno scolded lightly, reaching forward to pluck the books from the hands of the various small children before they ended up as expensive confetti, "We have time for a short book next, you can pick between the Gruffalo and Octopants."
There was a brief squabble once more, but eventually Techno managed to corral them into voting for one or the other, and then he could go and find the book they decided on.
Techno had no clue how Bad dealt with children on a daily basis - the nine to eleven children's book club was usually run by him, every Saturday morning for years, and he always seemed to have much more control over the hordes than Techno was currently having.
Though then again, of course, the children all knew him well by this point, given that their little library was the only one in a twenty mile radius of their small town in the middle of nowhere, and parents loved nothing more than two hours of free baby-sitting.
It was just Techno's luck that Bad had called off sick this morning, and he'd had to take over.
Although he supposed it was a good distraction for what was waiting for him at home.
Namely, his fiancees.
Which- out of context sounded horrible - you should love and cherish the people you were marrying, not want to avoid them.
The issue was that Techno didn't want to get married, and that despite every protest he'd had, his parents had still arranged his wedding behind his back, getting everything booked months in advance before he'd even met his future spouses.
It was old fashioned, the idea that you had to be married in order to have a pack - the single year that Techno had gone to college, before his parents had pulled their help with the tuition and made him move home again, he'd met dozens of packs who functioned without needing legal documents or romance.
But nonetheless, no sooner had he turned eighteen was he being taken to dinner with a group of strangers, and proposed to in the middle of the fanciest restaurant he'd ever been in.
He'd said no, of course, eyes wide and looking around for help, but everyone had laughed at him, and the ring had been forced onto his finger while his future alpha and beta smiled like he'd been joking. They were a pair already, high school sweethearts, and had been ecstatic at getting a third to make them a full pack.
Techno had been horrified, and had done his best not to cry on the way home.
Back at the library, parents were arriving to collect their offspring, and Techno began to pack up to head home.
He was startled by a hand on his elbow, and a name that wasn't his.
"Uh- sorry, no, that's not me-" he said, blinking at the strange blonde man staring at him with wide blue eyes, "I'm Technoblade - can I help you? Are you here to collect your child?"
The man shook his head, still staring, "Technoblade…" he said softly, "That's- a lovely name. I'm Phil… my apologies, I thought you were someone else… you look terribly like him, you know? You could be twins…"
Techno laughed, slightly awkwardly, "Well uh- I don't think I have a long lost twin, but I can always ask my parents."
Phil shook his head, "You can't be related, he died many years ago…" The blonde man's hand fluttered up to his neck, where a faded mating bite lay, and Techno's stomach plummeted. Losing a mate was one of the worst pains in the world, or so he'd heard…
"I'm sorry for your loss?" he said, wincing when it came out like a question, "Is there anything else I can do for you today?"
Phil smiled but declined, and left swiftly, walking out through the doors.
Techno watched him go in bemusement… well, it wasn't his weirdest interaction here.
-0-0-0-0-0-
"I'm telling you, Kris," Phil said, "It was him. Everything from the red hair to that mole under his eye - I bet you that if he took his shirt off, he'd have the same birthmark on his shoulder and everything."
Kristen hummed, up to her neck in bubbles in the bath she was curled in, only her head and feet poking out of the cloudy water, "It's impossible, Phil, he's been dead four centuries, now. Reincarnation doesn't exist."
"Well according to most people, neither do immortals," Phil pointed out, "And yet here we are. It's just- what if he's here, and we're going to lose him again?"
"Well what do you suggest doing?" Kristen asked curiously, blowing a bubble off her nose, "You said he had promise rings on his fingers, he's clearly found love already."
"I managed to speak to one of the other employees there after he left," Phil said, shaking his head, "And it's an arranged marriage which Techno isn't happy with. He'd probably be happy if we saved him."
Kristen snorted, "You mean kidnap?"
"Eh, maybe not kidnapping - that would lead to a search and unwanted attention. I was thinking more- staging an accident and letting everyone assume he was dead, while we work on getting his memories back."
"I'm willing to try if you are. And even if it turns out he just happens to resemble our mate, we do need a third for the pack. We can treat him better than any of them."
Phil grinned, ducking his head to kiss his wife on the forehead, "I'll make some calls, in that case. I think that poor Techno is about to go off the side of a cliff."