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Techno calmly read to himself, sitting next to the warm fire that cast shadows across the room he was in. The stunning orange-yellow flames danced in the fireplace, and Techno took in their warmth.
He had gotten a letter from Philza about a ‘butcher army’ that day, talking about how they were coming for him or something. Techno prepared as well as he could for that.
There was nothing more he could do to stop them now, so let them come.
He would be prepared.
But as night fell and no one arrived, Techno decided that instead of stressing about his impending execution army, he would just relax.
He was in retirement, he didn’t want to deal with this.
So here he was, rereading ‘the art of war’ for the hundredth time.
He and chat never got bored of it, what could he say.
There was a crunch of snow outside his door, quiet and small, the sound only caught through Techno’s advanced hearing as a piglin hybrid. Techno swiftly got up. His relative peace forgotten as he quickly grabbed his sword.
Then they knocked.
Techno was immediately suspicious, from what he had heard, Quackity and Tubbo were the main leaders of the ‘butcher army’ and though both had an okay amount of rationale (clearly not that much since they decided to attack him in retirement), they weren’t the types for cloak and dagger operations.
Besides, by the way they barged into Philza’s house and put him under house arrest, they weren’t trying to be subtle.
So why would they knock upon his door? Knowing that Philza had for sure contacted him. Or maybe they didn’t know.
Techno thought it would be prudent to be cautious. Chat was incoherent as usual, though he caught some mentions of Tommy for some strange reason?
He peered out the window and walked around to the front door.
Tommy was on his doorstep.
Of all people, Techno hadn’t expected him, though he was starting to realise why Chat had suddenly mentioned them out of nowhere.
Tommy seemed worse for wear, his normally vibrant red shirt was dirty, and Techno could see places where the fabric had been torn and repaired.
That was an instant red flag to Techno, who personally knew his ‘brother’s’ sewing ability from Pogtopia.
When Tommy sewed, there wasn’t usually any hint that any tear was even there in the first place.
Even Techno, who had once torn his cape and seen the large tear himself, had trouble finding the hole after he had given it to Tommy to sew up.
So the fact that this shirt, the one Theseus loved so much, had obvious signs of use and wear was stressing Techno, and by extension Chat, out.
The second thing Techno noticed was the fact that Tommy’s hair had gone from a blonde almost like gold to a dirty brownish blonde.
And the colour, on anyone else, wasn’t usually an issue. Dirty blonde was a common hair colour after all, no hate to anyone who wore it proudly.
But Techno knew for a fact that Tommy’s hair colour had nothing to do with age, or hair dye, or any other possible reason for a change in colour.
No. Techo knew that what stained Tommy’s clothes and changed his hair was dirt.
And while Tommy was known to be a gremlin, that much was exceedingly obvious, Techno knew that the happy-go-lucky teen wasn’t one to neglect self care so much that he would get himself into this state.
Techno didn’t really like L’manburg that much, but he knew the going ons. He knew that Tommy had been exiled, heck, he had even laughed about it.
Not to mention that at least some people in L’manburg would care enough about Tommy to not let him get into this state.
So it was with that knowledge that he slowly approached the shivering teen, not dressed warmly despite the weather and hands red from the cold.
Tommy was not with the butcher army. (And in case you’re wondering, the didn’t get capitals in Techno’s mind because they didn’t deserve capitals.)
“Theseus? What’re you doin’ here?” Techno said gruffly, then winced slightly. There was no telling what had happened in exile, but from the way Tommy flinched, Techno knew it couldn’t be good.
Then Techno realised that Tommy had flinched. The loud boisterous kid that had met Techno and betrayed him in Pogtopia was flinching. It just didn’t make sense to Techno, the two vastly different personalities not aligning right.
He didn’t particularly care for Tommy - shut up and stop cooing at him chat - but he knew this just wasn’t right. It didn’t feel right.
“Please, I’m sorry. I just,” Tommy winced a bit and cut himself off, “I mean, what do you mean ‘what am I doing here’ can’t I come fucking visit.. for, for a bit.”
The imitation of Tommy’s usual personality felt forced, and it only served to make Techno feel that sense of wrongness even more.
“Come inside, Theseus,” Techno said shortly and then moved to open the door, letting the dirty teenager inside with a huff, “You’ve been standin’ in the cold for too long. Do you not have a coat or somethin’?”
Tommy quickly hurried inside, no confrontation at the order, no hesitation, just blind obedience. Where usually he would fight and argue because this was Tommy, he was just like that, stubborn to the T, he just went inside.
Tommy gave no answer to Techno’s question and Techno let it go. He sat Tommy down and offered him a bowl of stew. “Drink up Theseus, you need to eat somethin’ warm.”
Tommy had a faraway look to his eyes but Techno paid no mind to it. No mind to it, of course, until he all of a sudden picked up the spoon with trembling and drank the stew without even blowing on it.
Techno knew the temperature of the stew, it was practically freshly made. Tears sprung up in Theseus’s eyes, but they still kept on drinking.
At some point, after like three gulps, they hesitated for a second. They swallowed harshly, clearly working themselves up to eat. Techno finally registered how thin Tommy looked. What had happened in exile?
He slowly walked forward, hands up as if to calm a frightened animal. “You don’t have to force yourself to finish it.”
“But there’s so much left. I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m wasting so much food, I’m not being ungrateful I swear it’s just it’s too much. I’m sorry, Dream.”
Theseus was working himself into a panic, apologising to somebody that wasn’t there. It was all Techno could do to not stand still and helpless. The blue that was Tommy’s eyes wasn’t blue anymore. They were moreso a cloudy grey. They were hazed over, and Techno faintly realised that Tommy wasn’t seeing him, not anymore.
“Theseus, Theseus. Try to match my breathing, ready?”
Techno exaggerated his breathing patiently waiting for Tommy to copy. Slowly but surely, whether intentionally or conditioned to do so, Tommy followed.
The sickening idea that he was conditioned to follow orders only served to make Techno feel sick, so he tried to ignore that possibility. But with the way Theseus was constantly apologising for perceived ‘infractions’ did not paint a pretty picture.
He had only been in Techno’s house for a maximum of twenty minutes, and more than half of that time was spent calming him down from a panic attack. Techno already had a pretty good guess as to what was happening and he didn’t like it.
Chat and instincts and Techno’s own vague attachment to his family, no matter how strained it was, all served to make Techno feel murderous.
Tommy had mentioned Dream. They were behind this. And Techno would make Dream pay.
He swallowed down the rage, just for the moment and guided the now calm Tommy up to a guest room. He wanted, as a piglin, to make Tommy shower and restore their hair to the gold Techno knew it could be, but he purposefully refrained.
Tommy didn’t need that right now.
Instead, he showed Tommy the bed and gently guided the teen to lay upon it. Tommy didn’t argue once again.
He tucked them in, uncharacteristically gentle, and opened one of his many books on Greek mythology.
“These days, the origin of the universe is explained by proposin’ a Big Bang, a single event that instantly brought into being all matter from which everythin’ and everyone are made. The ancient Greeks had a different idea.*”
Tommy quickly fell asleep, and Techno let his voice whisper through the room. He didn’t put down the book until he too fell asleep.
He fell asleep with the promise of safety on his lips and the echo of protection resounding in his voice. He may not have expected this visitor, but they were welcome anyway.
After all, there was always room for family, even if Techno didn’t quite realise they were just yet.
*Disclaimer: This is word for word quoted from the beginning of the book ‘Mythos’ a book by Stephen Fry. Author has also not read the book but just researched it. It contains no explicit content. It does not necessarily reflect Author’s personal beliefs or ideals.