#an hour later wilbur walks out shoulders down dirt on his face and holding out grabby hsnds for some food and tommy is fuckin ecstatic

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Pogburs posture through exile starts and remains perfect, when he knows eyes are watching. During his presidency, he practiced keeping his back straight and arms level and shoulders at perfect ease, and the habit carries through if only due to the fact that the reason he learned to stand like that was because that's what a 'good leader' does.

So he stands perfect and tall so no one thinks hes falling, because he has to be strong for the pogtopia rebellion, and for his friends still trapped in manberg.

And when his friends look away he slumps. Hes tired. He has no space to think about presentation with no one to present to, and he'll hardly be thinking about keeping himself looking nice just for his own happiness. There's too much else to do.

Pogbur slouches a lot, actually. He slouches in the farm, in the mine, when they're out on reconnaissance and when they come back late from exploring the forest above. When he forgets about the eyes always on him, he looks so much shorter. Smaller.

And, well, he knows that.

Its why he props his skeleton just so- looking broad and tall in posture whenever he realizes the eyes on him, from friend and foe alike. He has to be perfect and powerful, anything less would be pitiful.

He has to be perfect.

Eyes are on him.

He walks back to the underground ravine at night standing tall, cloak steadily following behind him as a stark black shadow. Tommy runs forward as they near, and Tubbo and Q follow if only to ensure he doesn't make off with the items their group scavenged.

Wilbur breathes slowly as they pass out of view among the trees. Its getting darker. He closes his eyes and allows his shoulders to fall, slowing his walk to an unfaltering limp at the dirt entrance of Pogtopia. When he makes his way down the spiralling stairs, his cloak drags on the steep, poorly carved steps behind him, indistinguishable from the leeching darkness surrounding him.

He limps out of the stairwell and into the main passage, where Tommy is probably yelling and Techno is probably snarking, and Niki is probably vigorously entrenching herself in any activity that will distract her from their circumstances, and then to the tunnels- those mad, crisscrossing, never-ending tunnels winding through the earth around them.

Wilbur finds himself, hours later, still moving through the sparsely lit tunnels. He notices his shoulder had been leaned against the jagged walls as he walked, so his jacket had torn through again. He'd get someone to mend that... later. Probably. His heels hurt. His spine hurts. His vertebrae wont stop pinching at the joint between neck and back.

Wilbur, of course, slowly makes his way back to Pogtopia, hoping that someone might still be up to help him make some food as a late night to early morning snack, and half-hoping everyone had left so he can let himself fall into a relaxed puddle somewhere deep within the dirt.

When he sees the faint flickering of light at the end of the tunnel, he feels a disappointment that adds another layer of rot to his bones. Someone is awake, still. He knows he can't handle anyone seei- Ex President and Rebellion Leader Wilbur Soot can't be seen dragging himself back to main base like a person in distress, so he straightens himself up like he's done some thousands of times and walks in with a confidence he's truly felt nearly twice in his life.

When he walks into the glorified hallway that is Pogtopia, his shoulders fall even farther than before when he realizes the light was from a furnace that had probably been running since before he left, fed by a continuous series of charcoal and potatos via hopper machine. There's not a single sound in the entire cavern, aside from his breathing and the crackles of the furnace. The hopper deposits a new potato to the furnace.

He takes a baked one from the chest below and nearly brings it to his teeth (what would be his first meal in 40 hours), but falters, hand shaking and setting the thing down somewhere solid before he drops it.

There's not a single sound around him. There are no eyes.

There's no one here right now to eat and talk with him, and help him cook food. He's really alone in this darkness now, so there is no point in keeping posture. There's no point in keeping health. He's safe from expectation.

Wilbur thinks he might cry if he thinks too long on that one, so he checks the hopper to see how many raw potatoes there are and clicks his tongue when he sees its nearly run out. Wilbur supposes it would probably be nice if someone actually got to work on fixing the automatic potato farm, and goes to do that for his friends. They're all out somewhere- wouldn't it be such a nice surprise, to come back to a repaired Pogtopia? A mended place, no cracks to be seen. No spiralling tunnels and mad decay. No damp corners or rotting, desolate dishes of food stacking up outside the room Wilbur never actually sleeps in.

He knows it should be an easy fix- he knows the problem, redstone dust never does well when exposed to constant damp, unchanging air. He just has to swap in dry dust and allow the wetter redstone to evaporate what it accumulated, so power can flow in an unblocked path across the machinery. Its simple, really.

So why can't he just do it? He knows the problem, the solution, and he even has a furnace already running that will help to dry the old dust. He steps into the farm and stops with his toes just in the soft soil at the edge. Why won't his body move further?

Hes tired. It's no excuse. He needs to do this, for his friends. He can't move. It's no excuse. Wilbur hurts, and can't stand only on two legs when he knows no eyes are watching. He drifts to the ground, it's no excuse. He has to clean up the wet redstone- else everyone will be disappointed by his shoddy leadership skills and terrible work ethic. He can't, he can't, he can't.

The room is dark, the furnace fire around a corner and a dozen meters down the hall. He knows the soil is damp, because his face has found its way to meet it. Its cold, here. Not as cold as he'd expect, but cold for a cave with no vents constantly lit by fire. He feels the wet of the dirt seep to his scalp and finds it comforting. Hes tired.

Its warm.

It is dark. There aren't any eyes here, so he sleeps in the comfortable soil, curled alone at the edge of the farm, as the furnace runs out of fuel and turns dark.

[amintyworld]

Michael Underscore Beloved Headcannons:

Michael did not speak for the longest time which made both Tubbo and Ranboo worried. He’d make a few pig noises here and there but that was it.

Happy squeals when he was very cheerful, grunts when he was angry, small whines when he was sad.

It was only when he had a big breakdown one day they brought the kid over to Uncle Techno, who began speaking in piglin to him to help him calm down, that they realized he didn’t know English. Technoblade gives him lessons every Tuesday from then on.

The first word he says is ‘Dad’ to both Tubbo and Ranboo at the same time when they were putting him to bed and he didn’t want them to leave yet, still a little scared of the dark. Both of them had that moment where they were both convinced they were the ones who got called ‘Dad’.

Cue little zombie piglin rushing in after a nightmare a few hours later, tears in his eyes as he looks at both of them, and they rush over to comfort him, the piglin hugging them both tearfully. “Dad!”

He has a stuffed animal chicken that he cannot get to sleep without, he calls it ‘mine’ so Tubbo and Ranboo just call the stuffie ‘Michael’s Chicken’.

Michael loves loves LOVES carrots, so much so that he’d find ways to climb on counters and reach high places to grab carrots to munch on, places often even he doesn’t even know how he got up there in the first place.

Tommy, first time babysitting, had no idea what he was in for, and nearly lost him for almost 40 minutes when he was just chilling on top of the fridge.

Speaking of Tommy, he’s Michael’s favorite babysitter by far. Often he’ll ask for more stories of his adventures, and of course Tommy may have twisted them a bit on how cool he really was in a few situations, but Michael loved hearing them. He even drew him and Tommy fighting against a slimy green monster labeled ‘Drem’. Tommy nearly cried when Michael showed him and keeps the drawing in his echest.

When Michael is misbehaving, often Ranboo will just pick him up with his tail and hover him off the ground in a timeout as he wriggles and squirms, crossing his arms angrily. This is the only way that piglin will ever sit still - Tubbo tried telling him to sit in a chair but found him with his hand in the cookie jar five minutes later.

Sometimes Tubbo will go out gathering honey for breakfast (Tubbo loves honey on toast) and bring Michael with him, who’ll sit there, looking up in absolute awe, pointing excitedly. “Bee!”

During something very urgent, Tubbo drops Michael off with Phil as he assures worried Ranboo and Tubbo over and over again that he’s in good hands, since the piglin is not used to being with anyone alone except for Tommy.

Phil spends the day with him playing out in the snow, and while cooking lunch for both of them Phil lets Michael wear his hat, and the piglin just lets out the happiest squeal - “Fil!”

When a snowstorm approaches later as night falls they make a campfire and Phil shows him how to make s’mores. The small piglin ends up passing out on the couch wearing Phil’s hat, and Phil just pulls the blanket up on him. “Night, little mate.”

When Michael gets a cold for the first time Tubbo and Ranboo go into full on PANIC MODE and then when they call up Phil he has to reassure them, no he’s not dying, he’s just sick.

As Techno’s English lessons improve he learns to read and of course Technoblade reads him all the Greek Mythology stories he has, and ends up calling Tommy “Fee-Fee” for Thesesus thanks to some encouragement from the Blade himself.

Bath Time used to always be a struggle until Ranboo found ‘Mr Duck’, an old rubber duckie from Phil’s older things - stuff that he kept from when Wilbur was a baby - that he washed and cleaned which entertained the piglin to no end.

Michael loves shiny things just about as much as he loves carrots, and that’s saying something. He became quite the little thief at taking anything shiny - gold ingots, iron ingots, diamonds, Ranboo’s crown - and making a little stash in his room. They eventually broke him of the habit, though his love of gold never really went away.

Tommy once, trying to be the cool uncle, went on a thieving trip for shiny things with Michael, and though many of the things they stole he had to return, he let him keep a gold nugget, which Michael treasured ever since, Tubbo even making the nugget into a necklace he could wear.

Ranboo, being the taller of the two, loves putting Michael up on his shoulders to go on walks, even introducing him to a few endermen after telling him the zombie piglin wasn’t a threat.

Michael was so scared at first, clinging behind Ranboo to his legs, holding out his small wooden play sword in fear. Ranboo knelt down next to him and gently pull away his sword to lay in the snow. “Hey, it’s okay, it’s okay, don’t be scared...” One of the enderman just comes up to Michael, looking to him in wonder before gently patting his head, letting out a glitched chirp before disappearing. “Where?!” Michael yelled, reaching to grab his sword again before the enderman appears again, making Michael scared and scrambling back into Ranboo’s arms. “It’s okay, it’s okay, look...” Ranboo reassured him as Michael looks over to see the creature offering up a dirt block, tilting its head in curiosity. Michael slowly approached, taking the block as the enderman picked up another and placed it beside the child, letting out another glitched chirp to encourage him. Looking over to his father for a moment, Michael moved to place the dirt next to the enderman’s, looking up to the creature, who leaned down to pat his head again as Michael hugged it tightly. Ranboo had never been more proud of him.

When a few people on the SMP started staring at the dark hole where his right eye should be, (not trying to be mean of course, they’re just a bit shocked when they finally meet him) Michael began to try to hide his face behind his parents more to avoid being seen. They told him that they knew a secret that he couldn’t tell anyone: people stared at him because he was special, so amazingly special that sometimes people were jealous of him and his amazing chicken herding and bravery. He brightened up after that, promising and crossing his heart never to tell, since it could make the others embarrassed. Michael grew more and more confident since then, and his parents could not be more prouder.

They were right. He was special. He was their special boy, and he always would be. <3

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What do you guys think? I’d love to make more of these, I have some ideas/Headcannons of older Michael if you guys are interested!! Hope you enjoyed, I love Michael so far and his place in cannon as well as lore, little tiny zombie piglin boy my beloved-! -Minty

[baka-monarch]

Dirt Crawlers

Look @darkeninganon , I beat you to writing the slug thing!!!! :)

(brain just randomly started thinking of story and I just decided to write it now before I lost motivation/inspiration)

Part 2->

TRIGGER WARNINGS: BUGS, FEAR, MENTION OF DEATH, FEELING SMALL, VERY GROSS DISCRETION

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Tommy watched Dream as he pushed the door to their hole in the ground open The younger Dirt Crawler was practically bouncing with excitement. Today was the day, finally Dream was taking him out on his first hunting trip. It was the perfect day for hunting as well, since it hadn't rained for weeks and was so bright and sunny out (as Tommy could tell from the blinding light coming through their burrow door) that there was no way it would rain; so there was no risk of them drowning in a puddle or getting dragged down to suffocate in mud. It was also the afternoon by now, judging by where the sun was, which meant almost no birds out hunting at all. Yeah, now would be the perfect time to get some food.

"You remember all the rules I told you, right?" Tommy was startled out of his thoughts by his older brother's voice.

"Yeah yeah yeah, I know I know!" The teen rolled his eyes. The rules had been drilled into him ever since he was a kid, ever since their parents were still around.

"Okay, so remember that we're only hunting aphids- no attacking ants, ladybugs, termites-"

"Mantises,"-He cut off Dream's words-"slugs- yeah yeah, I know boss man! We don't fight anything that isn't an aphid!!" Tommy climbed out of the burrow with that in mind. He already knows what happens if a Dirt Crawler tries to fight anything other than an aphid, he's been told the horror stories thousands of times. Ants will swarm you if you hurt one, ladybugs can headbutt trample and eat you, termites can take a limb off with one bite, and mantises- of Prime Tommy really does NOT want to think about fucking mantises.

"I'm just making sure-" Dream added as he climbed out to stand next to Tommy, kicking their burrow door closed behind himself. "I know how adventurous you can get at times and I don't want to risk anything." The elder puts a hand on Tommy's shoulder and looks into his baby brother's eyes seriously. The world is a dangerous place for someone only half an inch tall, and he wants to make sure his baby brother is safe.

"Stop worrying so much- I'm not gonna leave your side big man." Tommy smirks into their serious gaze and gives his brother a comforting pay on the shoulder, making them sigh with relief.

"Good- because I don't know what I'd do without your annoying voice." Dream jokes with a slightly forced chuckle and ruffles the teen's curly blond hair. Tommy only groans in annoyance and pushes his hand away, which only makes Dream let out another fond chuckle. "C'mon, we don't have all afternoon!" The elder doesn't give Tommy any time to fix their hair as he grabs their hand and pulls them off into the towering grass blades.

It's a few hours later when the two brothers find themselves watching from being blades of grass as several aphids hop around on the dirt, having called off of the grass after the two tiny people had shaken their plant homes with the help of a light breeze. Dream pulls out a small sword and turns to Tommy to make sure he's holding his own sword correctly. Once the eldest is sure the time is perfect, he gives a signal with his hand and both split- Dream running in from the right and Tommy from the left, both catching the tiny bugs off guard and using that to their advantage to slice off the heads of several before they can jump out of reach.

"You did it!" Dream smiles up at Tommy who himself is smiling proudly. They were running low on food, and now with Tommy's help, they're both sure to have more than enough aphids to last them for a week or more at least. "This should be good- you, did good Toms." The green clad Dirt Crawler walks over to his brother and ruffles their hair, and this time Tommy does not complain. "Now help me bag them up-"

"Yes sir!" Tommy gives a small thumbs up and starts to fill his sprig woven bag with the dead aphids as Dream does the same. It's all fine until one of the aphid bodies gets up and starts to limp away- Tommy missed it's head. "I'll get it!" He calls over to his brother, who gives a nod of acknowledgement before Tommy chases after the aphid, knowing he can easily catch and kill it since it can't jump.

Tommy doesn't notice anything suspicious as he approaches the injured aphid. He doesn't look around at his surroundings as he gets out his sword. He doesn't look up as he stabs the bug and finally kills it. He does however scream after looking up to see where the droplet of slime had come from on his sword after landing the killing blow.

Dream snaps his head up to attention, his eyes wide with fear for his Tommy as he looks to where they'd run off to- and he almost screams as well. "IT'S A SLUG!!!!" He's quick to run over and grab Tommy's arm and start to drag the petrified teen away before they can be eaten.

Tommy doesn't hesitate to follow Dream once he snaps out of his state of fear. As they run Tommy tries not to think about the humongous slimey being of pure squishy muscle, with four eyes that stared at him with nothing but hunger, and a large gaping mouth that was opening and closing, ready to eat it's lunch with the rows upon rows of tiny razor sharp teeth that could allow the disgusting giant to swallow him whole. Tommy shivers, yeah that's going to be haunting his nightmares- oh well at least slugs are slow, so he and Dream have plenty of time to run away…. Or so he thought, before suddenly his running is slowed significantly by something making him stick to the ground. The teen looks down, and sees he's stepped into a trail of familiar slime that has him now stuck where he stands.

"Dre- Dream!?" He yells to his older brother, who also finds himself slowed by the slime trail. Dream looks at his brother sadly, and grabs their arms before desperately trying to pull Tommy free as the slug approaches at a slow orgilating crawl towards them.

"Tommy- Tommy, look at me!" Dream said, keeping his voice firm, trying to give his baby brother something to focus on. "Don't look back- don't- d- don't look behind you. Just focus on me, we're going to get out of this." At least Tommy is close enough for Dream to pull them into a hug. He lets Tommy bury their face into his chest, letting them cry as he glares up at the omnivore that had successfully hunted them down on Tommy's first aphid gathering…

"I- I'm scared…" Tommy admits quietly, something they usually would never do, but Dream can understand in this situation: getting stuck while running from a slug is certain death for any and all Dirt Crawlers.

"I know… I know, but it's going to be okay, I promise…." Dream whispers softly and weaves his fingers into Tommy's soft golden curls, something that's always calmed them down, no matter how old. He hugs his small brother close, closing his eyes so he can savor one last moment with them…

BOOM-SQUELCH!!!

The sound is loud and disturbing to hear for the absolutely miniscule brothers, and they both open their eyes wide in surprise and fear of what happened. All that can run through Dream's head is that the slug must've been crushed by something, but what? A deer? A wolf maybe? Possibly even a skunk even if they aren't in this area? The only way to find out is to look up- and up- and up and up and up and-

"Fuck." Dream doesn't cuss often, but for this occasion it feels necessary.

"Wh- wha-" Tommy begins to ask but cuts off his own words as he feels all his breath leave him in fear, as he looks up too.

A giant. An actual giant. A person, thousands of times their size was standing right on top of where the slug had been only seconds before- and it seemed like they didn't even notice they'd crushed anything.

"Human…" Dream mutters quietly, remembering the word from a story their mom told him once before Tommy was born. Giants- humans- weren't supposed to be here. Dirt Crawlers almost never had to deal with humans… yet here one stood, having unintentionally saved the two brothers lives, and Dream realized in a moment how close they both were to that death dealing foot, and if the human hadn't seen the slug, then if they took another unfortunate step- "R- run- we need to run! Run!!" Dream shouts and starts to pull Tommy, and his brother quickly gets the message as they both pull themselves out of the slime to start running.

Dream doesn't let go of Tommy's hand the whole time as they both run as fast as they can, but it doesn't feel fast enough as every time Dream looks back the human looks just as close as they were before and- oh gods they were looking down at them. Dream pushes forward, trying to pull Tommy even faster with a feigned hope that maybe, just maybe they can at least get to the burrow in time and be safe until the human leaves-

Dream bounces back off of something hard and smooth, he can't see it but he can feel it. Tommy rushes forward to stand beside him and starts to bang on the invisible wall; it's a fruitless effort however as both know that anything used by humans is guaranteed to be too strong for either to break through. Only a few seconds later they feel gravity change and they're sliding down the wall, Dream grabs Tommy and hugs him, wanting to make sure that wherever they land his brother is safe more than anything. They eventually hit a bottom, made of another invisible wall- and as Dream looks up he meets two massive eyes, twice as big as himself, staring directly at him and his brother.

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Mcyt g/t list:

@trashpumped @lorie-the-little-ghost @encaos @i-am-a-weeb @wyforyu-gaming @5unfl0writ3r @colorfulsiren @moonmwah @iwasgoingtohellanyways @echoslime @wilbur-simp @trouble-off-grid @lilsyxx @smogs-0 @hello-world-im-snow

[corysmiles]

Caught (Again) Part 3.

Friendly Giant AU

part 1

part 2

cw//language, mentions of fatal vore (this part is extremely vague and short)

(Also I’m so sorry this is longer than the things I usually post but I hope you like it 💛)

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“Wilbur please eat your food,” Phil hummed from across the table.

It had only been a couple hours since Wilbur woke up, and he was already becoming a problem. The moment his eyes opened he was yelling for help. They tried to calm him down but the hysteric man wouldn’t stop shouting about the giant.

“Dad stop fucking ignoring me! I know i saw-“

“Wilbur!” Phil snapped, “Please, eat your food. We’ll discuss this later, but you need to eat.”

Techno took a spoonful of the soup and nudged it towards Wilbur’s face. As soon as it touched his lips Wil sputtered and slapped it out of the older man’s hand. The spoon hit the table with a hard thud, interrupting the uncomfortable silence.

“Fucking stop it, I’m not a child!” Wilbur gasped.

Techno picked the spoon back up and huffed, “You’re really acting like it.”

Wilbur shot Techno a dangerous glare and shoved the soup bowl away from him. It sloshed out onto the table, spilling onto WIlbur’s lap.

“Dad the towns in trouble! It knows where we-“

Wilbur couldn’t even finish his sentence before a spoonful of soup was forcefully shoved into his mouth by Techno. Wil coughed and hit his chest but swallowed it down.

“Will I love you I really do, but you’re probably concussed,” Phil said softly, “And we’d know if there was a giant I promise. That’s our job. If the boys had been with a giant they would be dead, and look at them, not dead.”

Wilbur shot a dangerous glance at Tubbo and Tommy who just sat in silence at the other end of the table. Tommy’s face lit up with a sly smile as he turned to face their angered brother.

“I don’t know how they’re not dead. But I KNOW what I saw,” Wilbur snarled.

“You’re being stupid big man,” Tommy scoffed, “Of course theres no giant we don’t have a death wish.”

“Oh shut the fuck up Tommy,” Wilbur snapped.

“Don’t talk to your brother like that,” Phil scolded, “but Wil is right mate. Going into the forest was stupid of you two, you basically did have a death wish...I really don’t believe you two found a giant, but if one actually did find you, we’d be holding a funeral right now.”

Tubbo looked up at Phil with a mouthful of soup and nodded.

“You know how dangerous they are,” Phil said, “They aren’t people. A giant would slaughter you like pigs and not have a second thought.”

“Tell me more dad I’m intrigued,” Tommy grinned.

Phil glared at Tommy and sighed, “It’s not a joke Tommy. Giants are a serious danger, all we are to them is food.”

“Mhm,” Techno hummed.

“Giants are the closest things to the devil you’ll ever meet.”

“Mhm,” Phil agreed, “They wouldn’t even hesitate to eat kids like you, you’re like a fucking snack to them.”

Tubbo stared down at his soup while Tommy continued to egg on their father. The claims he made about giants got more and more extreme...but at least the soup tasted good.

“Can we please stop talking about this,” Wilbur snapped after a couple minutes. His posture was stiff, and the staring contest he had with their father was thick with tension. It didn’t last long though before Phil reluctantly gave up and motioned for him to eat more.

“I’m gonna uh..I’m actually gonna go to sleep now I’m pretty tired,” Tubbo exclaimed after a few minutes of silence. Tommy grabbed at his arm to get him to stay but Tubbo was already gone.

As soon as Tubbo got to his room he dropped down against the wall and pulled his legs to his chest. A deep breath cleared his mind.

At least Ranboo was okay, he thought. And Tommy was doing a good job of convincing Wilbur nothing happened. Even though Tubbo felt a bit guilty over lying to their brother, if it meant Ranboo was safe it would have to happen.

He would never forgive himself if he was the reason Ranboo got caught.

After an hour the door to his room slowly creaked open as Tommy entered.

“You feeling alright big man?” Tommy asked as he sat down beside Tubbo.

Tubbo sighed and leaned his head against his brother’s shoulder. He was thankful for Tommy’s help but it was still overwhelming.

“Yeah,” Tubbo whispered, “Just anxious...we were so close to being caught.”

A gentle hand rubbed against Tubbo’s back while he talked.

“Try not to worry about it,” Tommy sighed, “I’ll deal with Wilbur, and dad and Techno don’t suspect anything. It’s all okay...Are you gonna visit him tonight?”

Tubbo stared at the floor for a few seconds, just letting his eyes follow the natural grain of the wood. It was a habit he’d had since he was a kid. He used to make stories out of all the shapes and pictures he found hidden in the wood, but now all he could find in the grains were reminders of Ranboo- his eyes, his tail, his awful fishing rod.

“Yeah, I think I should,” Tubbo sighed, “He’s probably so worried right now.”

Tommy hummed beside him in agreement. The hand on his back pulled him closer against his brother’s side.

“Yeah, wouldnt wanna make Boob anymore anxious than he already is,” he smiled, “I’ll go with you- to make sure nothing happens of course. Wouldn’t want a giant to mercilessly kill you.”

Tubbo snorted and punched Tommy’s side, “I hope he slaughters you.”

“And eats me too right?”

“Obviously,” Tubbo snorted, “Like a snack.”

After a few hours when they were sure the rest of their family was asleep, Tubbo carefully cracked open their window letting them both jump out onto the grass below. It was still squishy from the morning rain, but further out in the forest it would hopefully be dry. The thick tree tops could be thanked for that.

Tubbo and Tommy got all the way to the walls with no issue. One at a time they climbed up the small ladder on the side until they reached the top. Tubbo sent his brother a grin before hopping off onto the pile of leaves they’d set up below.

Tubbo thought it was strange looking back at the walls. From the other side they looked so small, especially compared to the giant he actually did know...it was a good thing Ranboo had no intentions of getting into town. Or hurting anyone.

After a few seconds he was startled out of his thoughts by the thud of Tommy landing beside him.

Tommy grabbed his wrist as started to lead them forward. But they didn’t get very far before a heavy weight tackled into them from the darkness.

“Fuck!?” Tommy yelped as the boys were slammed onto the ground.

Tubbo desperately tried to push off whatever monster was attacking them until a familiar voice grunted in pain.

“Wilbur!?” Tubbo asked incredulously.

When the weight finally got off of them they were met by a very very angry looking Wilbur. His head was still bandaged from where Tubbo had hit him, but apparently he was fine enough to be up and moving.

“Where the fuck are you two going?” he growled.

Tommy brushed the dirt off his shirt and glared at their older brother.

“What the fuck-“

“No no no, what the fuck are you two doing? Are you fucking idiots?” Wilbur asked.

Tommy sighed and grabbed Wilbur’s wrist. His soft placating smile was all Tubbo needed to know what would happen next. It was his lying smile.

“Jeez Wil calm down. We followed you out here, are you lost dude? Are you ok-“

Wilbur slapped Tommy’s hand away with a shout, “I’m fucking fine, stop treating me like I’ve lost my mind! Now you’ve got two fucking minutes to tell me what’s going on or I’m telling dad you were out here again.”

“Not like he’d believe it,” Tommy snapped back.

Wilbur’s glare hardened as he marched forward, his finger pointed at Tommy’s chest.

“Oh so you fucking admit you’ve been lying to me, Huh? Really nice of you,” he snarled.

“Hey hey stop it!” Tubbo shouted. Immediately Wilbur’s head shot towards him with a deep frown. His finger still pressed against Tommy’s chest.

“You fucking too,” Wilbur growled, marching towards Tubbo, “Why are you out here what the fuck is wrong with you, I expect you to be smarter at least!”

“Hey!” Tommy snapped.

Wilbur shushed Tommy with a hand and glared back down at Tubbo. Even as sickly as he looked he was still intimidating, and Tubbo didn’t think he’d ever seen Wilbur that angry before.

“Tubbo you take me where you were going...or I tell dad,” he said slowly, “If you’re going to leave anyway I’m going too.”

Tubbo stared into the older man’s eyes and saw the liquid fear starting to swirl inside of them. Wilbur was angry but...there was more to it. It made sense given how often he had nightmares about the giant that had gotten into town. Of course, he’d be afraid of seeing another one.

“Tubbo let’s just take him home we can-“

“No,” Tubbo interrupted, his eyes didn’t leave Wilbur’s.

“No...he can come Tommy,” he said.

Immediately Tommy gasped in confusion and shoved Tubbo’s shoulder.

“What the fuck are you talking about you can’t just-“

“Tommy.”

“Tubbo it’s not safe it’s not-“

“Tommy.”

“Do you even care about him, what the-“

“Tommy!” Tubbo shouted.

Tommy’s eyes hardened into ice as he stared at Tubbo. But Tubbo knew what he needed to do.

“You can come Wilbur,” Tubbo said slowly.

Wilbur blinked, seemingly confused by how fast he had won, and nodded at Tubbo. He straightened his posture but his eyebrows still furrowed anxiously.

“Let’s go then.”

The three walked through the forest in a thick silence. Tubbo lead the group while Tommy walked behind with Wilbur. The previously furious man now just seemed terrified. His eyes flicked back and forth anxiously, and every broken branch or gust of wind made him flinch. Tubbo was sure that if he even said the man’s name he’d bolt the other direction.

“How long until we get there?” Wilbur asked.

Tubbo turned back to him and shrugged earning a glare from Wilbur.

“We’re almost there,” Tubbo hummed, “You should know, you’ve been here already haven’t you?”

Wilbur paused in his steps. The white noise of crickets and birds filled the silence.

“It was real...” Wilbur whispered. His voice so thin it almost blended into the sound of the wind.

Tommy’s eyes darted to Tubbo sending him a silent warning- he had to be careful. But they’d already gotten that far.

Tubbo locked eyes with his older brother and nodded. Immediately, Wilbur’s mouth squeezed shut, and for a moment Tubbo feared he would run until thankfully he fell back in line with the group.

After a few minutes they were at the entrance to the den. The warm air from inside washed over Tubbo like a comfortable blanket or a hug, but Wilbur didn’t seem as pleased. He could almost see the fear radiating off of Wilbur in waves as he stared into the dark cave.

“It’s safe,” Tubbo muttered, gently resting his hand on Wilbur’s shoulder.

Wilbur nodded and swallowed, letting himself be guided in by his younger brothers. Every step was torturously slow though since he kept having to stop to collect himself.

“We’re almost there Wil,” Tommy whispered at the fourth stop. He laid an arm around his brother’s shoulder and waited patiently until he stood back up, ready to walk again.

When they turned around the next corner the tunnel lit up- they were close now. Tubbo’s feet sped up like he was on autopilot and he had to force himself from running through the rest of the tangled pathways.

It wasn’t long before a familiar booming voice echoed through the last tunnel.

“Tubbo?”

Immediately a gasp escaped Wilbur. Tubbo turned to his brother who looked like he was about to pass out- his whole body stood deathly still and his eyes looked like they were a second away from rolling to the back of his head.

“What...” Wilbur heaved.

Tommy motioned for Tubbo to go on and sighed, “I’ll stay with him until he’s ready.”

Tubbo nodded and walked the rest of the way into the large cavern where Ranboo was curled up next to Michael. Meanwhile Tommy’s cow Henry slept peacefully against the stone wall of the den.

“Hey Boo,” Tubbo grinned.

As soon as the red and green eyes met his own they beamed with excitement. Behind Ranboo his giant tail thumped up and down happily.

“Wheres Tommy?” Ranboo asked.

Tubbo walked up to his friend and leaned against his giant arm. His body sunk into the soft fur and he could already feel the feint vibrations of a purr.

Tubbo took a deep breath and rubbed his hand into the giant’s fur, “He’s uh...well we have a guest?”

Ranboo tilted his head at the human before a loud gasp came from the other side of the den. Standing next to Tommy in the entrance to the cavern was Wilbur, and he looked horrified.

“You...it-“ Wilbur froze, “Oh my god.”

Wilbur’s shifted away, but before he could run Tommy grabbed his arm and yanked him forward.

“Fuck! Let me go,” Wilbur yelled, “Let me go please!”

Tommy shushed his brother while Ranboo stared wide-eyed at the man. His ears pushed flat against his head and Tubbo could tell by the way Ranboo’s fingers moved to wrap around him that he was anxious.

“Wil, he’s not gonna hurt you,” Tubbo said softly. To prove his point he rested his arm against one of Ranboo’s massive fingers- it didn’t seem to comfort Wilbur much though if his heavy breathing was anything to go off of.

“Wilbur breathe,” Tommy hummed, “It’s safe I promise. I don’t even like him, but you’re safe.”

“Yeah we’re not gonna let you get hurt big man,” Tubbo reassured.

Above them all Ranboo made a show of putting his hands behind his back before sitting back down.

“See not scary,” Tubbo smiled.

However, Wilbur still looked like he was going to cry. His eyes blinked frantically to clear away the oncoming tears while Tommy tried to calm him down to no avail.

Wilbur gulped down a deep breath, “How are you...”

Tubbo opened his mouth to continue before Ranboo’s voice echoed through the den again.

“I’m not gonna hurt you,” Ranboo whispered, “You can leave if you want.”

Wilbur’s head snapped upwards as he cowered away from the giant again.

“Look...I’ve been seeing Tubbo and Tommy for months now,” Ranboo said slowly, “If I meant to hurt them I already would have done it...And you’re their family, so why would I hurt you?”

Wilbur tightened his grip on Tommy’s arm, “You’re a monster...”

A soft hum came from Ranboo as the giant shifted to lay down on his stomach- his face now eye level with Wilbur.

“I know,” Ranboo agreed, “...But Im not going to hurt you. I would never.”

Meanwhile Tubbo walked over to Ranboo’s face and leaned against his cheek. With one finger Ranboo moved Tubbo to his nose and gently pushed against the human. Wilbur’s mouth hung open as he watched.

“Tubbo...” Wilbur exhaled.

Tubbo smiled at Wilbur and motioned for him to come closer. With a gentle nudge from Tommy, Wilbur reluctantly took a couple of steps until he was only a few feet from Ranboo’s face. His posture was rigid like a frightened animal ready to flee, but it was progress.

When nothing happened Wilbur took a couple more steps until he was face to face with giant. Ranboo’s massive eyes blinked once at the human before closing.

“How is this possible?” Wilbur whispered.

Tubbo shrugged and grabbed onto Wilbur’s wrist with a questioning look. When there was no resistance from Wilbur, Tubbo slowly placed his hand against Ranboo’s fur. Wilbur tensed up at the feeling but allowed Tubbo to guide his fingers through the thick strands.

“He’s different big man,” Tommy hummed from beside the two, “Not like the one you saw before.”

“Yeah, and he saved me yaknow?” Tubbo smiled.

Wilbur yanked his hand away when a slow vibration resonated from Ranboo’s body. Tubbo chuckled and guided Wilbur’s hand back down.

“He’s just purring dude,” Tubbo reassured, “It’s safe.”

Wilbur furrowed his eyebrows at the the giant with a small frown.

“See he’s just like a big dumb cat,” Tommy laughed.

One of Ranboo’s eyes popped open and glared at Tommy. Slowly, as to not startle Wilbur, Ranboo’s hand gently shoved Tommy to the side; Tommy huffed out some curses but didn’t seem too upset.

And for the first time that night Tubbo heard Wilbur laugh. It was soft and still a bit shaken, but it was a laugh nonetheless. Ranboo seemed to notice too and slowly opened his eyes to look back down at Wilbur.

Slowly, Ranboo pressed his face against Wil’s hand and whispered, “It’s okay”

Wilbur let out a small broken laugh, “This is...this is so fucked up.”

“Tell me about it,” Tommy scoffed.

Wilbur watched in complete awe as the giant reached out a hand to him. The clawed fingers were only an arms-length away but the creature made no move to grab at him.

Within seconds Tubbo had crawled up onto the outstretched palm and Tommy reluctantly allowed himself to be pulled up too. Wilbur’s face fell at the sight.

“I won’t move I promise,” Ranboo whispered, “And you don’t have to.”

Wilbur took a deep breath and slowly reached out his hand to the giant’s. His skin met Ranboo’s for a brief moment before he pulled away again. He couldn’t bring himself to be that close to that...that monster.

“I...I would like to go home,” Wilbur muttered, “Please.”

Ranboo smiled sadly at the older human and gently placed Tubbo and Tommy back onto the ground. Tommy looked like he was about to argue with Wil before Tubbo stepped in.

“We can go home Wil just...you can’t tell anyone about him,” Tubbo said sternly.

Wilbur met Tubbo’s hard gaze and let his eyes momentarily shift up to the giant’s. The red and green gaze was frightening, but it also held a deep sense of kindness.

After a few moments he let out a small hum of agreement and waved an anxious goodbye to the giant.

“I’m Ranboo,” the giant called out, “By the way.”

Wilbur paused beside his brothers and thought for a moment before turning on his heel. His eyes held a sense of determination as he walked back to the giant. With a deep breath he moved his hand to the giant’s own and pressed into the fur.

“I’m Wilbur,” he said after a few seconds of silence.

Ranboo grinned and gave him a small hum before Wilbur ran off back to the other humans. The giant watched as the three left- his tail wagged beside him happily. He was a little upset Tubbo wouldn’t be staying, but the meeting with Wilbur wasn’t that bad.

Ranboo knew it was hard for people to get used to him but he hoped eventually Wilbur would come around too.

[lin-nin]

Tribulation & Tenderness - Chapter 10

Ship: Main Technoblade x Reader, some Dream x Reader

Plot:   You're a princess in a Kingdom suffering a years long famine. In a   desperate attempt to help your people, you accept one simple offer:   Marriage to the crown prince of a neighboring kingdom. Anything to help  your people survive. Surely it can't be too bad, can it?

Chapter List: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Disclaimer:   Cross-posted on Wattpad (discontinued) and Ao3. This is based off of everyone's CHARACTERS. I do not write fanfic based off the actual people.

--

Chapter 10: Wedding Plans

< | Previous Chapter

Your first night at the new kingdom was rough. You laid in your bed for hours, your blanket pulled to your chin. You wanted nothing more to sleep- it sounded like a blessing at the moment. It didn’t come easy, and you eventually moved to look out the window instead. The blanket hung around your shoulders as you did, a quiet sigh spilling from your lips. The view outside felt completely different at night, the soft glow of the moon spilling over the land. In the surrounding city you could make out the warm glow from the lamps. It was surreal, feeling so much more different than your home.

You pondered about what your life here would entail. Techno hadn’t really said too much. You figured you would be told as the days went on what to expect. You figured most of your time as of current would be dedicated to preparation for the wedding. Maybe even some training, if Techno found time to do so. You didn’t know what his duties would entail, and how similar they would be to George’s. You’d adjust inevitably. Exhaustion was weighing heavy on you, your gaze once more shifting to the bed longingly. You weren’t entirely sure if you would be able to fall asleep just yet. You pondered going to the library, but decided against it. That was on the other side of the castle. You didn’t have the confidence to go alone at night, either. Beyond Techno and his brothers, you didn’t know who to trust.

So, with a defeated sigh, you trudged back to the bed and wrapped the blanket tight around you. Might as well try to sleep. Absorbing yourself into your thoughts would only lead to exhaustion tomorrow. Which wasn’t what you really wanted. You knew tomorrow would inevitably be busy. The wedding had been mentioned multiple times, you knew there needed to be planning for that.

It felt like you had only blinked, head full of thoughts of the wedding, when you were cracking your eyes open. Light spilled into the room through the window you had gazed out of earlier, making you sigh. Breakfast. The thought made your stomach turn a little. This would be your first proper introduction to the court. Sure you knew plenty of people, but you had managed to evade dinner last night due to the tour. You couldn’t as easily escape the obligation of breakfast. If you did, your body would make you pay dearly later. Besides, you couldn’t avoid it forever.

You peeled yourself out of bed, wandering towards the closet. You wanted to make a good impression on everyone, without being so horribly overstated. You freted, before settling on one of your simpler dresses. You set it aside, thumbing through your jewelry for something to wear. You briefly ran your thumb over the necklace Dream had given you, marveling it. It was almost tempting to wear it, to have that comfort and security you had always felt with the blonde. Yet you decided against it, choosing something less understated that your mother had given you on one of your birthdays.

Once satisfied with the choice in clothes, you stole away to the bathroom. It had been a couple of days since you last bathed, and you figured it wouldn’t hurt. You did skeptically eye the full bath, trying to guess when servants had slipped into your room to fill it. No matter. Steam rolled along the surface of it, and you couldn’t help but sigh as you slid into it. It worked rather quickly to relax your muscles and nerves. You definitely needed that. You eyed the small shelf by the tub, picking up a few of the bottles to smell them.

One smelled of vanilla, which you deeply considered. The other you smelled carried the scent of rose and lemon, a scent you easily recognized. It was hardly different from the one you used at home, which you had forgotten to bring. The only thing that seemed to be missing was the base note of patchouli, and you did miss the earthiness just a touch. All the same, you were content that this was here, wherever it came from. You quickly used the bottle to help freshen yourself up. A quick run over with a damp cloth ensured you were rid of any dirt. As the water began to cool, you finally pulled yourself up and out of the tub to dress.

You lingered in the room, fingers running over your dress a few times. Nervously. You really didn’t want to walk into the dining hall alone. As if to answer your silent pleas, there was a knock on your door that you quickly answered. Techno stood on the other end, peering down at you through his glasses. You offered a soft smile, trying to hide your nerves.

“I figured I should walk with you to breakfast. Since we missed dinner and all,” He explained, but you only nodded. You stepped out of the room, shutting the door behind you as you did so.

“Right, sorry about that, still. I appreciate you walking with me.” Your hands once more smoothed down over your dress, almost fussing on if your appearance was perfect. Who all would be there? Perhaps just a few other nobles, maybe the King’s advisors. It shouldn’t be too big, should it?

“Making things seem distant between us would only give people reason to dislike you.” The words only served to make you shudder, a frown on your face. You easily recalled Philza’s words of the advisor, the thought causing your stomach to turn. This was going to be a rough breakfast, you already knew.

“Right. Some people aren’t exactly excited about this. That’s fine. I’m prepared for that,” You muttered in an attempt to reassure yourself. Techno reached up, giving a reassuring pat against your back.

“They’re harmless. It doesn’t matter what they think,” Techno muttered as the pair of you descended the stairs. You sighed but nodded. He was right, honestly. It wasn’t like the king hated you, and the rest of the royal family seemed to at least not hate you. So long as they didn’t hate you, you hoped you could stomach the rest. From down the hall you could already hear Tommy making a fuss, causing you to smile. That helped ease your nerves. It was a different environment than you were used to.

You glanced at the table as you walked in, relieved by the familiar faces around the table. Techno moved towards his father, pausing to pull out one of the empty chairs and motioning you into it. Your eyes scanned the few unfamiliar faces as you sat down, trying to ease your anxiety.

“Mornin’ Techno! Mornin’ Techno’s wife!” Tommy called as Techno sat between you and his father, causing the pink-headed prince to glance at his brother.

“She’s not my wife yet, Tommy,” he simply clarified, sounding far from amused.

“How’d you sleep, kiddo?” Philza detracted the attention from his rambunctious nephew, offering you a smile. You relaxed a little, appreciating the older man’s words.

“I slept alright,” You murmured, offering a feeble smile. You hadn’t slept great, or all that much, and you had a feeling it showed on your face.

“It’s a new place, that’s always rough. I’m sure it’ll get better soon.” You could only nod at his words, thankful for the reassurance. He was nice, and truthfully you enjoyed that about him. He felt very much fatherly. Techno slid a cup in front of you, steam billowing from it. You smiled thankfully, offering a quiet thank you as you picked it up. Tea was definitely acceptable this early in the morning, especially as a slight chill clung to the castle.

The man sat beside Philza cleared his throat, offering a gentle smile. Your attention quickly turned to him, brow furrowing a little. He wasn’t someone you recognized- definitely didn’t meet him yesterday. “A pleasure to finally meet you. I’m Eret- cousin to those three.” He motioned to the prince’s as he talked, and you nodded slightly.

“Nice to meet you. Techno never mentioned having a cousin.” You set down the cup in your hands, glancing at Techno briefly. He furrowed his brow, a soft ‘heh?’ leaving him.

“He likes to forget about him.” Wilbur spoke up, causing Tommy to laugh. You sighed, shaking your head with a small laugh.

“I don’t know how! Eret’s been here since he was little,” Tommy spoke between laughter, making your gaze turn back to the brunette across from you. He seemed almost embarrassed, shrugging.

“I’m sure Techno had a lot on his mind whenever he spoke of the kingdom, there’s a lot of people to remember here.” Eret didn’t seem too bothered by the lapse of information, and you shrugged.

“He mentioned Tubbo, though. Is he forgetful enough to mention a family friend as opposed to his actual family?” You teased, throwing a sly grin at Techno. It was easy to slip into this with the egging on of his brothers.

“Oh- Did he really? I mean, I practically did grow up with Tommy,” Tubbo asked, head popping up.

“You’re like a little brother to us, Tubbo. You were always there, Eret didn’t come to the kingdom until Techno was almost seven, remember?” Wilbur pushed, and the brunette seemed to purse his lips in thought.

“Not well, no. We love Eret anyways!” The man between Eret and Tubbo scoffed, a hand holding his head. Tired brown eyes stared at his plate, a glass bottle in hand. He looked rough, stubble lining his jaw and brown locks falling into his eyes. You eyed the brown liquid within the bottle as silence fell over the table.

“That’s Schlatt, the advisor Philza spoke of yesterday,” Techno’s voice came quietly against your ear, making you jump in surprise. When the hell had he gotten there? Your attention quickly turned back to the man as he took a drink from the bottle. Was that alcohol?

Physically, you could see the similarities between him and Tubbo, but that was about it. Even now, the younger brunette seemed largely uncomfortable next to him. It made your chest pang, wondering what all had happened to cause the rift in their relationship.

Schlatt stood up with a grunt, sloppily pushing in his chair. “Come on, Tubbo. We’ve got work to do,” Schlatt called. There was a drawl in his voice that made you rather uncomfortable. You didn’t like him, and you had a feeling it was similar to the way the princes felt towards him.

Tubbo looked down to his plate, seemingly steeling himself. “Yes, Schlatt,” he muttered softly. What had Schlatt done that had made the brunette become so quiet? You didn’t like it one bit. Before Tubbo could even move to follow his father, you spoke out.

“Actually, I was hoping I could borrow Tubbo for today!” Tubbo’s head snapped up at that, eyes wide. You blinked, not even sure what you were saying. Schlatt stopped his walk, bottle hanging from his hand as he turned to look at you. Perhaps glare was a better word? You swallowed, steeling yourself as you continued, “I’d really appreciate his input on the wedding plans.”

“The wedding,” Schlatt sneered, eyes narrowed. His gaze moved from you, to Techno, then to his son. “Whatever, take the bastard for the ridiculous wedding. Like I give a damn.” With his words, he took a swig from the bottle before sauntering out of the dining hall. With his leave, the tension in the room seemed to dissipate.

A relieved sigh escaped Tubbo’s lips as he slumped in his seat, closing his eyes. “Thank you so much,” He mumbled into his hands. You sighed, shaking your head a little. Not exactly what you had expected, but you’d take it. 

“I hate that he keeps calling you that,” Tommy grumbled, while Wilbur just patted his shoulder.

“It gets him away from Schlatt for today, so what’s it matter?” Wilbur offered with a shrug. Tommy just continued to grumble under his breath while Tubbo offered a weak smile.

“You don’t actually have to help with the wedding. I just didn’t feel right leaving you to go with him.” You brushed it off with a smile. It was true, though. You truly didn’t want to send Tubbo off with Schlatt. The man gave off a bad vibe you didn’t like in the slightest. So, coming up with an excuse seemed the most feasible. The king sighed and shook his head, otherwise staying quiet. You had a feeling this wasn’t too different from a normal morning.

“Actually, I wouldn’t mind helping! If everyone doesn’t mind,” Tubbo sheepishly chimed, moving to rub the nape of his neck. Tommy groaned dramatically, slouching in his chair.

“Tubbo, come on. You’re gonna make us do stupid wedding planning all day? With Eret and Wilbur and Techno? At one time?” You snickered a little as he complained, head shaking. Wilbur smacked him in the back of his head in response to his dramatics.

“Your opinion doesn’t count, Tommy.” His voice was so plain, even as the young blonde whined and rubbed the back of his head.

“I’ll show you what does count! I swear, I’ll beat you so hard you won’t be able to remember your own name!” He shoved at his brother, and you shook your head.

“I don’t mind if you tag along, Tubbo. I’m sure the input will be appreciated,” You spoke over the ruckus of Wilbur and Tommy as the two pushed at each other. The words seemed to make Tubbo glow with excitement, almost as if the whole thing with Schlatt hadn’t ever happened.

“Alright, boys, go outside before you break a plate or the table. Go on, do your fighting there.” Philza spoke from behind them, and your head popped up. He must have moved while you were focused on Tubbo. Tommy was stuck beneath Wilbur’s arm, the older yanking him around. Philza unceremoniously pulled out the chairs they sat on, forcing them apart as he shooed them away. He looked exasperated, but fond of their antics all the same.

“I’ll judge!” Tubbo called, standing up hurriedly. He gave a brief, sloppy bow towards the king before running after the two princes.

“Is it like this every morning?” You sat down your utensils, reclining in your seat.

“Not every morning, but a lot of them. It wasn’t always this way,” Eret shook his head but smiled. You turned to Techno, where he stared towards the door with an affectionate look in his eyes. It was almost sweet, seeing the way he gazed after the rambunctious trio.

“It only started to get like that a few years ago. Not quite becoming of princes, but they don’t seem in a rush to behave like royalty.” Techno’s voice had the same fondness his gaze did, and you hummed in acknowledgement as you sipped the last of your tea, cradling the cup close.

“Not anymore, at least. We should go and start doing some planning ourselves,” Philza muttered, turning towards the king. The man nodded, slowly rising from his seat.

“Please see to it your brothers don’t destroy anything this time, Technoblade.” He gave him a pointed look, making him sigh and nod. The king walked away, Philza tailing behind him. Leaving you, Techno, and Eret sitting.

“Well, let’s get started? There’s no telling how long it’ll take. Especially since Wilbur is currently in the process of fighting Tommy.” Eret shook his head as he spoke. You nodded, moving to stand. A hand entered your vision before you could even get to your feet. You shook your head, unable to help a laugh.

“Should I get used to you not letting me get out of my seat on my own?” You managed a lighthearted jab at him as you took his hand, allowing him to gently pull you up.

“Yes.” The way he said it was so flat and monotone, you couldn’t stop the laugh bursting from your lips. You just shook your head, giving a lopsided grin.

“Thank you, Techno. Wanting to teach me to fight but not letting me get out of a chair without hovering.” His lips pursed at that, eyebrows furrowing. Like he saw nothing wrong with it. Not that there truly was, it just seemed almost contradictory. Eret even seemed equally amused, though he didn’t poke at his cousin the way you did.

“I’ll go ahead and get the boys before they destroy each other. I’ll meet you in the ballroom with them.” Techno gently pushed you towards his cousin, before striding off in front of you. You shrugged, walking alongside Eret towards the ballroom.

“It’s gonna be an interesting day, isn’t it?” You questioned, glancing up at Eret. Of course he was tall. It really did run in the family.

“Most likely, yes. They’re never quiet, and Tommy gets antsy quick,” Eret said with a laugh, making you smile. You didn’t think you would mind too much if it made it lively. It would take care of the uneasiness you felt regarding the wedding. A relief to the tension you had a feeling might form if it were just you and Techno.

“You didn’t always live here at the castle?” You broached the silence that had spread over the pair of you, and he hummed a little.

“No. I came around the time I was eight. Their mother was my aunt, and some things happened with my parents. Philza ended up adopting me, so I’m just a cousin on their other side now,” He chuckled, and you nodded. That made some sense. It just seemed the castle was hardly lacking in boys to run the place.

“I see. I imagine that keeps it rather busy here.” You shook your head, following as Eret opened the door to the ballroom.

“Very. Right! This is where the majority of the wedding will be held. The celebrations, namely. The formal ceremony will be held in the gardens, we’ll go through those in a little bit.” Eret clapped his hands together, leading you through the ballroom. He pointed to various spots, explaining the plans he had for the celebrations. You would nod along, pitching in your own opinions when you felt it necessary.

“I think you should go to the brothel and get some women,” A new voice chimed in from near the veranda, making you jump.

“I like the way you think, Big Q! It’s not a party without some women!” Tommy responded, and you turned towards the voices. You blinked at the new person standing among the princes, a lopsided grin on his face. His black hair was splayed messily on his head, smudges of dirt along his face. You had a feeling he had been messing with the other, who also had dirt on their faces and bodies. What a mess. Tubbo and Tommy even seemed to have a few forming bruises on their arms, Tommy’s hidden by the same green bandana he had worn in the portrait you saw in the dining hall. 

“I don’t think the princess is fond of the idea of there being whores at her wedding, Quackity,” Wilbur piped up upon seeing your rather deadpan face. The expression was similarly mimicked by Techno, who stood behind the four of them.

“Princess? Oh- shit!” Quackity did a double take, before giving a hurried bow. Seemingly remembering exactly who he was talking to. Amusement at the almost embarrassed look on his face caused your lips to twitch up into a smile.

“Right. Yes. I would prefer there to not be women from the brothel at my wedding, Quackity.” You tested his name out carefully, and he slowly stood up from his bow. Tommy snickered from behind him, failing to hide his amusement at the fool he seemingly made for himself. He rubbed the back of his neck, laughing softly.

“I would also prefer to keep it that way,” Techno said as he stepped around the group, back towards you. He stood on your other side, leaving you in the middle of the two men. Which made you feel incredibly small.

“You two are so boring, what’s the fun without women?” Tommy groaned, trailing behind Wilbur and Tubbo as they wandered over as well. 

“You’ll have fun anyways, Tommy. You always manage.” Tubbo barely looked at his friend, eagerly listening to Eret as he went over what he had been telling you once more. The group gathered around you, but you hardly minded right now.

“I was thinking, Tubbo and I could do some of the music. We’ll have other musicians too, but I think it’d be nice to be able to play. It’s not every day your little brother gets married,” Wilbur talked, grinning over to Techno. Techno huffed, head shaking as the older affectionately threw out the term.

“Oh, that’d be wonderful!” You lit up with a smile, fully on board with the idea. Wilbur smiled back, seemingly fond of your approval.

“And,” he started, his grin turning almost mischievous, “I think it would be even better if our groom here plays a piece himself. You do play violin after all, Techno.” The words made your hopeful gaze turn towards Techno. He looked almost neutral, though his eyebrows were furrowed and a faint flush painted his cheeks.

“Well, I-” He grumbled, looking down to you and your soft smile. He gave an almost frustrated sigh, looking away. “Fine. I’ll play something.” He huffed a little.

“Perfect! So we’ve got rough plans for the ballroom decorations and the music.” You clapped your hands together, grinning.

“What the hell, Techno? You never play for anyone!” Tommy whined, eyes wide as he looked between you and him.

“It is his wedding, Tommy. It’s only fitting he plays,” Tubbo defended. Tommy, Tubbo, and Quackity bickered about Techno’s playing as Eret led that large group towards the veranda. Techno held your hand as you went down the stairs. Tommy made a mocking gag sound, and Quackity simply imitated Techno, holding his hand out for Tommy.

“Quackity, stop it, I’m not holding your hand,” Tommy complained, nose wrinkling. You shook your head, eyes rolling. They really were like children. 

You peered at the flowers as you walked to the gardens, looking for any you recognized. Eret spoke about the plans, and you absently nodded along. At least until he showed you where the ceremony would be held. “Here?” You murmured curiously, looking at the flowers. Your fingers ran over the petals, trying to note the flowers you did see. The easiest to identify was the roses- why was it always roses? Red bled into the white from the edges, and you smiled just slightly. They were pretty, most of the ones back home were either red, white, or yellow. Rarely hybrids. The only time you received a hybrid of one was from dream, but they were never red and white. Always red and yellow.

Curled near the roses stood a plant with broad green leaves and occasional clumps of pink flowers. It was faintly familiar, and you struggled to place it. You remembered Dream stating that they weren’t the best flower, trying his best to remove it from the gardens. You had no idea why, though, as it seemed to be doing just fine here. A hand grabbed yours as you went to run your fingers along the leaves, tugging it away.

“Careful,” Techno mumbled. He dropped your hand, lifting the leaves carefully. Behind them was a thick branch, coated in thorns. You had barely noticed them, stretching out about an inch. You had been so focused on the flowers.

“Thank you,” you murmured, turning back towards Eret with a soft smile. “This’ll do wonderful. What’s next?”

“That’s most of the basic stuff for decoration at the moment. I think Nihachu wanted to discuss catering? I have to get some stuff together for your dress, but I can come find you when I have,” Eret explained. You nodded, seemingly content with the idea.

“Do we have to come along?” Tommy groaned loudly, clearly growing bored with all of the proceedings. You laughed, head shaking.

“You never had to, Tommy. I think the only people obligated are Techno and I.” You shrugged, letting the group move back towards the castle.

“Come on then, Tubbo. Let’s get out of here, this is so damn boring.” The brunette looked towards you as if for confirmation, and you simply waved your hand. You didn’t expect them to truly tag along for too long. Especially Tommy, he didn’t seem the patient type to deal with planning.

“I’ll come check in later!” Tubbo tried to offer as Tommy, and Quackity, practically dragged him off. For what, you had no idea, but you didn’t want to ask questions. This thinned out the large group, allowing you to let out a soft breath. It was less crowded, which you definitely appreciated.

“Nihachu said she’d be in the dining hall with some samples of food for you to try,” Wilbur spoke, pausing at the top of the veranda. He watched Techno help you up, Eret slipping away from the three of you to go do what he needed.

“Sounds good with me,” You hummed. This might be one of the longer parts of the day, but you didn’t mind. Food was important, especially for a wedding. Even if it was stunning with beautiful music, you knew it would feel empty without proper food. As most celebrations would. Inside the dining hall was the same woman Wilbur was with the day prior, fussing over various plates on the table.

“Nihachu!” Wilbur called, causing the blonde to look up. She grinned up at him, practically bounding over to him to give him a hug. 

“Staying to taste the food?” She asked, focusing on him for a few moments.

“I’d never miss an excuse to eat it outside of meals.” He ruffled her hair, making her wrinkle her nose. She turned towards you and Techno, grin softening to a smile as she curtseyed slightly. 

“I’m Nihachu, it’s so nice to finally meet you,” She greeted warmly. You couldn’t help but return the smile, almost relieved to see another woman among the boys you seemed constantly surrounded by.

“You too. It’s a blessing to have someone who isn’t a prince to deal with.”

“Hey!” Wilbur gasped in offense, echoed by Techno’s quiet ‘Heh?’ of confusion. Nihachu only laughed, covering her mouth with a hand.

“Come on, there’s lots to try and discuss. Everything can be mixed and matched, as well. We have plenty of time between now and the wedding to refine everything.” She motioned the three of you towards the table, pointing to various dishes and explaining them to you. Some of them were unbelievably good, and you made sure to point that out. She seemed pleased with the praise each time, making note to include whatever you praised into the catering.

As she pointed to one of the dishes, you noted the ring on her finger, piquing your interest. “Are you married?” You asked without much thought, motioning to the simple band. Nihachu glanced to the ring, cheeks reddening slightly.

“Oh-! No, not yet, at least. It’s a ring my girlfriend gave me to promise she only had good intentions,” She murmured in embarrassment. Wilbur laughed beside her, trying and failing to hide the fact. She pushed at him slightly, trying to bring the focus back to the food instead. 

After a couple of hours of tasting and discussing, it was finally finished. She seemed content with the feedback, promising she would make sure everything was perfect. She actually seemed quite ecstatic to have the job she did. She simply took the paper she made her notes on, running off towards the kitchens once more.

“Right, all that’s left is the dress. Eret is setting up in one of the spare rooms,” Wilbur informed, motioning towards the exit. “I’m going to help Nihachu clear this.” You looked on in amusement as Wilbur began picking up plates, finding it hilarious that a prince was taking care of dirty dishes. All the same, you didn’t say anything and left the room with Techno. He was quiet as he led you towards the spare rooms, eyebrows furrowed.

“Do you need me to help with the dress?” He murmured, not exactly looking at you as he hovered outside the door. You blinked a little, processing the information. He didn’t want to help? Then you realized you were probably getting measurements taken, and who knew what else. Was he too embarrassed to help?

“I should be fine. Why don’t you go talk to your father about getting Tubbo a room here? Get him away from Schlatt,” you offered an alternative with a smile. A look of relief flooded his eyes, and he nodded.

“I’ll come get you in a while,” He informed, watching as you slid into the room. Eret smiled at you from where he was hovering over various fabrics, motioning you towards the middle of the room.

“I see everyone decided to abandon you,” he joked, picking up a strip of paper and walking towards you. All too familiar with the process that was about to happen, you lifted your arms. Eret took the paper, placing it against your arm and marking it.

“Wilbur decided to stick with Nihachu, and Techno really was trying to find a reason to not come in here,” You laughed, watching as Eret moved around, taking various measurements and marking them onto the strip he was using.

“That sounds like him. You send him off?” He leaned down, wrapping the strip around your waist snuggly.

“Told him to talk to his father about getting Tubbo one of the spare rooms in the castle, the boys mentioned it yesterday and I see why.”

“Schlatt is questionable at best. It would do Tubbo good to get away from him. I need to measure your legs,” He murmured, eyebrows furrowing. His cheeks painted pink, and he seemed to have only just realized what it entailed.

“It’s just measurements, Eret. It’s not scandalous,” you muttered reassuringly. You shifted the skirts of your dress as needed. Eret fell silent, seemingly embarrassed as he crouched in front of you to do the needed measurements on your legs. You tried your best to not laugh at how flustered he seemed, keeping any comments to yourself.

“Right, okay,” he cleared his throat, standing up and walking back towards the fabrics. You followed, peering over his shoulder. “Is this everything you were hoping for?”

“It’s… not, no. I never really planned to have a wedding with the prince of another kingdom, let alone one who was to become king. I thought I’d marry a noble in my own kingdom and live out my life there,” You explained. Eret picked up one of the white fabrics, holding it against your body and examining it. For what, exactly, you weren’t sure. Still, you let him do as he needed.

“That makes sense. Are you disappointed with this, though?” He seemed to want to talk, but you weren’t entirely against it. Not many people had cared to ask you how you felt about this whole thing. 

“No, not at all. It presents options I was never granted back home.” Eret held up a delicate lace, layering it over a fabric to hold against you.

“Good. Hopefully everything turns out as you want it to. I think that should be all now? There’s not too much to be done until the dress is actually made,” He murmured, setting the fabrics down.

“Perfect, just call on me whenever you need me to check in or anything.” You beamed, only glancing at the fabrics as he continued to shift through them. You truly trusted him on whatever he was deciding to make. Everyone here seemed competent enough, though it made you feel a little useless. You supposed all you could do truly was offer feedback, which they seemed content with. 

Techno was leaned against a wall outside the room, glancing up when you opened the door. You smiled at him, and he simply pushed off the wall, motioning towards where your rooms were. “Get changed, put on pants,” He said flatly, making you arch an eyebrow at him.

“What for, exactly?” You questioned, following him all the same.

“Unless you want to learn to fight in a dress.” He glanced at you, eyebrows raised in question. Your stomach flipped in excitement, and you desperately suppressed the urge to run to your room.

“I think pants would be better for that,” you laughed, nerves leaking through the sound. Finally, you were going to learn to fight. Next Chapter | >

[hermits-that-craft]

He’s nothing but a problem, he’ll leave you crying overnight PART TWO

AO3:https://archiveofourown.org/works/27146512/chapters/66322549

Techno watches Dream through the bars of his cage, light headed and slowly bleeding out on the obsidian walls. He can’t let himself fall asleep, not when he promised Tommy to keep him safe. Wilbur and Dream talk in hushed tones just outside the cage, occasionally looking his way. Dream seems more worried about his and Tommy’s safety than Wilbur does, the crazed look back in his brother’s eyes.

Techno wonders how much of what Wilbur said to him was a lie.

Techno stands, swaying from side to side as he shuffles closer to Tommy, carefully brushing the gravel out of Tommy’s hair. His left arm hangs uselessly by his side, staining the left side of his shirt a deep crimson. It feels like hours, why hasn’t it stopped bleeding? Why hasn’t he respawned? Techno just wants a break, just wants to sleep. He can’t let Tommy down, though. He can’t let the pair hurt him ever again.

“Do you want a regen pot now, Techno?” Dream asks, suddenly standing at the bars. “I can give you one now, or I can throw a splash potion of health on you.”

“Why didn’t you just kill me?” Techno slurs, the blood loss getting to his head. 

“Can’t have you bringing reinforcements.” Dream opens the door, and Techno struggles to get to his feet - when did he start kneeling? - swaying dangerously from side to side. Dream chuckles under his breath, pushing Techno to the floor. “If you’d just set your spawn on the other bed, all this pain would be over.”

Techno glares at Dream, who just forces his mouth open, pouring the regen potion down his throat. Techno splutters, gulping down the potion so he doesn’t drown in it. He feels his arm numb, the wound slowly knitting itself together. Dream nods, walking out of the cell and slamming the door behind him. Techno struggles to his knees, watching the large wound knit itself into a fine scar. 

Tommy doesn’t wake.

---

“Morning Tubbster.” Jordan’s voice bounces off of the walls in the spare bedroom, Tubbo slowly rubbing his eyes.

“Cap’ain?” Tubbo yawns, looking up at the man. “Wha’ are you doing here?”

“Phil invited me over, Eret says you guys need some help?” Jordan pulls Tubbo into a hug, the teen sinking into the feeling. “We’ll get him back, promise.”

“What if he’s permadead?” Tubbo’s voice is quiet, full of fear.

“Then we’ll bring him back and give him a proper burial.” Jordan’s voice is heavy with sadness. Tubbo nods, and he hops out of the bed, his suit falling uncomfortably around him as he walks towards the throne room. 

“No, Tubbster. Go get changed. Steal some of Eret’s clothes if you have to, just get out of the comfortable suit.”

Tubbo nods again, walking down the hallway in a sort of daze, and Jordan lets out a sigh of relief. It’s worrying, Jordan decides, watching the teen walk away. Worrying just how fearful and empty the boy seems. He needs to tell someone, to make sure that the teen is only alone for short amounts of time, especially if Tommy ends up- not that it would happen, Jordan tries to stop the thought before it finishes. He has to remain positive, for Phil’s sake.

He couldn’t imagine how Phil must feel, watching one of his sons slip into insanity while another toes the line between life and death. Jordan walks towards the throne room, a heavy heart weighing down his thoughts. He doesn’t know how anyone will cope if Tommy turns out to be dead, though he doesn’t know what else the teen could be.

“Hello Sparkly Boy.” Jschlatt’s voice echoes through the throne room, startling Jordan out of his thoughts. “You shouldn’t be thinking that hard, it doesn’t suit you.”

“Schlatt?” Jordan says, surprised. “I thought you were looking for-”

“We got turned around in the forest.” Quackity interrupts him. “We tried to refind the trail, but all we found was Pogtopia, and that would have been helpful months ago.”

“So we’re back to square one.” Eret says, running her hands through her hair. “What’ll we do?”

“Fuck if I know.” Schlatt shrugs. “I vote we let Tubbo hack, Dream can’t ban us all.”

“He can ban Tubbo though.” Fundy snaps, glaring at Schlatt. “And he will, that was one of the rules that Dream specifically gave Tubbo-”

“He’s always welcome in Mianite.” Jordan nods to Eret. “Most of you are, in fact.”

“Most?” Nikki asks, a smile on her face.

“Gotta keep the rabble out somehow.”

---

Tommy shivers, watching Techno sleep on the floor. The man looks uncomfortable, but Tommy doesn’t have the energy to move. He just wants to sleep, his throat hurts so much, and his limbs feel too heavy. The room is too small for him to breath, too big for him to walk around. So he just lies down, watching Techno sleep. Hopefully peacefully.

“Hello Tommy.” Dream says, leaning against the bars of the cell. Tommy flinches slightly, trying to act as though he’s still sleeping. “Wilbur should be ready to make L’Manburg blow up by now.”

“No.” His throat feels as though he swallowed a cheese grater, and Tommy coughs up some blood and gravel, wincing the whole time. “No, Dream. He can’t.”

“I’ll let you know how many he kills.” Dream’s voice sounds happy, as though this is the best outcome. “He said he’d take photos to show you later. Pity you won’t see it.”

“I could escape.” His voice is barely above a whisper, and his hope is barely there, but he still lets the words fall out of his mouth. Dream laughs, waking Techno up.

“You think you can escape? You couldn’t even fight back when I went to knock you out yesterday. Where would you go, Tommy Innit? Phil is helping Wilbur, and Sparklez has already collected Tubbo and left. Face it, you’re not winning this time. Techno only has his arm because Phil told me not to remove it, unless necessary. You’ll stay in there until we can find a place to put you two where you won't interfere.”

“At least we’ll be together.” Tommy breaths, already feeling weak from the conversation.

“Oh, I wouldn’t count on that.”  Dream says, walking away from the bars. “I’d suggest saying what you need to say to Techno, you won’t see him after we take you out of that box.”

“Don’t worry Tommy.” Techno says, gently holding Tommy’s hand. “The second we get a chance, I’ll get you out of here. All you need to do is rest and heal.”

Tommy’s eyes flutter shut, and he falls into a dreamscape riddled with corpses and fire, alone and hunted by the people he thought he could trust.

---

Everyone sits around Tubbo, watching him type command after command in the Manburg whitehouse, claiming better connection there. It would be preferable to hack in spawn, but none of the group wanted to risk that. With a slam, Tubbo hits his head on the desk. 

“You alright there buddy?” Quackity asks, looking up from his communicator.

“Can you guys fucking leave?” Tubbo snaps. “I can’t focus on the code while everyone is leaning over my goddamn shoulder!”

“Language.” Bad says absentmindedly, walking towards the door. “We need to go get some food, Skeppy.”

“Okay!” The man responds, and slowly everyone peels off in different directions, going to prepare for the festival or run errands. Only Eret, Jordan and Phil remain, though Schlatt has to be pulled out of the room by Quackity.

“You alright, Tubbo?” Eret asks quietly. “You’re allowed to take breaks.”

“I know!” Tubbo says, sitting himself back up and searching through the code. “I’m so close. I can tell. I just need coordinates.”

“We’ll let you get to that, then.” Phil says, walking to the window, watching the people move around Manburg, some clearly just waiting for Tubbo to leave the whitehouse with whatever news he can bring. Eret leaves, talking to Nikki under an awning.

His gut drops as a familiar form appears on the horizon, wearing a brown trenchcoat and a gray beanie. Soft and fluffy brown hair pokes out from underneath it, and Phil watches in horror as his son presses a button, and screams erupt from the city below.

Quackity was blown up by WilburSoot JSchlatt was blown up by WilburSoot Niachu was blown up by WilburSoot Ponk was blown up by WilburSoot Punz was blown up by WilburSoot Purpled was blown up by WilburSoot BadBoyHalo was blown up by WilburSoot Georgenotfound was blown up by WilburSoot Sapnap was crushed to death ItsFundy was blown up by WilburSoot Skeppy was crushed to death The_Eret was suffocated

“Well, that was exciting.” Dream mutters, reading through the notifications. “The man actually did it.”

“What did Wilbur mess up now?” Techno grumbles, standing up. He hasn’t eaten since dinner yesterday, assuming that he’s only been captive for a day. He sways slightly, glaring at Dream.

“He blew up L’Manburg.” Dream laughs, and Tommy gasps, alerting the adults to the teen.

“No.” Techno can’t help but think about how pathetic the noise sounds, barely could be considered a whisper falling from Tommy’s lips. “No.”

“Yes.” Dream’s mask is unnerving, staring blankly at Tommy, who curls up under the blankets. “Do you want to know who died in it?”

“No.” Tommy shakes, and Techno starts to fret around the teen, worried for his health and safety. What if he falls? He’s so weak as it is. “No, please no.”

“Fundy, Nikki, Ponk and Punz.” Dream counts them off on his fingers. “Skeppy, Bad, George and Sap.”

“You let him kill your friends.” Techno glares, and Dream shrugs.

“Purpled, Quackity, Schlatt and Eret.” Dream laughs, and Tommy flinches. “I imagine more will die soon, crushed or suffocated to death. You’d know all about suffocation, wouldn’t you Tommy?”

“Leave him alone!” Techno spits, and Tommy huddles himself closer to the bed, as though he could disappear into the sheets. 

“I wonder if it will be sand, gravel, concrete powder or even dirt that suffocates them.” Dream muses, ignoring Techno. “Gravel hurts more, doesn’t it Tommy? Sand and concrete powder are fine, while gravel is just tiny rocks.”

“Stop it!” Techno yells, not knowing what else to do. “Leave him out of this!”

---

“Found their coordinates.” Tubbo says, his face pale and his voice shaking ever so slightly. “We have to go, we have to get them.”

“What are the coordinates?” Phil says, walking away from the small medical bay that they had set up in the white house. “Sparkles and I will go get him, you should stay here and make sure everyone is fine.”

“Why can’t I go?” Tubbo asks, glaring slightly at Phil. The man crosses the room, walking to the teen. The pair is acutely aware of the stares they are getting from the injured, their eyes following Phil as Jordan mutely bandages Nikki’s arms. “Why can’t I help?”

“Because teenagers shouldn’t be fighting wars.” Phil says, gently taking Tubbo’s keyboard away from him. “I’m flying over, so is Sparkles. We have our elytras. You have to stay here and make sure everyone has had at least one healing potion.”

“Why can’t I-”

“You can’t keep up with us.” Jordan says, taking a note of the coordinates. “We’ll be back before sundown. If we aren’t, go to Mianite.”

Tubbo nods, and the two men exit the room.

---

Wilbur hums to himself, walking back into the little base that they built for Tommy. It’s a pity that Techno refused to join, but that problem can be dealt with later. Dream promised to put Techno somewhere safe, away from Tommy and Wilbur and the traitors until he remembers who his real family is. Techno will come around, so will Tommy.

Fear will keep his soldiers in check.

Fear will keep his brothers safe from traitors.

Wilbur walks in, watching as Techno is dragged away from Tommy’s room, unconscious. Tommy is crying, screaming at Dream to let Techno go. Dream must’ve found a safe place to put Techno until the hybrid breaks.

Dream and Techno disappear behind a corner, and Tommy sobs, a broken, mournful sound that spurs Wilbur on. Tommy looks up, tears flowing down his face as he looks to Wilbur. The man smiles back to the crying boy, who slowly struggles to his feet.

Wilbur watches, his smile growing as Tommy falls the second he tries to take a step, as though the multiple deaths weakened him. They did, of course, but the teen still seems shocked by it. Wilbur quickly walks into the cell, half wanting to comfort his brother, half wanting to use this to his advantage. Tommy will need him. He can get Tommy to realise that he’s in the right, that blowing up Manburg was the right thing to do.

“Shhh, it’s okay, Toms.” Wilbur says, gently holding Tommy as the teen sobs. “You made a mistake, and you’ve been punished for it. Now you know what happens to traitors.”

Tommy just sobs, and Wilbur tutts impatiently, waiting for the tears to stop so he can talk again.

“Did you actually blow up Manburg?” Tommy sniffles. 

“Of course I did.” Wilbur says, smiling down at Tommy. “I had to. I had to protect us from those traitors.”

“But Nikki and Tubbo-”

“Tommy, are you talking back?” Wilbur snaps, glaring at the teen. “I hope not, it sounds as though you're a traitor.”

“No, no, Wilbur I’m not!” Tommy struggles, tears flowing from his eyes as Wilbur’s hands grip his arms tightly. “I promise I’m not Wil, I swear I won’t betray you. Stop it! Stop it hurts!”

“You swear you won’t betray us?”

“I swear it Wil!” Tommy starts to sob, Wilbur letting go of him. “Please Wil, I won’t betray you.”

Wilbur stands, walking out of the room. He pauses in the doorway, looking down at Tommy, who struggles to keep himself sitting upright.

“See, the thing is Tommy,” Wilbur smirks. “It’s that I don’t believe you.”

---

Tubbo walks around the small medical bay, handing out regen potions and pouring health potions on wounds. Nikki stares out of the window, her bed moved closest to it when she asked. Eret walks around silently, helping Tubbo deliver things. There’s pain in his eyes every time he speaks, and though Tubbo gave him a health potion to drink it’s clear that it didn’t change much.

Will Tommy be worse, when he arrives?

Tubbo makes up a bed, across from Nikki’s but still next to the window, almost subconsciously. Fundy watches him, half of his fur burnt off from the explosion. Tubbo doesn’t know what actually killed him, if it was the explosion or the fires that it caused.

That's another thing that Tubbo will have to fix, the fires.

“Everything alright, Tubbo?” Fundy asks, breaking the carefully maintained silence.

“The fires are spreading, I’ll have to-”

“No.” Fundy interrupts. “Not what I meant. Mentally, for you. Is everything alright in your head?”

“Of course, Tommy’s coming home soon and you guys are healing. Everything is going to be just fine.” Tubbo lets the words fall out of his mouth, not believing a single one of them. “It has to be.

It has to be, right?”

---

“Philza, CaptainSparklez.” Dream greets the pair, nodding to them. Both men notice the blood splattered across his green hoodie, fresh and bright. Jordan pales slightly, and Phil glares at the admin of the world. “A pleasure to see you both. I see you’re already breaking the rules.”

“Where are my sons.” Phil demands, no longer asking questions. 

“Wilbur is safe, Tommy is in his room.”

“Techno?” Jordan asks, frowning in concern. “Is that his blood?”

“He fought back.” Dream shrugs. “I was just trying to protect Tommy.”

“Cut the crap, Dream.” Phil growls. “Where. Are. My. Sons?”

“Find them yourself.” Dream says, turning to leave. “I honestly don’t care what you two do, Manburg is destroyed. I have the power again.”

Dream was shot by CaptainSparklez

“Lets go.” Jordan says, walking past Dream’s items without a second thought. Phil nods, taking Dream’s crossbow and some arrows. “Lets go kill your eldest kid and get your other two back.”

“You know, if Techno finds out that you know he isn’t the eldest, our whole family is going to fall apart. We’ve been pretending that Techno’s the eldest for years now.” Phil says lighting, loading the crossbow.

“The only reason I know is because Tubbo told me.” Jordan smiles, entering a small hole in the cliff face, walking into a large room.

Tunnels and doorways appear randomly from each wall, creating a maze out from the main room. The rock is roughly hewn, and a blood trail leads out of one corridor and across the main room, before disappearing behind an iron door. Jordan and Phil nod to each other, before Jordan turns to the door and Phil disappears down the corridor.

---

“How could you?” Bad yells from his bed, the group silently watching as Eret, Sapnap and Skeppy drag Dream into the white house. “How could you do that to everyone?”

“I didn’t think he would actually blow this place up, Bad!” Dream yells, trying to defend himself.

“You put Tommy in a death loop!”

“Wilbur told me to!”

“Oh wow, the nuremberg defence, very original!” Bad spits, and Tubbo looks up from Nikki’s side, surprised at Bad. “That’s not a defense! You still killed a child and locked him in a death loop!”

“I gave him a healing pot!”

“He’d need regen after that ordeal!” Nikki yells, joining in with Bad’s tirade. The pair were the first of the exploded to wake up, and the furthest away from the explosions. The only reason they hadn’t joined Jordan and Phil was because Tubbo and Eret had forced them to remain in their beds and heal goddamn it. “And he’ll still have trauma you monster!”

“He’ll get over it-”

“No he wont!”

Everyone is fighting now, the bed ridden struggling to remove themselves from their beds and bandages, with Eret mutely attempting to keep them all in check. Sapnap attempts to pull Dream down the stairs, but Skeppy stops him, glaring at the man. The voices melt and meld together, until Tubbo can’t tell who is blaming who for what. A wild fire burns in everyone’s chests, raging against the wood of past mistakes. Nikki and Dream’s fires are the brightest, fighting for supremacy against each other. Tubbo’s is the smallest, barely a candle’s flame compared to the bush fires that the others hold. 

He’s hollow, empty, the fire barely keeping him awake, let alone allowing him to be angry.

Tubbo stands, his chair falling to the ground with a loud clatter. The room falls silent, everyone staring at the teen, breathes held in collective curiosity. Tubbo ignores all of them, walking out of the building with tears flowing freely down his cheeks. He ignores the animals, the fires outside, the holes in the land that Wilbur’s bombs left. He ignores it all, walking towards the embassy, Tommy’s home. He takes out Mellohi, playing it in the jukebox as he sobs on the bench, wishing Tommy was besides him.

WilburSoot was shot by Ph1lza

Tommy finds himself relaxing in the man's arms, somehow unable to name the man in his mind. He doesn’t know what makes him trust him - perhaps it's because he killed Wilbur, perhaps it's because he just smells safe, like the scent of rain after a drought.

Another man joins them in the main room, carrying something large and pink. It’s almost funny, how blurred and broken Tommy’s vision is. As though something is in the way. Tommy shuts his eyes, hoping that when he opens them everything will be back to normal, and he will know who has saved him.

When he opens them again, he’s flying. The man holds him close to his chest, and Tommy can't help but think of the first time he met Phil, the first time he could remember when he knew he was safe. He’s safe again, isn’t he? The man is safe.

He starts to cry, wishing he could go back. It was so much simpler back then. 

“Shhh, it’s alright son.” Phil’s voice sounds over the wind. “I’m taking you home.”

And Tommy breaks in Phil’s arms, going home with his Dad once more.

---

Eret sits down next to Tubbo, not saying anything to the teen. He offers his hand to the teen, and he just rests his head on Eret’s shoulders, sobbing softly onto Eret’s shoulders. Eret puts his arm around Tubbo’s shoulders.

They sit in silence, listening to the music disk play as the sun sets over the horizon. Tubbo’s sobs are slowly replaced by soft breathing, and Eret picks the teen up as he softly snores on the man’s shoulders. Slowly, he takes the music disk out of the jukebox and tucks it safely into his inventory, before carrying Tubbo back to Manburg. Sapnap and Skeppy nod at him from the door, and the pair both give him a soft smile as they see Tubbo sleeping soundly in his arms.

Nikki looks up from a book as he enters the room, the rest of the members of this world either asleep or too dosed up on potions and pain relief to notice him. She gives him a soft smile, moving over on her bed. Eret gently places Tubbo on his bed, before he quickly sits by Nikki’s side.

“They’re at your castle.” Nikki whispers to Eret, and he immediately knows who she’s talking about. “The boys are really injured, and Phil says that Tommy didn’t even recognise him. Sparkles and Phil just wanted to make sure that the pair of them weren’t overwhelmed.”

“And Wilbur? Anyone seen him?” Eret’s voice makes his throat feel as though its bleeding, but he has to know.

“Not a word or a sighting.” Nikki sighs. “I know I shouldn’t, but I’m worried for him.”

“You’re worried about loverboy?” Schlatt’s voice is quiet against the night air, though it makes the pair jump. “He was - is, I don’t know, - your friend. You should be worried for him.”

“He blew up Manburg.” Nikki responds quietly.

“He went insane, can’t blame him for that.” Schlatt stares up at the roof. “He isn’t the only person on this server who’s done some fucked up shit like that before.”

“Schlatt, what are you-”

“Can I have some more drugs? Just pump them into me. It hurts so much.” Schlatt requests, and Eret nods, standing up and walking to the potion chest. “Thank you.”

“Just rest, Schlatt.” Eret sighs, his white eyes glowing behind his sun glasses. “You need it.”

“So do you.”

---

Tommy wakes up slowly for what feels like the first time in a long while. A bandage rests over his left eye, though his right one spies the rainbow that hits the wall of the room he’s in, lighting it up brightly. He struggles to work out where he is, frowning as his eye scans the room for more details, before his memory sorts itself out.

Eret’s castle has rainbow windows.

Okay, so he knows where he is, but how did he get here, he questions silently. The last thing he can remember is Wilbur going mad at him for speaking back, so how did he get to Eret’s castle?

Tommy turns his head over, and sees Phil leaning over his bed, sitting in his chair and sleeping, one hand holding up his head. Tommy, despite knowing that his father must be tired, and that he himself must look like he’s gone through hell and back, but he cracks a smile at the sight.

“You look like shit, Dad.” Tommy whispers, wincing at the pain that follows speaking. Phil’s eyes shoot open, and Tommy sees relief wash over his father’s figure.

“Tommy you’re awake!” Phil practically yells, pulling Tommy into a hug. Tommy leans into the hug, pushing the fearful flinch down his throat. Phil saved him. That must be why he’s here.

Footsteps thunder down the halls, too many for Tommy to count. The door slams open, and Tommy can hear people talking without processing or understanding a word. Eret. Fundy. Nikki. Tubbo. They’re all here. 

“Tommy?” Tubbo’s voice is quiet, though it comes from right besides him. Tommy pulls himself away from Phil, his heart aching at the loss of contact, and turns to look at Tubbo.

“Tubbo?” Tommy whispers, looking to his friend. Tubbo wears his normal clothes - green button up shirt and grey pants, but he also wears a red bandanna, and his eyes have bags under them. “Is this…”

“This is real.” Tubbo says, pulling Tommy in to a hug. “Everything is going to be alright, Tommy.”

And Tommy cries, not fully broken but not fully fixed either. Tubbo holds him through it, Phil joining in the hug soon after. Tommy cries until there are no tears left, and then he holds onto Tubbo as though he’s afraid of losing him. Tommy knows he won’t lose Tubbo, Tubbo is a good person.

He’s afraid of waking up. Of this all being a dream.

“You need a regen pot.” Nikki says softly, and Tommy feels the dip in the bed. Why does everyone decide to sit on the side of him that he can’t see? “Drink this, then you can go back to hugging Tubbo and Phil.”

Tommy nods, silently taking the potion from Nikki. He downs it quickly, wincing at the sickly sweet taste of it. It hits his empty stomach, and he feels the magic stick to the insides of his throat and make its way to his lungs, working its way to his left eye. It stings, almost, and Tommy hums softly, smiling to himself. He looks up to Tubbo, and folds himself back into Tubbo’s arms, falling asleep next to his friend.

---

Tubbo sits with Tommy, letting his friend sleep on his shoulder as Tubbo finally relaxes. Eret ruffles Tubbo’s hair before he turns, walking out of the room with Nikki. Fundy puts down a book, one of Tommy’s favourites, before he too turns.

“I’ll tell Techno.” Fundy whispers as he leaves, and Phil smiles softly, relief in his eyes.

“Should we tell him how long he’s been asleep for?” Tubbo whispers to the man, who frowns for a second, thinking.

“I don’t know. Maybe when he’s better.” Phil shrugs. “I think that if he found out that he’s been asleep for a month now it’d only do him harm.”

Tubbo moves, trying to get more comfortable on the bed, when footsteps echo down the corridor. Techno slides through the open door, surprise on his face as he examines the scene in front of him. Tubbo smiles at Techno, who sighs.

“I missed him waking up?” Techno says with a small pout.

“He just fell asleep, we could wake him up if you want.” Tubbo offers.

“Nah, let him sleep.” Techno shrugs. “I’ll take up Dad’s place in the chair.”

“You two and your chairs.” Tubbo shakes his head, smiling brightly. 

---

Fundy walks down the stairs of Eret’s castle, down to the holding cells that Eret built. Only a few people know the entrance, and Fundy is unlucky enough to be one of the trusted few that will actually guard the prisoners. Fundy takes a deep breath in, unlocking the iron door with a click that echoes through the cavernous cell. 

“Your shift isn’t for a few hours, Fundy.” Skeppy says, cocking his head as he looks at the fox hybrid. “Did you want to talk to your Dad?”

“Yeah, and to Dream.” Fundy says, seeing no point in lying. Skeppy will hear the news as he talks to them anyways.

“I’m not supposed to let you in.” Skeppy smiles, despite his words. “But he’s your Dad, so I’ll let you talk to him.”

“Thank you.” Fundy says, watching as Skeppy steps away from the door, opening it for Fundy.

The fox hybrid walks into the cells, and Wilbur and Dream both look up at him. They’re in separate cells, but they still sit with each other, playing cards or uno. Skeppy always let them play games. It keeps them sane - or saner.

“Fundy.” Dream nods to him, his mask muffling the words that echo off of the stone walls. “Pleasure to see you, are you going to let us out?”

“Nope.” Fundy tears his eyes from the man, guilt eating at his mind. “I just have some news that you’d both like to hear.”

“Well, son,” Wilbur smiles sadly. “Tell us?”

“Tommy’s awake.”

[fallingappleshurt]

Secrets to Save You

Its here after way too long of a wait!

Tommy plays baseball, Techno has a few issues in the Nether, and his family gets increasingly worried

This took longer then expected because I just really didn’t want to write this chapter but then next one should be out soon!!

Chapter 3. Rising Restlessness

TW: non graphic violence, swearing, fighting

It had been three weeks since Techno and the Captain had started working together and Techno was exhausted. It wasn’t constant trips to the Nether, he usually only had to go twice a week. It was gathering supplies late into the night and the constant anxiety that they were going to be caught.

He had to convince himself that the guards weren’t giving him weird looks, that the people in the fourth ring weren’t going to snitch on him, that Tommy wasn’t going to snoop in his room and find the maps, that there weren’t hundreds of eyes always on him.

His nerves were fried, and his family could tell. Phil resting a hand on his shoulder, Wilbur’s worried glances, Tommy straight up telling him he looked tired- or in his words; “You look like shit,” but was obviously concerned. He said that Techno should ‘relax’.

Techno guessed that was why when Tommy had a school day off, he drug Techno to a baseball field with his classmates. He wasn’t really interested in sports but after Phil said someone should be keeping an eye on Tommy, he agreed to go.

Tubbo was there, looking healthy and happy, as he waved at Tommy from the metal bleachers.

Techno sat down next to him, looking over the field, it was a dusty little square with four pieces of metal sticking out of the ground, kids scrambling to random positions on the field, Tommy was in the middle of the field, casually tossing a ball.

“Why aren’t you playing with the others?” Techno asked Tubbo, who deflated slightly.

“My dad wants me to take it easy, I’m lucky he even let me out of the house today.”

Techno nodded, “Makes sense, how’s your chest?”

“It aches a little but other than that I’m fine.”

They sat in a comfortable silence while more kids trickled onto the field. Techno watched Tommy throw a ball at a kid with a bat.

“What is Tommy doing?” He asked.

“He’s the pitcher,”

“What’s that?”

“He throws the ball for the batter,” Tubbo explained, pointing to someone standing across from Tommy.

“Uh huh- and what’s the batter?”

Tubbo laughed, “Do you not know what Baseball is? Or how to play it?”

“Uhhhh, no,” Techno raised an eyebrow.

“I forgot you’re really weird, I’ll explain the game, so-”

“Wait hang on-”

“So there are two teams,” Tubbo continued, ignoring Techno’s interjection. Tubbo described the different teams and the field positions and point systems, Techno didn't get a lot of it but he appreciated the thought.

He watched as Tommy reared back and threw the ball with force Techno didn’t know he possessed. The batter missed and the person behind him called out, “Strike one!” and tossed the ball back to Tommy.

Techno watched as Tommy made the other boy strike out three times, he made it look easy.

“He’s really good at this,” Techno commented.

Tubbo nodded, “Oh yeah he’s our best pitcher, can’t bat for shit but he’s got a good right hook,” He paused, “Good left hook too.”

Techno chuckled, watching the game continue, other kids slapping Tommy on the back. Occasionally he’d look over to the bleachers, Tubbo would cheer and Techno would give a thumbs up.

After about an hour Tommy jogged up onto the bleachers, sweat beaded on his forehead.

“What’d you think?” Tommy asked, Techno shrugged.

“Decent.”

Tommy looked elated.

“You should come down and play with us, we could use another player.” Tommy gestured to the field, Techno shook his head.

“I don’t play sports-”

“Yeah yeah I remember, just figured it was worth a try.” Tommy said, jumping down the bleachers, “Last time you tried you couldn’t get it and kept making that little grr noise.”

“I do not make a ‘grr’ noise!” He shot back but Tommy was either too far to hear or just didn’t care. Techno guessed the latter.

“You do,” Tubbo said, nudging his shoulder, “I’ve heard it.”

“Lies,” Techno said, putting his hand in front of Tubbo’s face, as Tubbo laughed.

They watched Tommy for another hour before the game started to dissolve and they went back to their apartment, Tommy telling them more about pitching.

Later that night Techno went back to the Nether. When he had dropped Tubbo off, Captain slipped him a note saying that he was running low on gold and knew there were small pockets in the Nether.

Techno didn’t have anything to really mine it with but he did have a rusty trowel and the netherrack was softer then stone so it might work.

Techno moved quickly and slightly to the portal, heart in his throat the whole time. He was hoping that after going to the Nether a few times that it would lessen his anxiety but it hadn’t, in fact it felt worse. He pushed the feeling down, he had a job to do.

After lighting the portal and stepping through Techno headed west, he remembered seeing a large pocket gold in that direction. On the way he grabbed a few blue fungi for Skeppy, he didn’t ask for any but Techno knew he’d find some use for it.

Once he spotted the sparkling gold snippets he knelt down and pulled out the trowel. He started chipping away at the netherrack, ripping small hunks from the rock and tucking it into the pouch on his belt. Captain said he didn’t need a lot so Techno didn’t want to stay for too long but he also didn’t want to come back.

He was picking over the vein one last time when he heard a howl of rage. He whipped around, grabbing his sword to see a group of Piglins charging at him all with raised swords and cocked crossbows. He realized he couldn’t take them all at once, quickly pocketing the trowel, he turned and started sprinting.

More Piglins came tearing at him from other directions, panic rising in his chest, Techno ran into the blue forest in hopes to lose them. He didn’t want to lead them to the portal, not knowing if they could cross through or not.

The roots of the fungi ripped and pulled at his ankles and Techno almost tripped multiple times while the Piglins barely seemed to notice them. After realizing he probably wouldn’t be able to outrun them, Techno started looking for something to climb onto, to get the high ground.

Only to then trip and faceplant into the netherrack.

Techno rolled away just in time to barely miss a golden sword to the back, taking out his own sword, Techno kicked the closest Piglin away, and scrambled to his feet.

An arrow shot past his ear as he lashed out at another Piglin then clashed swords with another. There was no point in holding out and letting more Piglins gather so he looked for escape options.

He could try climbing up one of the trees but he could still be shot. There was a huge, sharp, slope to his left so that was out of the question. The forest seemed to thicken more to the right and the only way he knew to get back to the portal was back through a crater. Trying to get a look at his escape Techno realised an issue.

There was a huge line of fire blocking his path, it looked like a ghast and piglin got into a fight, debris still littered around.

Mentally recapping his options were 1) try to get up the slope and most likely fall or get shot into a horde of Piglins. 2) He could try the fungi forest and get cornered again or 3) he could run through fire. Great.

The fire was his best option but he’d really rather not be set on fire today.

The choice was made for him as he disarmed a Piglin and stepped back, one managed to jump forwards and slash his shin.

Sharp stinging pierced his skin, adrenaline overriding his indecision, Techno turned and rushed through the fire, trying to ignore the heat licking at his legs. He weaved through the forest and under rocky overhangs and didn’t stop until he dove through the portal and knocked out the purple.

He collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily. That was too close for comfort, he didn’t even know what he did that made the Piglins so upset, he was wearing the pin!

The adrenaline was wearing off and Techno could feel pain searing up his leg, the ends of his pants were scorched and ashy and the skin around was red and swelling. The cut on his shin was long and sallow, slowly oozing blood.

There was nothing he could do, Techno sighed, twisting his pant leg to try and cover the wound. He stood up, brushing dust and dirt off his clothes and face, and climbed out of the cave.

He shuffled through the fourth ring, making a pit stop at Skeppy’s and throwing the fungi through the hole in his broken window then headed towards the Captain’s house.

Techno tried to walk as normally as possible to avoid stares from the people who were just trying to get to work. He managed to get to the Captain house and dropped the nuggets of gold into a flower pot by the door then set off home.

He didn’t know the time but by judging the amount of people out in the streets Tommy would be at school and Phil, hopefully Wilbur too, would be at work.

Techno hobbled into their apartment and felt a rush of relief upon seeing the place empty. After stashing his sword under his bed he went into the bathroom and pulled out the first aid kit. He gingerly cleaned the wound and wrapped a bandage around it.

He was trying to push off sleep so he started on housework, dishes, laundry, and tidying up. He stitched up the ends of his pants then gave in to the tiredness and fell asleep on the couch.

Someone prodded at his shoulder, rubbing at his eyes he saw Wilbur leaning over him, “Oh thank god you’re alive.”

Techno sat up, blinking the sleep from his eyes, “Uh, yeah? Why wouldn’t I be?”

Wilbur licked his lips nervously, “We were all pretty worried when you weren’t home this morning,” He trailed off, Techno looked away, he forgot they assumed he was going to duel.

“I-I’m, uh, sorry about that, I’m fine.”

“It’s alright,” Wilbur paused, “but are you okay? You’ve been really, uh, weird lately.”

“What?”

“You’ve look like a wreck, I haven’t seen you like this in years-”

“I’m fine Wilbur, don’t worry about it.” Techno said flippantly.

“Okay but whenever you say to ‘not worry about something’ that makes me worry more.”

“That sounds like a you problem.”

Wilbur let out a defeated laugh, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Should’ve known you were just going to blow off the question.”

Techno raised an eyebrow, “Okay, uh rude.”

“Yeah I’m definitely being the rude one here-”

“You kind of are-”

“I’m trying to make sure you are okay and you’re being an asshole but that’s normal for you so I don’t know why I’m surprised.”

“I told you I’m fine, you’re the one whos being an asshole.”

Wilbur shook his head, “We have been worried about you for weeks! Those damn duels are becoming more and more frequent and you have been acting like a paranoid cunt!”

“Why are you all so hung up on the duels?” Techno glared at Wilbur, rising to his feet. He was trying to fight the rising panic in his chest, he didn’t trust himself to not slip up about the Nether. “I’ve been doing them forever but now everyone has a problem with it?”

“We’ve always had a problem with them! Techno you could get seriously injured! We just let you go on with them because you’re so damn stubborn!”

“Well thank you so much for allowing me to provide for you guys, its a fucking wonderful opportunity.” Techno threw his hands out to the sides, Wilbur sighed again.

“It’s impossible to have a conversation with you-”

“With me? You change the subject every minute, I’m getting whiplash.”

Wilbur groaned, “That’s it, I’m too tired for this, I tried to care but no it’s over. You win. You fucking win.” He stalked off to his room and closed the door much too loudly.

Techno flopped back down onto the couch, rubbing his temples, that was bad. He didn’t want to fight with Wilbur but he didn’t know what to do.

So he sat there, staring at the wall and trying to formulate some type of apology but kept coming up short. He got up and tried to start something for dinner, willing Tommy or Phil to get home and fill the quiet of the apartment.

They had a box of pasta and a can of beans, Techno opted for the pasta and started boiling water. Phil came home a little while later, talking about his weird day at work and Techno was thankful for the background noise, the anxiety adrenaline was starting to wear off when Techno remembered Tommy.

He looked at the clock, 6:34, Tommy should have been home by now. Logically he knew Tommy was probably just running late but all he could think about was a guard grabbing him off the side of the road and shipping him off to god knows where.

Techno tapped his fingers nervously against the counter, “Did Tommy say he was going to be late?”

Phil shook his head, “I didn’t hear him say anything like that, he’s probably fine though, you know how he is.”

Techno nodded, biting the inside of his cheek. He couldn’t stop thinking about Tommy, he could be kidnapped or hurt, waiting for someone to come help him. It hit Techno that some of the guards could’ve taken him and his blood ran cold. They could’ve grabbed Tommy just like they grabbed him and he would just be gone, they wouldn’t be able to find him again.

What if someone noticed him sneaking out, connected the dots, and grabbed Tommy as a hostage. They could try to trade him for money or resources, they could report everything-

“-hno? Techno!” Techno was knocked back into reality with pots clattering and fire sizzling filing his ears. The pot was boiling over. He rushed to take off the lid and turn off the heat.

“Techno, are you okay?” Phil placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m worried about Tommy, he should be here by now.” Techno couldn’t stop his hand from shaking.

“Do you want to go look for him? We’d probably intercept him on his way home from Tubbo’s.”

Techno nodded, he grabbed his shoes as Phil called for Wilbur. He whipped the door open and rushed down the rusty stairs, Phil and Wilbur trying to catch up.

It was cold out, the sun was setting and the wind was sharp and strong. Techno moved quickly along Tommy’s normal route, eyes flickering frantically from building to building, he tried to pick up on every sound and movement.

Wilbur came up behind him,“Techno, calm down. He’s probably just running late.”

“What if he’s not?” Techno didn’t voice his other thoughts and continued down the street, getting increasingly worried.

They had been looking for 10 minutes and it was getting darker which put Phil on edge too.

“He should’ve a least started home by now.”

“You guys worry too much, Tommy is a smart kid, he’s fine.” Wilbur said reassuringly, Techno could hear the nervousness pricking in his voice.

Techno heard something crash up ahead and ran, skidding to a halt to see Tommy trying to set someone’s trash can up straight. He ran up to him, looking him over.

“Are you okay?”

“Uh, yeah?” Tommy gave him a weird look, “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Techno couldn't express in words how much he wanted to simultaneously slap the kid upside the head and hold him and never let go.

“I was just worried, you were late and it’s dark out.” He tried to coat his words with his normal nonchantelness.

Wilbur and Phil came up behind him, visibly relaxing when they spotted Tommy.

“See! I told you guys he was fine, you were worried for nothing.” Wilbur said, satisfied.

“You guys were that worried about me?” Tommy asked, a smile tugging at his lips.

“It was mainly Techno-” Wilbur was cut off as Techno elbowed him.

“Aww, well, sorry I didn’t mean to worry you. I was trying to take a shortcut through the alleys and got lost.”

Techno sighed, Tommy was fine. He wasn’t trying to escape anyone, he wasn’t hurt, everything was fine. He could feel Tommy’s eyes bore into him but he ignored it as Wilbur walked forwards, messing up Tommy’s hair and putting an arm around his shoulders.

“Let's get back home, hopefully Techno didn’t burn dinner.”

“Oh fuck the pasta-” Techno was okay with ignoring his and Wilbur’s argument, he was too drained to want to fight anymore tonight.

Everything seemed alright except Tommy was oddly quiet the rest of the night.

[skybiome]

And when the sun comes up, you’ll find a brand new god.

Chapter 5

Beginning | Previous | Next

ao3

tw: none

Techno and Phil worked together over the next few days to clean and preserve all of the venison. Phil seemed to have more experience with this, so Techno followed his lead. Techno was cutting the remaining meat from the bones and while Phil started a fire in their impromptu smoking pit. The skin has all been removed in the days prior.

Between just the two of them, a fair amount of the meat would go to waste, so they had to work quickly to preserve it. Inside, the hearth was burning low and drying thin cut pieces into jerky.  

The temperature outside had been dropping over the days since their hunt. Phil had given Techno a winter coat from somewhere. Lined with some sort of soft animal fur, Techno barely noticed the cold.

Techno walked over to where his companion was poking at the smoking wood chips.

“Phil.”

“Hm?” The winged god looked up at him.

Techno fisted his hands in the pockets of the coat to keep himself from fidgeting. “I’m leaving tomorrow.”

Phil’s eyes widened in mild surprise. “Oh, alright then.” He didn’t sound upset. “We’ll finish this today then, and we can make you a good meal tonight before you hit the road.”

Techno nodded and walked away without another word. The anxious energy under his skin didn’t settle Phil’s acknowledgement. The feeling of being tethering to something was insurmountably foreign. He couldn't wait to get away from Phil, but at the same time, he would miss the man deeply. It had been millenia since Techno had let himself get this close to someone.

Better to drain the wound now than let it sit and fester.

But that would be an issue for tomorrow Techno.

He got to work harvesting the garden they’d planted a few days ago, washing the dirt off the produce in the stone-bottomed brook. Once the meat was settled to preserve both inside and out of the inn, Phil disappeared to somewhere. Techno assumed he’d be back before long.

So he did that hard work first, using a shovel Phil had provided to dig up the root vegetables out of the cold ground. He also gathered other fruits and vegetables from the trellises. Once that was done, he picked them up and set them on one of the tables inside the inn.

And then he didn’t know what to do.

Techno had never had free time. He was always preoccupied with keeping on the move or hunting down the next monster he’d taken a bounty on. Even here, Phil normally had a task for him to do. Whenever all the chores for the day were over, it was already night time. Not knowing what else to do, Techno started running laps around the inn, falling into the steady rhythm of the motions.

After a few laps he expanded his loop to include the other buildings surrounding the central well. And then to just running around all of the structures in the village. Never once did he see another person or even any lights on. Just perfectly tended gardens, even in the almost freezing weather.  

Eventually, the monster hunter slowed down and approached one of the still houses. He knocked on the back door. No response. He tried the handle, and Techno was a little surprised when it opened with no resistance.

Inside sat a picturesque little home. Well made cupboards and countertops were spotless. An unlit tallow candle sat in the middle of a table. Techno took a closer look, and saw that the wick was pristine. It had never been lit. The table surface was unmarred, not showing any signs of being used as a board for cutting food or even any marks of a child playing with their first dagger.

Techno left, and checked the next house. And the next. And the next.

Every house was empty. Each one had a slightly different layout, but it was always unmarked countertops and empty cupboards. He doubted that these houses had ever been lived in. They were just part of the setting of the fictional town Phil had created.

He stopped checking the houses and went back to running circles around the empty village, leaving him along with his thoughts.

Phil didn’t seem malicious. Over the two weeks he’d known the deity, he’d never shown any ill intent. The outburst during the hunt was the first time he’d heard Phil even raise his voice. The god wasn’t gaining anything from spending time with Techno, but he also wasn’t trying to get anything out of the interaction. The cursed man couldn’t figure out what the god’s game was.

He was pulled out of his own head by the sound of Phil yelling his name. Cutting through the dirt paths, Techno made a bee-line towards the inn. Phil was standing outside the building, hands cupped around his mouth trying to project his voice. His wings were fluffed up and slightly spread slightly, like he was anxious and ready to take off at a moment’s notice. His voice was laced with worry.

Once he saw the monster hunter approaching, his wings laid flat and folded nearly behind his back. The line of tension eased out of his shoulders and the slightly frantic expression eased from his face.

“There you are.”

The ‘where’d you go?’ was left unspoken.

Techno nodded, and put his hands in the pockets of his new coat. “You left and I got bored, so I went on a run.” Techno one hand out and made a circular motion in the air, gesturing at the town around them. “Just around the outside of the village.”

Phil nodded, “Alright, I was worried that you had left.”

Techno shrugged. “I don’t know if I can leave, Wilbur may be keeping me here.”

The winged man stiffened slightly at the wandering implication of Techno’s words. He tried to brush it off, and replied, “I don’t think so, I’m fairly certain you can leave whenever you want.”

So he could leave right now if he wanted to. Phil would protest, but he wouldn’t be able to stop the monster hunter. Techno filed that away for later. Then he walked past Phil and turned the handle of the inn door. Holding the entrance open, he looked back at his friend, and asked, “You coming?”

When Phil didn’t spring into action, he added, “I don’t know how to cook, so I hope you do.”

With that, Techno turned away from Phil and walked farther into the building, leaving the door open behind him. A smile stumbled onto the god’s face. He walked inside and closed the door behind him, accepting Techno’s unspoken ask for help.

---

In the monster hunter’s humble opinion, Phil was a pretty good cook. The finished jerky and smoked meat was stored in cloth bags that Phil had pulled from somewhere, and the rest of the deer was slowly being cooked over the lower fire. Techno had been eating well for the last few weeks and he couldn’t wait to dig in when it was ready.

The cursed man had been put in charge with the rest of the meal preparation (with Phil helping if he needed it). Several spuds were slowly cooking in a pan off to the side of the stone hearth along with several herbs Phil had thrown in.

A few other additions that wouldn’t take as long to cook rested on the countertop. Some apples and nuts to be roasted, and mixed vegetables that could be cooked in oil. A loaf of bread was rising on the other side of the warm kitchen.

It was more food than Techno had seen in a long time, and definitely more than he and Phil could eat before it goes bad.

“What are we going to do with all this?” The man motioned to consumables strewn about the room.

“Hm?” Phil looked up from the book he was reading. He tilted his head to the side, asking for Techno to elaborate.

“There’s no way we can eat this all before it goes bad.”

The winged man nodded, and closed his book so he could fully focus on his companion, keeping one finger in the page he was on. “I invited some friends to help finish off the food. That’s where I was earlier” Techno opened his mouth to say something, but Phil kept talking. “They’re coming over later tonight, after you’d normally be asleep, so you don’t have to interact with them if you don’t want to.”

Techno nodded. He didn’t quite know how to feel about Phil picking up on his social anxiety that easily, but the gesture was kind enough.

The rest of the afternoon passed slowly. It was the first day since Techno had arrived that he wasn’t doing anything from dawn to dusk. It didn’t seem like Phil was speeding up the day too much. Techno could actually track the motion of the sun via the sparse rays coming through the canopy and windows. It was nice.

He’d been reading a book the winged god had given him out in the main room. The god in question had pulled him back into the kitchen with the setting of the sun. Together, they finished preparing the rest of the food and assembled a feast in the main room of the inn.

All of the food he’d eaten over the past few weeks had been amazing. This was the best so far. He didn’t manage to eat much, appetite soured by the fact that he’d promised himself he would leave tomorrow.

About the time he started to slow down, Phil glanced towards the door of the inn, and announced, “Our guests will probably be here soon. They’re kinda loud, so you can go to your room if you want. I’ll make sure they leave you alone.”

Techno nodded and slid off of the stool, taking it as Phil’s polite way of telling him to scram. He took the book Phil’d given with him, though. And true to his friend’s word, around ten minutes later, several voices entered the inn. Through the walls, Techno couldn’t parse them well enough to tell how many people there were. At least six, mostly likely more. One of them sounded like Wilbur.

Yeah, Techno wasn’t going back out there. Accepting his fate for the night, the monster hunter stripped off his outer layer of clothes and climbed into bed. He closed his eyes and let sleep easily take him.

Half an hour later, he threw the covers off and swung his legs over the side of the mattress. He couldn’t sleep and Techno had no idea why. The people in the inn weren’t being too loud. He could barely hear them despite the thin walls of the inn. Phil’s laughter made it into his room occasionally, and Techno felt something in his gut curl every time he heard it.  He wasn’t looking forward to having to leave in the morning.

A thought lanced through the monster hunter’s head. He didn’t have to leave in the morning. There was a window in his room. Techno could leave right now, without having to face Phil. Before he knew it, his heavy coat was back on, and his window was open.

The cold wind stole the man’s breath, making Techno take pause. But only for a moment.

He hefted himself up and out of the window sill. He didn’t want to look Phil in the eyes before leaving, so clearly the solution was to avoid Phil altogether.

Frozen grass crunched under his boots. Techno hadn’t noticed that it was snowing, but a thin layer of white coated the ground. Blades of grass and leaves were poking up through the powder.

He walked around the exterior of the building until he was standing in front of the inn. Through the windows, Techno could see about a dozen people socializing. The inn looked alive for the very first time.

Turning on his heel, Techno marched away from the illuminated structure. He'd seen a road leading out of town while running earlier. That's probably the road he's supposed was supposed to go. The monster hunter took a few steps past the wall in the direction of the road out of town. Then he reversed his path and went down the dirt path that had first brought him into town.

It was well into the night when he arrived back at the statue that had first greeted him. Techno's eyes pick up the details of the sculpture with no problems, even in the low light. There was no mistaking it. The facial features of the statue may be missing, but it still was the exact height and build as the man he'd been living with for the last three weeks.

Techno ran his hand over the bottom of the statue, clearing the snow and knowing that a plaque was hidden underneath. He pulled his hand away, and felt something stutter in his chest.

The words were different.

PHILZA, GOD OF SURVIVAL AND SOLITUDE PATRON OF THE ENDANGERED AND LONESOME PROTECTOR OF HIS FAMILY AND THE ONES HE LOVES

Something sad curled in his chest at the confirmation that Phil was really a god. It almost felt like a betrayal, enough though he knew it was coming.

Techno lowered himself onto the snowy ground. He closed his eyes. His fingers dug into his pants as the snow melted and the cold water bit into his legs. Eventually the chill made its way through his heavy coat.

Techno only opened his eyes when he could see light through the closed lids. Sunlight danced across the icy ground, shooting daggers into the cursed man’s eyes. He stumbled to his feet, shaking the gathered snow from his hood and shoulders. A good few inches, too.

The statue and it's broken pieces were also dusted with snow. No more grass was poking up through drifts. Techno turned around to look at the trail that had brought him here. The footpath was buried under the snow. For a moment, he didn’t know how he was going to find his way back to the village.

Something moved into Techno’s line of sight, and it took him a moment to register what it was. The white wolf blended into the powder almost perfectly. It blinked at Techno, then turned and trotted away. The cursed man followed.

The canine kept a steady pace in front of Techno. Occasionally, its fur camouflages it perfectly, and it would disappear from Techno’s sight. He was, eventually, less following the wolf, and more following the footprints it left behind.

After a while, the wolf stopped and sat down, pointing its nose at something. Techno shook his head and let his eyes refocus. The wolf glanced at him. When Techno met its eyes, it turned its attention back to the building in front of them.

A sign over the door, proudly read  The Core Inn . Unlike every other time Techno had seen the building, not a single light was on inside. He turned away to look at the other buildings. Besides Techno and the wolf’s foot prints, the snow cover was pristine. Taking a moment to realign his internal compass, he headed towards the road that led out of town.

Three steps into the journey, a weight pressed against his side. Techno stumbled at the pressure, but caught himself, realizing that the wolf that had been leading him, was now walking alongside him. Hesitantly, he set his hand on the animal’s head.

The wolf pushed against Techno’s hand, and pressed harder into the man’s side. Techno took that as permission and shoved his hand through the wolf’s fur and into the warm undercoat. He may be impervious to frostbite, but cold was still cold.

He started walking again, carding his hand through the canine’s fur. It was nice to have something else grounding him in the blank surroundings. In the real world, Techno would normally have bird song or even just the wind in the trees to fill his ears. Over the weeks, Phil had become the background noise, either with his voice or the motion of his clothes.

The snow crunched softly under foot as they traveled. The massive trees thinned from towering conifers to rolling woods of deciduous. What immediately caught Techno’s attention was that the wind was back. Birds and animal tracks were numerous, criss-crossing the snowy landscape. When they stumbled upon a crossroads, Techno took note of the messy wagon tracks in the resting snow.

Compared to the premade tracks that had covered the ground in the village, these looked incredibly natural. A sign post sat across the road. Techno approached and read it, wolf still glued to his side. A place named Aria was to the left, and Mount Lacerta was to the right. It didn’t mention the path he’d arrived from.

Techno turned around. His footsteps and any indication that he’d followed a premade path to his current location was gone. He turned back around, and the sign post had vanished as well.

“Huh,” Techno said. He turned to look at his furry companion. “Where do you think we should go?”

The wolf blinked, and started walking towards the left. Techno followed. After a few steps, the canine stopped and looked back at the man. He stopped as well, waiting for the wolf to continue leading. The animal looked back at Techno and whined.

When Techno didn’t move, the wolf turned around. It walked until it was once again glued to his side. Pushing against the monster hunter’s leg, the canine took a step. It looked up at Techno, and took another step forward.

Techno got the message. They walked alongside each other for hours, basking in the cold beauty.

Eventually, the wolf’s steps stuttered for a moment. Then it took off like a shot.

The cursed man watched it’s white coat shrink into the distance, content that it was leaving him. To Techno’s surprise, the wolf stopped about thirty feet away. The canine spun in a circle in the snow. Then it planted its rear end in the snow and let out a piercing howl.

The cry scared birds out of the surrounding trees. The wolf lowered its head, and although it was too far away to hear the panting, Techno could see its tongue lolling out of its mouth.

Something bubbled in his throat. He was surprised when a barking laugh escaped. His chest felt warm despite the cold. Another laugh emitted from Techno as he sprinted after the animal. The wolf let out another howl, turned, and ran from the man, egging him to chase.

Techno did so willingly. He almost couldn't remember the last time he’d felt this elated. Snow clung to his feet, but the monster hunter didn’t notice. Instead, he looked up to the cloud coated sky and let loose his own howl. The wolf up ahead returned the call.

Back and forth, the two echoed as they ran. Sometimes it was a whoop or holler from Techno, and a bark or yip from the canine. As they ran, the energy they carried only grew, until they were both high on euphoria.

Before he knew it, the snow was gone from around Techno’s feet. The wolf led him down the hard packed dirt road for hours at a sprint. It was nearly sun down when the animal broke from the path. It veered into the trees to the left of the road. Techno followed with zero hesitation.

A small campsite was set up just out of sight of the road. Techno came to a halt by the edge. It was a tent with a small circle of stones set up next to it. The wolf was looking around, tapping its feet and whining slightly.

A stick snapped in the trees. Both Techno and the wolf’s heads snapped towards the sound. In an instant, the canine had dove through the bush between them and the source of the noise.

The cursed man heard the sound of someone yelling in surprise and being knocked to the ground. Techno pushed through the brush to follow. He found the wolf practically laying on top of someone, licking at his face. His green and white bucket hat had been knocked to the floor and large black wings moved in the dirt and plant cover as Philza tried to shove the canine off his chest.

The god managed to roll onto his side, pushing the animal off him. Sitting upright, he ran his hands through its thick coat, cooing and praising it.

“Gods, you’re such a good boy.” Philza said through laughter. “Thank you for leading him here.”

The wolf licked his face one more time before settling its head on the god’s lap.

Turning his attention to Techno, Philza smiled, and explained, “I sent him to come get you.” He ran his head between the ears on the wolf. “It’s hard to navigate in the snow, and I didn’t want you to get lost.”

He chucked. “I know you’d be okay, but it was just for my own peace of mind.”

Techno swallowed dryly. He couldn’t think of anything, so he just nodded.

Philza stood up, pushing the animal off his lap, and brushed off the front of his robe. He was covered in bits of dead leaves and small sticks were on the ground around him. The god leaned over, picked back up the pieces of tinder he’d dropped.

With his arms full of dry material, the winged deity turned to Techno. He jerked his head towards the campsite, motioning for the cursed man to come with him. They maneuvered back through the hedge. The wolf seemed elated, dancing around their legs and nearly tripping them several times. Philza chuckled at its antics. He set his gatherings down beside the unlit fire pit.

The god lowered himself onto the hard ground with a sigh, wings half unfurled behind him to keep the feathers from bending on the ground. Techno hesitated for a second, and then sat beside him. The wolf did its best to lay on top of both of them, head in Philza’s lap and back end on Techno. Its white tail was slowly turning brown from thumping against the ground.

Philza laughed again. “Get off me you big lug.” He pushed the animal off his lap again. “Go cuddle Techno, I need to start the fire.”

The wolf whined, but sulked over and dropped its head into Techno’s lap. Despite its grumpy demeanor, its tail was still thumping against the dirt.

The god gave the canine a fond look. He pulled a flint and steel out of his robe, and started on the process of lighting a flame.

Techno knew how to start a fire with flint and steel, but he hadn’t done it in decades. Normally he just ate food cold or didn’t eat at all.

The entire scene was almost too domestic for Techno. Something curled in his gut as the sparks illuminated Philza’s hands and face. The sun had dipped below the tree line and the golden light made Techno yearn for the slow and warm days in the inn.

He ran his fingers through the wolf’s fur in order to do something with his hands. After a few dozen attempts, a small flame started in the god’s cupped hands. Slowly, he added pieces of tinder until it was strong enough to survive on its own. He put a few bigger pieces of wood on top of the fire for it to destroy when it grew big enough.

Philza turned his attention back to Techno. “Do you want something to eat? You didn’t take any when you left.”

His tone wasn’t accusatory, but Techno still felt like he was being scolded for something. He nodded, saying, “Sure, I can eat.”

The god nodded. Leaning over, Philza stuck his head inside of the tent. A second later, he emerged with a bag in hand. He rooted around inside for a moment. He pulled out the cloth bag that they’d put the smoked meat inside of yesterday.

He handed it to Techno, saying, “here.” The cursed man extracted a hand from where it had been scratching the wolf’s ear to grab the sack. The canine lifted its head to sniff at the bag. Techno thought it was going to try and take it, but it lowered its head back onto his lap without protest.

Philza pulled one more thing out of the bag before setting it aside. He unwrapped the remaining pieces of the bread loaf they’d made two days ago. The god must have hid it from his guests, otherwise it would be gone by now. He set the clothes it had been wrapped in over the bag, and tore two pieces off the loaf. Philza wrapped the rest of the bread back up and set it in bag.

Techno followed the deity’s example. He pulled a few pieces of jerky out of the bag, and handed them to his companion. The cursed man offered a bit to the wolf. It sniffed the meat for a moment, but laid its head back against the man’s chest. Techno shrugged, but closed the sack up and handed it to Philza, exchanging it for one of the pieces of bread.

They warmed their meals against the steadily growing fire. By the time they were finished eating, the sun had fully set. The wolf was dozing in Techno’s lap, and he was half convinced to join it. He was emotionally drained from the excitement of running, and from his running anxieties about Philza being upset that he’d left in the middle of the night. The god had hardly mentioned Techno’s flight at all, only expressing seemingly mild disappointment that Techno hadn’t taken food with him.

Techno shook his head, seemingly shaking his brain back into working order. He cautiously worked his way out from under the predator on his lap and stood up. Philza’s eyes followed him.

“I think I’m gonna go now. I’ve wasted enough time.”

Techno started towards the road, mentally promising that he wouldn’t stop walking, no matter what Philza said to stop him.

“You could stay here tonight.”

The monster hunter paused his stride. He could hear the deity standing up behind him.

“The tent is big enough for two people.”

Techno took a deep breath, and let it out slowly.

“Alright. Tonight only,” he lied to himself. “Then I need to keep moving.”

“Alright,” the deity echoed. Techno could imagine the deity nodding at his back.

That's how he found himself, pressed up against the back of a sleeping deity half an hour later. He could feel Philza slowly moving against his spine with every breath. The god was laying on top of one on his wings in a position that couldn’t have been comfortable, but the deity sure sounded fast asleep.

Techno was curled up inside of a bedroll. Philza just had a blanket since his wings wouldn’t fit in a bedroll. The wolf was lying half on Techno’s legs, half under Philza’s wing. The weight of the canine and the subtle noises from the both the wolf and god soon lulled Techno to sleep.

[general-mahamatra]

Geminus (Chapter 1)

Genre: Medieval/Modern Fantasy mix

TW: Stalker themes

Wordcount: 4079

Read it on AO3 here

Note: ARG!Wilbur AU but... with my own take. Kinda inspired by the Hunger Games :)

In a world mixed with medieval fantasy and modern fantasy, it’s easy for things to go awry under everyone’s radars. Especially when the tournament master, Wilbur Soot, gets replaced by a nearly perfect carbon copy of himself. After all, what can someone do if they don’t even know a doppelganger exists? Not much.

Though... what would happen if someone was a bit more knowledgeable than the doppelganger thought? Or, say, a pair?

Waking up in the middle of the night was a common occurrence for Wilbur. It wasn’t for any particular reason, it was just… normal. Fall asleep hours into the night, wake up a while later, then pass out just before sunrise only to be forced awake not too soon after he closed his eyes. But he really didn’t mind, not in the slightest. Those hours where he sat hunched over his desk, computer screen reflecting off his glasses and glaring at his tired eyes were his most productive.

No wonder coffee and energy drinks quickly became his best friends.

He had no time to focus on his own projects during the day. Between Tommy’s tournaments and training sessions, Techno’s exploration, and making sure they had food on the table every day, personal time wasn’t an option for Wilbur. Not that he cared too much about that. He’d do anything for his brothers to make sure they lived their best lives.

They all had ambitions but when Phil left one day… got Wilbur up in the middle of the night and explained what was going on… the curly haired Brit made the decision to put his goals to the side to support his brothers. And he would do it over and over again at the drop of a dime.

Staring at the screen, Wilbur rested his cheek against his fist. Eyelids heavy, he could barely keep his focus on the tiny words. They faded in and out, letters merging together and becoming incoherent. When his head began to fall forward, he jolted upright, running his hand through his hair as he blinked away the bleariness.

His eyes were sore and his head was pounding. Like a jackhammer against his skull, making him groan and press his hand against his forehead. God knows how long he had been working on the piece, let alone how long he zoned out. With a deep breath he sat back in the chair, pulling his feet up to wrap his arms around his legs. 

Reading over what he wrote, he sighed. Disappointment mixed with exhaustion and he closed his eyes. Pulled off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. He wanted to pull out his guitar, try the words with the cords… but everyone was sleeping.

The one night he wanted to practice is the one night he had to be quiet.

Opening his eyes, he leaned forward and closed the laptop. Other than the slim strips of moonlight that filtered through the blinds, the room was swept into darkness. Wilbur sat there for a while, blind, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the low light. 

The glimpse of a piece of paper catches his attention. Curious, he picks the small note up, unfolding the lined paper. For a few moments, he squints at the scrawled writing, a small frown tugging at his lips. It was too difficult to read.

So, he got to his feet and grabbed his glasses. Slipping them on, he approached the window and held the note under the light. He had no recollection of writing anything down for the last few days--at least, not that he kept at his desk. But the all-too-familiar handwriting said otherwise. It was his own; something he wrote and probably forgot about.

You work so hard at night, maybe you should stop straining your eyes. It ruins your pretty face. I’m sure neither of us want that.

Wilbur found himself unable to look away from the note. A look of horror covers his face as his hands shake ever so slightly. All sense of fatigue is gone, replaced by the need to run. Hide. Get away.

He crumpled the note and looked up. His heart raced, dread drowning out any previous thought he may have had. At some point, it was there. It was in the same room as him watching him work. Wrote the note and set it by the laptop without Wilbur noticing. Because it wasn’t there when the Brit got up.

When he couldn’t spot anything out of the ordinary, he cautiously looked down at his fist. Uncurled his fingers, watched the paper unravel just a bit.

A creaking floorboard makes his head shoot up. Heart rate quickened at the snap of a finger and he watched, eyes wide like a deer in the headlights. 

Footsteps.

He spun around, wide eyes glued on the door across the room. Obscured by shadows, form blurry in the blackness of the bedroom. A thin, dim light can barely be made out through the crack under the door. Paler than the moonlight, most likely a trick of the eye.

His eyes were trained on the light, only occasionally glancing up at the knob to see if anyone would open the door. Seconds tick by, feeling like neverending minutes trudging by as slow as possible. It was agonizing.

The handle turned with a click and Wilbur froze. Stared at the door, watched it swing open and watched a shrouded figure stride into the room. Their hand trailed behind on the knob, slipping off once the stranger was fully in the bedroom. The glint of moonlight from the cracked window blinds lands on the strangers face, reflecting from their eyes and highlighting the white teeth of their sly smile.

“Who the hell-”

Wilbur’s voice fell short the moment he made eye contact with the stranger. Locked into a staring contest, words refusing to come out. He went quiet, lips partially parted as a stillness came over him. Every muscle in his body seemed to lock up, the brit’s only movements the rise and fall of his chest and the natural sway of his body. He watched the stranger approach, breath catching in his throat and his fingers twitch… the only sign of him trying to move.

The stranger slowly advanced, grin only growing as their face became illuminated by the moonlight.

It took Wilbur a moment to process what he saw. A familiar face. Curly brown hair partially covered by a crimson beanie and keen hazelnut eyes were the first features he took in. And then the barely tanned skin and stature to perfectly match his own…

An exact carbon copy.

“Look at you,” the copy purred, leaning in close, its voice disorientating for Wilbur to hear. Set his nerves on edge and made him internally cringe. Like listening to a recording of himself… only he never said those words.

A cold hand pressed against the side of his face, the copy’s thumb caressing Wilbur's cheek as its breath hitched. It stayed like that for a moment. Unspeaking as it kept its hand in place, grin turning to a pleased smirk as its expression grew fond. “Up so late… you know that’s bad for you.” It lowered its hand, smooth fingers trailing along Wilbur’s jawline before eventually dropping entirely. It held its hand between them, palm open as the hand barely hovered over the man’s chest. Similar to a cold child to a fireplace.

He wanted to scream. Cry out and shove the copy away, force it to step back and stop touching him and ask what the hell was going on. But he couldn’t. No matter what he tried to do, his body wouldn’t listen. It wouldn’t move.

All Wilbur could do was stand there and take it, eyes trapped and mind entranced by the copy’s gleaming gaze.

It had to be a dream. None of this could possibly be real, doppelgangers exist, yeah, but not… not like this.

Or was he hallucinating?

“Come on Wilbur! Don’t tell me I have to teach you how to take care of yourself.” It reached up, twirling a strand of the brit’s greasy hair with a seemingly disappointed huff. “It’s a shame, really, finding you like this.” It shrugged, moving its hand to Wilbur’s chest where it now tapped along his sternum. “Not like you’ll get any better anyway,” the copy said, much to Wilbur’s horror.

It’s while they stand there in silence that the copy took hold of Wilbur’s glasses, pulling the round metal frames off his face. It studied them, turning the frames in its hands before holding it up to the slits of light.

Then it placed them on its face.

The copy blinked a couple of times, squinting as its vision adjusted to the lenses. Then, it tilted its head to the side, its open-mouth smile somehow appearing calmer than before.

“Thanks for the glasses.”

With one hard punch to the jaw, Wilbur crumpled to the floor.

--

“Dude, Tubbo, come on!” Tommy shouted, turning around as he walked backwards, slowing his rush. “Hurry up or they’re gonna catch us!”

A shorter boy ran after Tommy, hands scrambling to get a hold of the backpack straps to keep it from bouncing all over the place as his feet slammed against the dirt road. It was heavy, stuffed with books, a laptop, and two small notebooks (one of which the corner was peeking out from the zipper Tubbo was unable to close) and was a struggle to keep from completely falling off.

“I’m sorry! You’re the one who dumped this on me!”

Once by his friend’s side, Tubbo passed off the bag. The taller one gladly took it with a laugh, slipping it on over his shoulders and tugging the straps to tighten it around his thin frame. Then, teasingly, he remarked, “you’re my sidekick! Learn to deal with it!” 

Tubbo scoffed with a small chuckle as the two picked up the pace, relieved to have the weight of their haul off his shoulders.

As Tommy spun around to face the direction they were headed, he cast a quick glance back. No one was following them, not yet, but he could hear them. Shouting in the distance, inaudible as it was all muffled by the storefronts on the corner. They were a good 50 feet from the street corner before the first pursuer came into view.

Grabbing Tubbo by the sleeve, Tommy shouted, “RUN!”

And they took off.

Adrenaline pumped through their veins, pushing them to go faster than either has ever run before. With the advantage of long legs, Tommy found himself pulling ahead of his friend. It forced him to slow long enough to take Tubbo’s wrist and drag him along, much to the shorter boy’s protests.

“Get back here!” A man shouts. “You thieves! Come back here right now!”

Tommy cackled and continued to pull his friend behind him. Ducking into an alleyway, he didn’t stop, weaving through the many twists and turns that eventually led to an open street across the block.

It was far more lively. Younger children running around with a dirty ball tossing and kicking it across the street, older teens riding bikes along the center of the road, and so many others just walking around with bags of goods from grocery stores and clothing shops. An easy enough place to lose the men coming after them.

With a quick glance either way, Tommy darted across the street, Tubbo in tow. His target was yet another alleyway, this one a bit more shrouded by the hustle and bustle of pedestrians than the one they left. Straight into the dim lighting and around another corner, narrowly dodging large dumpsters and a stray cat that darted across their path.

After yet another turn, Tommy came to a stop next to a dumpster. Ducking down behind it, he motioned for Tubbo to join him as he took the bag off.

Both of them were breathing heavily. Tommy practically panting as he struggled to unzip the backpack and Tubbo keeled over, hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

“Holy shit,” Tubbo wheezed, lifting his head so he could look at the younger boy. “Why are you so fucking fast?!”

Tommy chuckled. He waited to respond until he finally got the zipper unstuck and practically ripped the bag open. “Because unlike you, I actually did well on the pacer test!” he proclaimed as he scrambled to catch the small notebook before it hit the trash-covered ground. He then grinned up at his friend. “I got a fucking 83. Fucking try me, bitch.”

The shorter boy giggled lightly as he kneeled down next to his friend. While Tommy was going through the notebook, Tubbo dug around the backpack to get ahold of the laptop. “You’re lucky I have a charger for this thing at home,” he remarked, flipping the lid open. “This thing’s probably barely charged knowing them.”

Tommy hummed in response as he thumbed through the pages. Each one was covered in scrawled writing. A mix of cursive and print, both messing and intricate at the same time in a way Tommy didn’t even know what possible. Granted, it was almost as ineligible as his own chicken scratch. 

Along with the writing was a bunch of diagrams hastily sketched out in ink and pencil alike. Extra pages were taped and stapled in here and there and some areas looked like pages had been ripped out. Jagged corners stuck out where papers were just shoved into the notebook and the cover was worn to the point of nearly falling off.

“This is so weird,” he said, turning a page. “Who has the time to write this much and draw all this shit? Like-” Tommy held the notebook up so Tubbo could see, pointing at a diagram of what looked like a tall, spindly, bipedal creature. Everything was scribbled in with the familiar texture of a scratchy ballpoint pen except for its eyes which were small, beady, and red. “Who?”

Tubbo glanced up from the bright screen to look at what he was being shown. His eyebrows rose in mild surprise at the site. “The hell is that thing?”

Turning the notebook back, Tommy read, “A… zexane.” He frowned. “Fucking weird.”

“A zexane,” Tubbo repeated, gaze trailing back to the laptop. “Interesting.”

“It says here that it lives in the forest and is only active during the night,” explained Tommy, squinting slightly at the intricate handwriting. “It can mimic the voice or sound of anything it can hear and its presence can usually be determined by a flock of crows in the forest.” He flipped the page again. “Who has the time?”

“Someone does,” Tubbo said absentmindedly, fingers tapping away on the keyboard. How the boy was able to do as much as he can was beyond Tommy. Oftentimes he would sit there and stare at Tubbo’s work, simply awed but what he’s capable of.

Now was one of those times..

Tommy shuffled over, closing the notebook over his thumb to keep his place. His blue eyes settled on the bright screen as he watched Tubbo sift through the files. “What are we looking for again?” he asked. 

A couple moments passed before he got an answer.

“A digital version of what you’re holding right now.”

Tommy glanced down at the brown cover, gaze trailing over the weird symbol on the front. He traced his hand over it only to find that it was engraved into the leather. “Does it have anything to do with this?”

“Do with what?” Tubbo looked over as the taller boy held the book so he could see. “Oh… OH!”

His attention shifted to the computer. “I think I know what that’s called.” 

It doesn’t take long for a browser page full of similar symbols to take up the entire screen. Tubbo turned the laptop towards Tommy with an enthusiastic smile. “A unicursal hexagram! It’s really uncommon and really weird looking but once you know what it is, you can’t forget it.” He set the laptop down and took the notebook from Tommy. “You see the circle around it and the star in the center? That might mean it’s a symbol!”

Tommy swiped the book back and frowned slightly. He didn’t get a chance to comment on it before Tubbo continued.

The older boy pointed at the center of the star. “Look closer right there.”

Squinting, Tommy pulled the worn notebook closer to his face to get a better look at what Tubbo had shown him. At first he saw nothing, just the weathered material of the cover. That is, until he tilted the book and watched some sort of shape flicker in the sparse light.

A number.

“Seven?” The boy questioned, now placing his finger over the number. Unlike the hexagram, there was no engraving, nothing to feel to show it was there. Tilting it back away from the light, Tommy couldn’t even make out any writing.

It wasn’t there.

Tubbo once again took the book back and flipped it open. He was practically buzzing at this point, excitement taking over his original plan of searching through the computer. 

“Tubbo what are you-”

“Shh.”

The shorter boy thumbed through the pages, eyes flicking across the words faster than Tommy thought possible for the boy.

Then it clicked.

Tubbo wasn’t reading.

With the frantic page turning and constant scouring, there was only one other thing that could possibly be going on because there was no way Tubbo was just looking at pictures. He was searching for something.

“Aha!” Tubbo exclaimed, slamming his hand on the book, pointing at something in the corner. He shoved it into Tommy’s face a bit too close for the younger to see. “There! Look!”

Carefully pushing the book away, Tommy examined the section Tubbo was pointing at. Weird, runic-like letters were scrawled on the side. Definitely not English. 

“The fuck?”

Tommy was pretty sure the other was vibrating now.

Tubbo tapped the notebook, forcing Tommy to stay focused on the words. “It’s Batari! Tommy it’s Batari!” The only response he got was a blank expression which made Tubbo huff. Taking the book back, he started to explain. “It’s the written language of magic. It’s read the same as English but it’s magic. Tommy it’s MAGIC!”

The boy flipped through a couple more pages until he came upon a loose piece of paper, folded into quarters. Setting the book down, Tubbo unraveled the paper. The moment his eyes landed on the writing, he seemed to glow with joy. “There’s so much of it!”

And so Tommy’s curiosity was piqued. “Can you read it?”

“Not well,” Tubbo admitted. “But… It’s not… it’s not a spell or anything like the one in the book.” He picked the notebook back up and passed it off to Tommy. “Open it to the page with the Batari.” Tommy obliged and Tubbo began to compare.

“It’s different,” he finally said. “Look at this.” He pointed at the spell and then at a sentence on the ripped paper. “The structure is different, so is the handwriting. Look- the spell? Words are connected and there’s extra letters to words and some are even removed. The note? It has regular grammar. Like someone was trying to write in code.”

Tommy’s eyes darted from the Batari to Tubbo. “What does it say? The stuff you can read? What is it?”

There was a moment of silence before Tubbo answered him. 

“It’s a diary entry.”

--

“That is the dumbest thing I’ve EVER heard!”

Quackity flinched at the shouting and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. This whole thing was so stupid. He didn’t want to be here, he never did! Yeah he ran for the seat of mayor but he didn’t actually want to deal with the whole legal side of it all. But, alas, merging his votes with Schlatt came with… repercussions.

“It’s exactly what we need to do!” a deep, accented voice countered. “It’s what the people need, how the fuck is it dumb?”

A hand slammed on a table followed by the sound of a chair sliding on a hardwood floor. “I don’t care, Eret. You’re not the one in charge here, it's not your decision.” Schlatt snarled. “This is my city, not yours. You simply work for me. And I say that is the worst thing I have ever heard.”

“But we need the land!” Eret exclaimed. Upon opening his eyes, Quackity came to find the tall man standing as well just across the table. “We need to be able to farm, we can’t farm without that land!”

“We import everything, we don’t need to start making our own fucking food.”

Eret pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. An attempt to calm down. “Schlatt, we don’t export anything. How are we supposed to sustain ourselves when all we have is the tournament?” They were the only one who could keep their cool around Schlatt. Something Quackity dearly wished he had. “Listen. Our economy is failing, we need to do something to boost it during the months we don’t have the tournament or soon enough we will fail and the tournament will be taken away. What will you do then?”

Schlatt glared at the tall man, stance unwavering. Though silent, he was still imposing, hard stare, something Quackity never wanted to be on the receiving end of. If looks could kill… Eret would be no better than dead.

The other took the silence as an answer.

“We’re nothing without the tournament right now,” Eret continued, gently placing his hands on the table. “We need to change that as soon as possible if we want to stay significant! Because who knows what happens if the next tournament master is born hundreds of miles away?! If we aren’t established as the regional capital, we won’t matter anymore!” 

Schlatt scoffed in response, turning away from Eret for a moment. “God, Alister, you’re so fucking dumb.” The use of their real name made Eret freeze. Finally turning back to them, Schlatt continued. “We won’t have a new tournament master for decades. He’s not gonna die any time soon, you’re so fucking stupid.”

There was a flash of anger in Eret’s eyes joined by the barely noticeable flicker of a glow… a sign that their magic was just below the surface. Despite their clenched fists now pressed against the table, they kept a steady, diplomatic tone. “We don’t know that. Anything could-”

“Wilbur sits on his fucking ass in front of his computer whenever he’s not out with Techno, nothing bad is gonna happen to him anytime soon,” Schlatt snapped, easily cutting the other off.

“We don’t know that,” repeated Eret. “We don’t know each and every detail that could lead to something happening to Wilbur. He’s a target, Schlatt, you know that!”

Schlatt’s face twisted to one of confusion and disbelief. “Who the fuck would target the fucking tournament master?”

“Someone who’s mad at the results,” Eret delineated matter-of-factly. 

Quackity stood before Schlatt could say anything, placing his hand in front of the man as one would do to hold someone back. “You guys really need to shut up holy crap.” Schlatt swatted his hand away and Quackity shook it out, begrudgingly bringing it to his chest while mumbling a small “ow”. He then continued. “You’re acting like two old women fighting over if they should spend money on yarn or fabric in the middle of a fucking Joanne’s. Put your granny diapers on and sit back down oh my God.”

That earned him a swat on the back of the head from Schlatt.

“Hey!” he whined, rubbing the back of his head. “The fuck was that for? I’m not wrong! You’re literally two overgrown diabetes babies. You should really rest your legs before you fall down the stairs on the way out!”

Next thing he knew he was being grabbed by the ear and dragged away from the table. “Ow, ow, hey! C’mon man I’m sorry let g- ow!” The shorter boy stumbled after Schlatt, tripping over his own feet as he was rendered off balance. “Schlatt!”

Eret was giggling off to the side, finding far too much enjoyment in this.

“The only reason you’re here is because you legally have to be,” Schlatt snarled, pulling Quackity closer. “You’re supposed to sit there and be a witness, not act like some idiotic child who finds penis jokes funny.”

“Puta,” Quackity mumbled.

“Alexis.”

Quackity laughed nervously, eyes almost as wide as his nervous smile. “Haha, yeah! Yeah I get you big man! Mr. Mayor guy! Big ol’ Mr. Man!”

That seemed to be enough for Schlatt, the taller man letting Quackity go and immediately turning back to the table. Left Quackity standing there, pouting as he held the side of his face.

This was going to be a long evening.

[hermits-that-craft]

Staying With The Traitor - Chapter Three

Runaway

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26695042/chapters/65467834

“Nikki, what do I tell Tommy?” Wilbur asks, sunlight filtering through the window to his room. Nikki looks up from the cupboard, putting the fresh flowers down. “About last night, I mean.”

“You should tell him the truth. You got us what we needed to get, after all.” Nikki turns around, her head tilted to the side. “Surely that's a thing he will be happy about.”

“It feels like something is off, though.” Wilbur runs a hand through his hair, sighing. “It was too easy. We didn’t really have to try.”

“Maybe thats a good thing.” Nikki shrugs. “You deserve to have things happen easily, Wilbur.”

“I’m waiting for the catch.” Wilbur sighs, resting his head in his hands. “There’s gotta be a catch.”

“Eret’s tricky.” Nikki agrees. “He’s hidden me, and when Fundy burnt my flag he comforted me-”

“Fundy did what?”

“But he still betrayed us.” Nikki sighs, looking at the roof. “I don’t know how to feel about this.”

“Can we circle back to where Fundy burnt your flag?” Wilbur asks, rage barely hidden in his voice. “How dare he! You spent so much time on that, how could he?”

“I really don’t want to think about it.” Nikki says softly. “He didn’t even look at me when he walked past.”

“That bastard.” Wilbur spits, anger bubbling in his chest. “How could he, after everything-”

“Wilbur, we need to go down for breakfast.” Nikki reminds him gently, and Wilbur nods, wrapping the brown cloak that Eret gave him around his shoulders. “We can talk about Fundy later, but I don’t think being late to breakfast would make Tommy or Eret feel good.”

“Why?” Wilbur asks. “Why do you think that it’d make Tommy upset?”

“They might think we ran off.” Nikki says. “Got the allyship and then fled the city.”

“I wouldn’t leave Tommy behind.”

“Do you think he knows that?” Nikki asks quietly. “He could still panic, even if he knows.”

“I know, I know,” Wilbur agrees, “he’s just a kid.”

“He shouldn’t be in constant wars, Wil.” Nikki sighs, running a hand through her hair. “He should be-”

“Safe, I know.” Wilbur sighs. They walk in silence down the halls, both clearly wanting to say something but neither wanting to say it, to begin an argument over who committed the worse atrocity during the revolutionary war. What is worse, enlisting children or only joining the revolution after the war was over, turning a blind eye to the pain of the children fighting?

They run into Eret, in his full royal garb, his sunglasses thrown off face as the trio tumble to the floor. Eret covers his eyes with one of his hands, trying to find the glasses without the exiled L’manburgians seeing his face. Wilbur picks up the sunglasses, handing them to the man without a comment, knowing how self conscious Eret is about his eyes. Wilbur doesn’t know if he’s even seen the king’s eyes before.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to run into you both.” Eret says, straightening up. “We’re having guests over and I really need to clean up.”

“Guests?” 

“Clean up?” Nikki asks, a frown on her face. “Eret, this castle is spotless.”

“There’s so much dust I need to clean before-”

“Have you even eaten today, Eret?” Wilbur interrupts, picking himself up off of the floor.

“There’s no time-”

“Join us for breakfast.” Wilbur orders, slipping back into his commander role without thinking. “You need to eat before you go on a dusting rampage, when will the guests arrive?”

“Around midday.”

“It’s eight am, you can afford some breakfast.” Wilbur says, leading the way to the kitchen. Nikki offers Eret a tense smile, and Eret follows the two, gently tugging at his sleeves.

They follow the scent of burnt toast and coffee to the kitchen, where they watch Tommy struggle to make eggs, toast, bacon and coffee at the same time. The teen looks up, relief written across his face as he spots Wilbur and Nikki, and Wilbur feels taken aback, surprised at the relief. Wilbur hadn’t realised that Tommy was scared of him leaving him behind. 

He doesn’t understand why Tommy would think that, they only left Tubbo behind, and Tubbo could have followed them. Really, Tubbo chose his option.

“So I tried to make breakfast - I’m not sure if I made enough or if it’s good but I think it's ready?” Tommy looks down to the eggs, frowning for a second. “No it isn’t.”

Nikki snorts, walking over to the stove to help Tommy as he struggles to cook. Wilbur walks in, sliding onto a chair and watching the two cook, Nikki showing Tommy how to make sure the scrambled eggs don't burn, while still cooking them. Eret hovers in the doorway, his left hand on his right arm, watching without walking in. Wilbur beckons him in hesitantly, not wanting to upset his host but not wanting to sit and eat with him.

“Who’s the guest, besides us, Eret?” Nikki asks, saving Wilbur from any small talk he would have to do. 

“Dream and Bad.” Eret swallows, looking at the table. “Sap might also show up.”

“What?” Tommy spits, turning around with fury in his eyes. “You invited them over-”

“I didn't!”

“-Right after you basically forced us to stay with you?”

“Tommy I swear I-”

“You’re going to get us killed! We don’t even have our spawns in other places, we’re just going to be stuck in a death loop until they get bored!” Tears spring in Tommy’s eyes, fear written across his face.

“I won’t let them hurt you.” Eret says, looking at Tommy, his voice laden with promises he can’t keep.

“Didn’t stop them last time.” Tommy glares. “Why? Why did you invite them, Eret?”

“I didn’t. I’m lucky I even got a warning.” Eret runs his hand through his hair. “If you guys want, you can leave. I wouldn’t blame you.”

“Then the Manburgians will find us.” Nikki frowns. “There’s nowhere we can go.”

“Surely there’s a place to hide.” Wilbur argues. “Either here or outside of here-”

“No, because getting to that place would let the Manburgians see us.”

“Maybe you could sneak into Tommy’s old house-”

“Not possible, it’s the embassy-”

None of the adults notice as Tommy silently plates three plates, setting them down in front of them. The arguing doesn’t stop, nor does it pause, as Tommy slips out of the room, his hand over his mouth. No one in the castle sees the teen whisper to someone, no one notices him slip into his room, taking a bag out and filling it with food and clothes and potions. No one notices him flee out of a window, even though it’s the middle of the day. The adults don’t notice, still fighting as they clean and prepare to meet with Dream and Bad, not that if they noticed they would find him, the teen in their care long since disappeared to find something.

Someone.

---

Tubbo walks along the edge of where the border wall once stood, his hands playing with the sleeves of the suit that is now the uniform that he wears. It’s uncomfortable, but he doesn’t have to wear the shackles while he wears the suit. Schlatt claims its because the shackles would make the suit fall unevenly, and that he deserves the comfort of not wearing them, but Tubbo knows better. He knows its because Schlatt doesn’t want the Dreamers to know what he’s doing to Tubbo, especially since he plans to expand the country. To break treaties.

There’s half an hour until he needs to be back with Schlatt, back in the white house for lunch. But until then, Tubbo walks along the edge of the old border. Of where the wall once stood, the ground still indented from the weight of the bricks. It would be naive of him to think it peaceful, but he does. Why wouldn’t he, with all the bees flying about and the birds singing? He’s far enough away from everyone that he can’t hear the fights, the still-hungover men playing the blame game. 

A hand reaches out from under the wooden bridge that connects Dream SMP with Manburg, pulling Tubbo into the shadows without giving the teen a moment to react. About time, he had been waiting for almost an hour. Tubbo blinks, his eyes adjusting to the darkness. Finally, he’s able to see, his dark blue eyes meeting with cyan ones.

“Tommy?” Tubbo whispers. “Is that you?”

“Yeah.” Tommy nods, a sad smile on his face. “I need to hide-”

“You can’t hide here, if Schlatt finds you he’ll kill you!” Tubbo whispers fearfully. “Or he’ll do worse, you have to go!”

“I can’t go back.” Tommy says, and Tubbo notices the bag, slightly glowing with potions and food and clothes filling it to the brim. “Wilbur agreed to stay with Eret and Dream’s coming over and I can’t-”

“He wouldn’t kill you, the treaty-”

“That only applies for citizens, Tubbo.” Tommy sits down on the dirt, his head in his hands. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Where do you want to go?” Tubbo asks quietly. “I could go with you!”

“You’d run away with me?”

“I’d run away with anyone if it means getting away from Schlatt.” Tubbo says sarcastically, but he nods in earnest. “We have like, 20 minutes until someone comes to get me, we have to go.”

“Lets go.” Tommy says, holding out his hand. Tubbo beams, taking his hand as Tommy drags Tubbo behind him, both laughing.

If someone saw the two boys, running hand in hand towards the forest, it would take them quite a few moments to realise what was wrong with the image that used to be so common. Tubbo running in a suit and impractical shoes, and Tommy in a cloak and carrying a bag of supplies. It would take even longer for those who see them to remember that Tommy is an exile of both countries, one due to war and the other due to a dictator. It would take anyone a long time to realise that Tubbo wasn’t supposed to follow, was supposed to arrest Tommy.

But only one person saw, watching from his office in the whitehouse. A smile crosses his face, and his eyes flash red. A traitor in his midst, and an exile in his land. He can use both to his advantage, to bring down both The Dream SMP and Wilbur Soot. All he’ll need is a chance, so he lets the boys lull themselves into feeling safe.

Schlatt reviews the cards in his hands, and the cards at play. The odds are in his favour to win.

---

“You’re on our side?” Wilbur repeats, dumbfounded. Bad smiles at him, and Wilbur can’t discern any lies in his face, but staring at Dream’s mask, all Wilbur can feel is fear. Again.

“What do I gain from lying to you, Wilbur.” Dream’s voice is strained, as though he’s trying to keep himself collected. “I’m on your side. I’ll supply weapons and food, but I can’t aid you anymore than that.”

“Why not?” Nikki asks, less skeptical of Dream’s sudden change of heart but far more weary of his words. “Why can’t you fight alongside us?”

Eret, Bad and Wilbur all look up from their meals, shock on their faces. Nikki and Dream stare knives into each other, trying to force the other into speaking first. Bad and Wilbur raise their eyes, both unsure as to who will win the staring competition as the tension cuts through the air.

“I bet Nikki will win” Eret whispers to Bad and Wilbur, and the two men avert their gazes as they stifle laughter as the tension rises in the room. 

“I bet Dream will try to fight Nikki.” Bad whispers to the two men.

“No no no,” Wibur whispers back. “Nikki will throw the first punch.”

“I don’t think that they’ll brawl.” Eret whispers.

“They will.” Bad and Wilbur say at the same time, and Eret chuckles.

Nikki lunges across the table, hitting Dream in the face. Bad gasps as a crack forms down the middle of Dream’s mask, and Wilbur sits stunned as Dream throws a punch to Nikki. Eret, Bad and Wilbur stand up, backing away from the table as the two brawl. Punches and kicks are thrown, until finally Wilbur and Bad pull the pair away from each other, Nikki struggling against Wilbur’s hold, even though Dream doesn’t.

“They fought! They fought for you, they fought against you! There were children among them, there are children among us now! And you won’t fight? You’re a coward!” Nikki screams at Dream, and panic crosses Wilbur’s face.

“I can’t risk him attacking everyone in Dream SMP.” Dream says quietly. “You don’t know what he’s doing to the people who live on the outskirts, he’ll force their hands soon.”

“And you think hiding from him will fix that!”

“Nikki-”

“That won’t change anything! You’ll let children die in pointless wars again, won’t you?”

“Nikki, take a walk.” Wilbur says, letting her go and standing in front of her. “We need his help, we can’t mess this up. Why don’t you have lunch with Tommy?”

“We’re going to have words about this later, Wil.” Nikki sticks a finger in Wilbur’s chest, turning and walking out of the room.

“Maybe you should go for a walk to cool down as well, Dream.” Bad suggests, and Dream nods, walking out the main entrance of the room.

The three men stand in the room, awkwardly looking at the plates of ruined food on the table. Eret sighs, collecting a bin from the corner of the room and putting the food waste into it, before finding a bag to put the broken plates into. Bad and Wilbur try to help out, but Eret waves them off with a small smile.

“I think Wilbur wins the bet.” Eret says after a moment. “Nikki threw the first punch.”

“What do we owe you Wil?” Bad asks after a second, blinking in surprise.

“A way to get into the ‘glowing eye club’ that you two lead.” Wilbur rolls his eyes. “It was a dumb bet, don’t worry about it.”

“I’m glad no one’s seriously hurt.” Bad says quietly. “Dream’ll be mad about his mask, but that’s alright. He can make a new one.”

“It’s not fully broken, so maybe he could fix it?” Wilbur suggests as Dream stands in the doorframe. “It was Nikki who broke it, not himself, so I could fix it for him if need be, Bad.”

“That’s kind of you, but Dream is really attached to those masks. He won’t let anyone see the process of making them, very secretive.” Bad wriggles his eyebrows, offering to take the bin off of Eret. “In any case, its the thought that counts. And that was very thoughtful.”

“You could make him a mask anyways. Like a backup or a peace offering.” Eret suggests, and Wilbur laughs softly, pain in his eyes. 

“Peace offerings.” Wilbur’s eyes darken, wet with sadness. “Now there’s an idea.”

“Oh no.” Bad and Eret say at the same time, alarm written on their faces.

“Wilbur, I highly doubt that Schlatt would have anything less than your permadeath as a peace offering.” Dream says, finally leaving the doorway.

“Maybe Tommy would have a home then.” Wilbur looks down. “And he wouldn’t have to fight another war.”

Before anyone can comment, can rebut Wilbur’s statement, a heart wrenching scream echoes down the hallway. Nikki. The four men race out of the room, Wilbur in the lead as they follow the sound of her scream to Tommy’s room. Wilbur bursts into what appears to be a bomb site, clothes and sheets strewn across the room. The windows are wide open, the curtains fluttering in the breeze. Nikki stands in the middle of the room, holding something in her hands, staring at it. A photo frame lies empty on the floor, the glass in it shattered and the picture stolen.

Tommy’s disks lie on top of the dresser, untouched by the chaos in the room, as though whatever or whoever took Tommy knew not to touch them. It hurts more than if they were shattered.

“He’s gone.”

---

“What do you mean Tubbo’s missing?” Schlatt asks, acting as though he didn’t watch the boy run away with Tommy. “Was he kidnapped?”

“We don’t know, sir.” Fundy says, nervously bouncing on his feet. “We know nothing.”

“We will have to ask Dream and King Eret.” Schlatt looks out the window, acting thoughtful and worried. “Was anything of his found?”

George and Quackity exchange glances, and Quackity gently puts a tie on the table, red with a dark bloodstain on it. Schlatt frowns at the blood, Tubbo wasn’t injured when he ran. The boy might be a nuisance, an enemy to keep close until he breaks, but he’s still a teenager. Just because Schlatt can and will use him against Tommy and Wilbur, doesn’t mean that he wants harm on the boy.

“He’s been hurt.”

“We expect foul play.” George says simply. “We’ve heard that Wilbur and Nikki have been in Eret’s castle, perhaps they are the reason that Tubbo’s been hurt.”

“Wilbur wouldn’t hurt Tubbo with Tommy present.” Fundy interrupts, and everyone's heads snaps to him. “He wouldn’t, Tommy would riot.”

“Perhaps,” Schlatt smirks, “Perhaps we could use that. Call off the hunting party tonight. We have teens to find.”

“Plural, Schlatt?” Quackity asks, confusion on his face.

“If we find Tubbo, we’ll find Tommy.” Schlatt says. “And I can bet that the two of them are running from Wilbur.”

Taglist:

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