#30 Days of Techienician

[techsfromlastnight]

In this weeks episode of My Blood Pact with @atlinmerrick, I bring you another episode of the 30 Days of Techienician piece, which may actually get done before ten years’ time. 

-

When Constance Quinn Madine was twenty-one, she lost her mother and almost lost her brother in the same breath. Hundreds of things could have gone differently and she would have lost Mercy. Any tiny, insignificant detail:

She had been fighting with her boyfriend of the time for approximately one month. Their breaking up was the major impetus for visiting home that weekend.

Projected weather issues had bumped her trip time from the third weekend up to the second.

Her intent had been to surprise Mercy; he hadn't know she was coming.

[read on]

[multi-purpose-tool-guy]

9, Techienician!

comin right in with the angst eva, alright, i see how it is XD also this is 1.6k and kinda got away from me, sorry!! 

9. “Don’t you ever do that again!”

6:15pm, on the dot, Techie arrives at his apartment and walks his bike through the gate and into the garden. At approximately 6:22 he sits down at his desk with a hot tea, checks his emails. He turns on the tv, ready to settle into a few episodes of bake off until Matt gets home, sometime between 8:12 and 8:37, depending on traffic.

8:15, Techie opens his phone and goes through a few rounds of 2048, distracted. 8:25, he refills his tea.

8:34. He sends Matt a text full of silly emojis, an excuse to see if he’ll read it at a red light or something, and Techie will know he’s almost home.

8:46. Sent, but unread. He refills his tea again, adds more sugar than he normally does. He moves from the living room to sit in in the entryway, tucked against the window on the reading bench. A few more games on his phone until he can’t concentrate, checks the text. Still unread.

He opens the email app with a hurried jab at the screen. Maybe he had to stay late at work, his boss was always dumping work on him (or so Matt liked to complain). His inbox refreshes with a few junk messages, nothing from Matt. He refreshes it four more times, just in case. Maybe he was sending one now? He flicks on the notification sounds so he doesn’t miss it, he almost never has them enabled.

He’s probably stuck at work, covering any loose projects before the weekend. Most people slacked off on Fridays, and somebody has to get the work done, Techie thinks. But Matt would text him, let him know he was going to be late. He checks the text. Unread. They were going to order pizza tonight, they’d planned it, and their favorite place closes at 9:30.

Matt’s never been this late before.

At 9:01, Techie starts to worry.

He calls Matt’s phone and it goes straight to voicemail. He’d picked up a charger for Matt to keep at work when he found a Kylo Ren themed one at the dollar store, so his phone shouldn’t be dead. Something must be wrong.

He calls it five more times, Matt’s gruff leave a message, or whatever making his throat feel tight by the third time. He paces in front of the window, googles his work’s public number. It goes to the automatic answering service, directing any after-hours callers to leave a message. He doesn’t, hangs up, and checks his email again while he tries to get a handle on his breathing (which is suddenly very fast, short choppy breaths.

No new emails.

Text message still unread.

He sends a few more, trying not to let the clenched-tight-ness of his insides show through his words.

Hey! Heading home yet?

Should I go ahead and order the pizzas? Mushrooms and olives, right?

Matt?

He paces, holds his phone tightly in his hands. He triple checks that the volume is up, then he checks again. His tea gets cold.

At 9:42 he can’t breath. He checks online for any news of car accidents, doesn’t find anything. That could be a worse sign, what if he’s hurt or-or worse and no one knows? What if help doesn’t arrive on time? What if someone came into Matt’s IT office with a gun, like so many places he sees on the news? What if Matt’s phone is off because some horrible person shot it to bits when Matt tried to call for help?

The texts are all unread. leave a message, or whatever. No new emails. Our normal business hours are 9am to 8pm, Monday through Friday-.

9:45. Techie can’t breath.

He calls Armitage, because he doesn’t know what to do and Matt still isn’t home.

Armitage doesn’t answer. He calls again and again, leaving stuttery and tearful messages that are probably unintelligible anyway, and he can feel the scream building in his throat until he remembers. It’s his brother’s anniversary, with Ben, and they’re out to dinner right now. He told him about it, weeks ago, there are pictures of them dressed sharp and dreamy-eyed on his facebook feed, posted an hour ago. He sucks in a truncated breath, forces it out as smooth as he can. Tidge is busy, but he’s safe.

10:04, Techie loses the fight with his composure. Tears spill down his face, breathing chopped into pieces by hacking, high-pitched sobs. He pulls his hair, sinks to the floor. His phone is open on the floor near his foot, the only light in the room now dark with the blanket of night settled firmly in place. Message: sent. Unread.

————–

Matt slams his palm down on his steering wheel, the car’s horn blaring at the idiot in front of him taking a goddamn eternity to parallel park on a busy residential-adjacent street.

He’s late, really late, and his boss is an asshole. All he wants right now is to be out of this bullshit traffic, lose his pants and his stupid polo shirt, and have some pizza. He hopes Techie ordered ahead, he’s fucking starving.  

Finally, finally he pulls into the driveway and as the headlights sweep over the apartment he tenses. Techie is sitting outside, huddled on the front steps in one of Matt’s thicker coats, and he startles to his feet before Matt can even kill the engine.

He steps out, the car door groaning as he slams it closed. “Babe? What’s wrong? It’s cold as fuck out, what-”

“Don’t you ever do that again!” Techie shouts, or the closest Matt’s ever heard him get to doing so. He’s also– fuck, is he crying?

“I know, I know, it’s fucking- I’m really sorry, my phone-”

“You ca-an’t do that to me Matt, f-fuck, I thought you were dead!” Techie is trembling all over, Matt can see he’s not wearing shoes and his feet are pink with the cold. He chokes out a sob and Matt takes a step forward.

“Baby, what-? My dumbass boss let Cal and Rena take off after lunch and somehow forgot to tell any of us, and he strong-armed me into staying. I almost punched him Techie, I was really fucking close-”

“I called, I texted you,” Techie says to Matt’s shoes, quieter but hard, defensive.

“Right. Uh. I tried to argue with him and I got into it and I sort of…” He pulls his phone from his back pocket, shows techie the cracked and darkened screen. “I’ll replace it first thing tomorrow.”

He steps closer, right in front of Techie now, and he doesn’t back away but he doesn’t move forward either. That’s not a good sign.

“So you, you broke your phone okay, but. You could have sent an email, I kept checking…” He still won’t look at him. Matt puts his hands on Techie’s shoulders, rubs his thumbs in slow circles. Please look at me, they say, I didn’t mean to scare you.

“You’re right, I should have. I’m sorry, babe, I guess I just.” He takes a deep breath, turns his head to the sky, lets it out through his nose in one big push. He’s home, he’s with Techie, he needs to calm down. “I just wanted to get the work done and get home, as fast as possible. I’m an ass but my boss is a bigger one, I’m really sorry.”

Techie sniffs, loud in the crisp night air, and Matt pulls him close, wraps his arms around him. He feels Techie’s hands lift weakly around his back. That’s a slightly better sign.

“You just, you can’t do that Matt, I can’t… I can’t do this…” He’s mumbling into Matt’s chest and he huffs, annoyed. Does Techie thinks he scared him so bad on purpose?

“Tech, I’m sorry, but I literally had no choice. He made some smartass comment about cutting hours to people who ‘don’t pull their weight’, which is bullshit because I’m not the one who took a half day, but he’s got a complex and we have bills and shit.”

Techie takes a half-step away and meets his eyes fiercely, taking Matt’s face in his freezing hands. “I’m not mad at you for getting held over, I’m not- I was just worried, okay? I can’t shut my brain off, it doesn’t, it doesn’t work like that. It’s fine if you have to stay, if you’re late, you just have to tell me, okay?” He closes his eyes and takes a breath, sniffs again.

“Just make sure I know you haven’t been kidnapped or murdered, and I’ll be okay.”

He tries a weak smile up at him, and Matt is cold and hungry and still a little angry but he gives him a smile back.

“Okay, I promise. Scouts honor,” He holds up three fingers in muscle-memory, and then shivers visibly. “Fuck, babe, it’s freezing, why aren’t you wearing shoes? Let’s get inside.”  

Techie shivers violently as if his body is just remembering that it’s freezing, like his panic had been keeping him warm and was now ebbing away. Matt swiftly bends and scoops techie up into a bridal carry and he squawks, Matt’s parka bunching up around his face.

“I should probably carry you, y’know, so you don’t get frostbite.” Techie snorts and rolls his eyes, wipes his cheeks dry. They pass the threshold and Matt kicks the door closed, and he takes an investigative sniff of the air.

“Pizza?” He sets Techie down and rubs their noses together.

“No pizza, I had a panic attack for dinner.”

Matt groans and he kisses Techie’s cheek in apology, while privately his heart breaks. Techie had been making real progress dealing with his anxiety, winning lots of little battles, and Matt swore to himself then and there that he would never be the source of Techie’s pain, never again.

He pulls Techie into the living room, cranks the heater up, and orders Thai.

send me a pairing and a number! 

[theweddingofthefoxes]

It’s like a zillion trillion years late but should I do 30 days of Techienician??

[atlinmerrick]

FIC: 30 Days of Techienician: Wait and See

Eyes

He remembers the color of his birth eyes exactly, Techie does.

Isn’t that weird, to remember something from so long ago?

[allmannerofsomethings]

Day 24. Sickness - “Take it”

30 *cough* days of Techienician prompt festival arranged by@unremarkableawakening  

Sometimes you hear things that make you stop in your tracks and listen, sometime you hear things that make you take a step back, then another, and you keep right on stepping back till you hit a wall and then you turn and run.

Techie’s supervisor turned up at the door to his room, kindly returning the phone that he’d left charging at his workstation. As she raised her hand to knock, she heard a moan and Techie’s coaxing voice “Come on Mattie take it.” She hesitated, hand about two inches from the door, then she heard it again, a deeper groan this time, and “Oh baby, just take it, take it.” Suki took that step back, then another, and another, and then just kept on going until she was safely back in her own room with two doors and a few hundred metres of corridor between them.

Back in Techies room, Matt stared at the spoonful of bright pink medicine that his boyfriend was holding in front of his mouth. “Do I have to?” he croaked. Techie rolled his eyes, “Mattie, stop being such a baby. Just take it. You’ll feel better in a couple of days I promise.”

Holding his nose and screwing his eyes shut, Mattie opened his mouth and swallowed down the vile tasting stuff. He flopped back down onto the pillow and pouted. Techie disappeared into the kitchen and came back with a small bowl of ice cream, “Here you go princess, open wide, this will sooth your poorly throat.” Techie slid behind Matt and propped him up against his narrow chest and then fed him, one soothing spoonful after another. Hearing the loud moan of pleasure and Techie giggling “Oh Mattie, I missed your mouth that time, its all dribbling down your chin...” anyone could have come to the wrong conclusion...

[angryangryowl]

Day 11 of 30 Days of Techienician Ruined dinners, Techie being naughty, and sweet, soft, established relationship fluff (And quite a bit of smut too ;))

[moonwalkingcrab]

30 Days of Techienician

Day 30: Eyes

Thank you everyone who has stuck with me through this entire month. I’ve had a lot of fun writing these and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading them. So much love to @unremarkableawakening for all the prompts.

Love you Techienician fandom <3

Sentiment was not a virtue that Kylo Ren held much stake in. His grandfather had paid the price for falling to the whims of his heart and despite all his best efforts, it seemed he would be no better.

It was all Hux’s fault really.

The General was pacing his office, fingers tapping against every available surface. He would stop to sit at his desk for a few moments, stare at a security screen then sigh, hand running distractedly through his hair. The red strands were delightfully mussed, putting Kylo in mind of how Hux usually looked in bed. He moved as Hux jumped up to start another circuit of the room, holding him gently by the waist, head coming to rest on one padded shoulder.

“You need to relax.” Kylo could feel the nerves radiating off Hux in waves, a steady thrum beneath his palms. “This will work, everything will go smoothly and once it’s over no one but me will know that you actually do have a heart.”

Hux scoffed, of course he had a heart, it just happened to be in the possession of Kylo Ren nowadays. He glanced back to the screen, wincing a little at the harsh glare. He was supposed to be resting his eyes, the procedure had only been a few days ago and after being sworn to secrecy, the medical officer had politely advised that Hux take it easy. 

It was all Kylo’s fault really.

Ever since the Order had taken apart the slaver’s megacity Kylo would not stop mentioning a particular man. Apparently, and Hux rolled his eyes at this, he had an almost identical Force presence to Hux’s own.

“No really! And he’s got red hair too. You’ve never been cloned have you?” Kylo had asked with a lascivious smirk.

“You couldn’t handle two of me, dear.” Hux had simply rolled over, thinking the matter closed.

It wasn’t. Every few weeks Kylo would bring another update. 

“He hates his name, just like you.”

“Apparently he has nightmares.”

“Some of the stormtroopers thought he was you in disguise.”

“He’s dating a radar technician.”

Eventually Hux had relented, looking into the matter himself. It had taken some effort, tracking old reports of slaver activities and the planets they had raided but when he found where the man had been taken from he blanched. That evening, when Kylo let himself into Hux’s quarters to give his usual report he found him sitting stock still on the bed, the last dregs of a glass of whisky in hand.

“He’s completely in love with that guy Matt, y’know? His mind feels more like yours than ever... Hux?” Helmet clattering to the floor Kylo immediately dropped to his knees, gloved hands fumbling awkwardly as he stroked across Hux’s knuckles, the other tentatively placed on one thigh. “Hux? Is something wrong?”

Hux simply looked at him, brows creased in confusion. He raised his glass, knocking back the last of the alcohol, feeling his throat burn pleasantly. “It seems you were right about the connection. That man, Techie, he’s my brother.” Hux rubbed at his temples, “Or half-brother anyway.”

“Oh.” Kylo wasn’t sure what to say, so instead pulled himself up to perch awkwardly next to Hux, sliding an arm around his waist. “Are you going to say anything?”

Hux shrugged, leaning slightly closer to the warmth of Kylo’s body, “What can I say? ‘I’m sorry my father exiled our mother and left you to get your eyes ripped out by slavers’? Let’s be reasonable Ren, can you really see me as the big brother type?”

Kylo had no reply other than to pull Hux closer, fingers twitching across his narrow back. “I wouldn’t know, I don’t have a family.”

Hux simply sighed, his own arm snaking around Kylo, fingers reaching to pull the glove off one big hand. “Well then, I think it may be for the better if we keep this information between us.”

Still, Hux had felt it necessary to keep an eye on the younger man, and maybe he’d made a few things easier for Techie. When deck rearrangements had threatened to move the radar technician to the other end of the ship Hux had him quietly reassigned. When the medication to stop the nightmares became scarce, Hux used his own credits to source some more. And when the request for shared quarters came across his desk, well, Hux may have appointed slightly larger rooms than were strictly necessary.

Part of him justified these little gestures as a way to prove to himself that he was a better person than his father. That maybe this could slightly make up for everything Brendol’s actions had caused. And yet another little part of him, the part that struggled to let go of Kylo in the mornings, told him that deep down, maybe he did want to be a good big brother after all.

So now here he was, watching through screens, eyes burning and Kylo holding his hand. Waiting to see how things would go.

In the medbay Matt was pacing, hands fisted in the pockets of his jumpsuit. His stomach churned in a mixture of nervous terror and anticipation. This wasn’t a necessary procedure by First Order standards yet somehow it had been approved, for which Matt was eternally grateful. For Techie, it was necessary.

Every time he’d applied before he’d been given the same answer, The First Order is hereby informing you that there is no genetically compatible stock to fulfill your request. As this is a non-essential procedure please be aware that there will be a long waiting period before material is available, if at all. 

And yet now, out of the blue Techie had been called up, informed that his schedule had been cleared for recovery time and admitted to medbay. Matt had come straight after his shift, surprised when he’d been told he also had time off as Techie’s ‘Significant Other’. It came as something of a surprise. The Order didn’t tend to grant time off unless personnel were actually married. Matt wasn’t about to complain though.

He was just starting another circuit of the waiting area when the Chief Medical Officer arrived, datapad in hand. “Ah, Mr Berline, please come through.” He led Matt to a small room with dim lighting and a single bed. “I have to check on another patient right now but I will be back in ten minutes to remove the bandages. Your partner asked that you be here when we did.”

Matt nodded, walking over to the bed. Techie tilted his head, his eyes obscured by bandages. “Matt?” His hand reached out and Matt took it, threading their fingers together and brushing a kiss to Techie’s knuckles.

“I’m here. How do you feel?”

“Honestly? I feel amazing. I can’t really believe it.” Techie was smiling widely, something that had been happening more and more the longer Matt knew him. He pressed forward, kissing the tip of Techie’s nose, making him jolt back slightly. With a breath of laughter Techie’s other hand found the back of Matt’s neck, pulling him in to press their mouths together.

They stayed that way for several moments, the gauze across Techie’s eyes whispering on Matt’s skin. Pulling apart, Techie’s voice dropped low, “Did you run the program I asked?”

“Yep, and you are not going to believe where the cell donation came from.” Matt’s fingers squeezed tight on Techie’s own, only tightening as the door opened once more.

“Well then, are you ready?” The medical officer had returned and Matt’s stomach flipped once more.

“No. I’m really not. But do it anyway,” Techie’s smile was glowing now, bright in the dim room, his head turned towards Matt, “don’t let go of my hand.”

“I won’t.”

Matt sat, feeling the sweat starting to build between their joined palms. His heart was thundering, his stomach light flutters. His gaze was fixed on Techie’s face. 

With a final twist the bandages fell away to leave the familiar translucence of Techie’s eyelashes on his cheek. Already the red rings seemed lighter and Matt sucked in a breath as Techie’s eyes fluttered. 

“Matt, you’re in front of me aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I’m right here.” Matt’s voice was barely a whisper, he felt a squeeze on his and held tight as Techie opened his eyes.

They were light, a pale grey-green, slightly bloodshot and utterly beautiful. They shone despite the dim light and Matt could feel tears pricking in the corners of his own eyes, but he refused to blink, not until Techie did.

Techie’s breath caught in his throat. It was Matt, right there in front of him. No data or numbers obscured his view. There were no unnecessary readings of temperature or heart rate. He could see every strand of hair, every mole, every pore. He could see Matt, all of him, exactly as he was. He didn’t need implants to know how Matt’s heart rate had spiked, he could feel it under his fingertips. There were tears in his eyes, both eyes, actual, natural tears. Chest swelling Techie choked back a sob as he smiled at Matt and blinked his real eyes for the first time in years.

“Hi.”

[jeusus]

30 days of Techienician day 23: Stargazing.

[techsfromlastnight]

So this last week @atlinmerrick​ and I entered into a pact to get a chapter posted today. And we did!! WHEEE. Mine’ll be here. You can (and should) read her 27th 30 Days of Sherlock here: Siblings (Also a rumor she’s posting a techienician later today??)

-

An early memory:

It's Halloween, and Mercy is four. He's had months to decide what he wanted to be, but had refused to choose. Now, he distinctly recalls that, at the time, he found almost all of the costumes that his parents had shown him to be too scary or too dumb. He'd sulked and refused, and it had come down to the day of.

He knows now, looking back, that his mother had a headache.

[read on]

[katherine1753]

30 Days of Techienician Day 22: Rainy Days

thanks to @theearlgreyalpha for helping me decide what to draw since umbrellas did not want to happen 

[theweddingofthefoxes]

4, 9

How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Care to share one of them? So I am working on my stories for Rogue Robin and the Star Wars Big Bang (and when the time comes for writing for the Kylux Big Bang, I’m signed up for that too!). Those are secrets! You’ll see em when the time comes and I’m very excited, and they’re my main concerns as far as Getting Stuff Done. I also have a single chapter left for Away, I’d Rather Sail Away that will be cute and easy to wrap up, and Tigerlily is still a work in progress. And I’m planning on tackling 30 Days of Techienician, too!

Which fic has been the hardest to write? Sometimes I really, really need to let prompts simmer until they’re fork-tender because I just can’t think of what I want until the moment is right. (The blind modern Techie story was a good example of that.) I also tend to get self-conscious about writing smut, not because I’m embarrassed about sexy things but I always wonder if people will think it’s goofy or unrealistic. So smut can be kind of tricky. But in an enjoyable way!

[atlinmerrick]

FIC: 30 Days of Techienician: Rose-Colored

Glasses

"Stop yelling!"

About to yell, Techie took a deep breath and didn't. He reran his and Matt's conversation in his head. Saw the point at which they went ass-up.

"Mattie."

The big man with the sweet diminutive frowned.

"Mattie, your glasses are how you look to me, too. I don't want you to change. But..."

[allmannerofsomethings]

Day 23. Stargazing - Pie

30 *cough* days of Techienician prompt festival arranged by@unremarkableawakening     

You don’t see them much anymore, real, proper ones anyhow. There’s always a frisson of excitement in the air when one comes onboard the ship, rumours spread like wildfire, “You’ll never guess what I saw in the bar last night...” type of rumours. Matt had an uncle who said he’d had seen one once, standing next to a bridge, helping a pretty boy pull a canoe out of the river, but Matt wasn’t sure he was telling the truth.

So, when Techie told him that he’d met one, a real, fuck off, true to life, goddamn, pirate. Matt nearly choked on his caf.

“What! Where? When?” he coughed out.

“Oh? Morgana, she was a pirate through and through, but she packed it in and when I knew her she was running a cafe. She had some stories to tell though…”

“What? Tell me!” Matt said, putting his cup down and watching his boyfriend with eyes out on stalks.

“You know, raising the black flag, steering by the stars, flying mermaids, wicked storms and the like. I used to eat my meals at the counter so I could listen to her tales. And she was a great cook…well…apart from her pies…”

“Why, what was wrong with them?” 

“Well, they sounded pretty. Stargazy Pie. So I ordered one and when it came it had all faces sticking out of it…and tails…”

“Okaaaayyyy…”

“It was some traditional dish from a place she’d visited. I secretly fed it to her cat. 

“Was she scary?”

“No, she was a sweet little thing, used to rub her face all over me and jump up on my knee…”

“… … …”

“Oh? Sorry. I thought you meant the cat…”

Some facts:-

Stargazy Pie is a traditional dish of Cornwall, UK. It has pilchards (little fish) sticking out of the pastry lid and I can honestly say I have never seen anything less appealing. 

Traditional pirates, though rare, do exist. I’ve met one, she’s gorgeous. 

[angryangryowl]

Today seems to be unfinished project day. I have had this in my sketchbook a week or so, partly painted and I wasn’t sure. But re-coloured a lot of it (watercolour and coloured pencil) and re-inked it with better pens and I like it :) This is from @atlinmerrick‘s glorious Techienician fic ...In a Galaxy Far, Far Away. Felt their epic love story (and the biblical reference I didn’t get until I googled it) deserved some stained glass art. I am in waaay over my head in this beautiful, loving little fandom. This fic makes me feel so many things (and realise Techie’s wrists are highly underrated). Could be considered a companion piece to this Emperors Hux and Ren one

[moonwalkingcrab]

30 Days of Techienician

Day 29: Glasses

High School AU for the absolutely wonderful @pidgy-draws <3

Matt’s worn sneakers slap heavily on the dull grey floor and he keeps his eyes low. He’s survived a week at his new school without anything too embarassing happening. Okay, he did manage to spill pudding down his shirt on the second day, but no one noticed, at least he hopes they didn’t. Especially not Kylo Ren. Matt’s only been there a week but already he knows that Kylo Ren is the coolest person he’s ever met, or at least shared a Biology lab with.

Matt sighs heavily, running a hand through the mass of his hair. He is hovering outside a door with a hastily taped handwritten sign that says ‘Computer Club’. His guidance counsellor has been encouraging him to make some friends, join a club, and Matt is determined to get the man off his back. He breathes deep, already dreading having to introduce himself to new people. Gritting his teeth Matt pushes through the door.

The computer lab is empty save a single solitary figure at the far end of the room. Matt pushes his glasses up his nose and wanders towards them. It’s a boy Matt vaguely recognises from his History class wearing headphones and typing away lightning quick on the keyboard.

Long red hair hangs almost to the boy’s shoulders, Techie, Matt remembers, his name is Techie, or his nickname is at least. He blinks up as Matt approches and Matt can’t help but notice just how big and how blue his eyes are. They are magnified by glasses that are just a shade more fashionable than Matt’s own.

“Oh! Hi?” The headphones slide down around Techie’s neck as he looks up. “Can I help you with something?”

Matt glances back to the sign taped on the door, “This is the Computer club, isn’t it?” 

“Ah, yeah, I suppose so, if you can call it a club. Really it’s just me.” Techie smiles mildly, adjusting his glasses as he turns back to his screen. Matt finds himself mimicking the gesture, sitting down at the next computer.

“So what are you working on?” Matt asks and Techie smiles, eyes brightening behind the glasses, sparkling with real joy. Matt can’t help but smile back.

Three weeks, nine “meetings” and four after school pizza nights later Matt can’t imagine his life without the computer club. Or maybe it’s Techie, he’s not entirely sure.

He is just passing by his locker when he hears a shout and rounds the corner to see Techie surrounded. He recognises the gang, their leader Madeline standing with arms folded against the wall, watching. Her lackeys have Techie’s glasses, tossing them back and forth above his head and Matt feels his fists clenching.

“Hey! Leave him alone!” 

“Oh, and what are you gonna do abou-” the boy doubles over as Matt sinks a fist into his stomach. He collapses to the floor and Matt bends, snatching up the copper frames of Techie’s glasses.

“C’mon.” Matt pulls Techie away by the arm, glaring back at the bullies, daring them to try anything else. Madeline just smirks, peeling herself off the wall and sauntering away. Matt wordlessly hands Techie his glasses back, all too aware of the way his hands are shaking.

Techie pushes the glasses on and blinks up at Matt, his eyes red. “You didn’t need to do that. I’m used to them, they always go after the ones without any friends.”

Matt hesistates, only for an instant before hesitantly putting his hand on Techie’s shoulder. He wants to hold Techie close, hug him, protect him and never let him go. He can feel warmth blooming in his stomach and across his cheeks as he squeezes tight. “I’m your friend. I really like hanging out with you.” Ugh. He chastises himself in his head, there was no way that sounded cool.

But when Techie throws his arms around Matt and buries his face in his chest, being cool doesn’t really seem to matter. Matt blinks and pulls Techie close, determined to ignore the flutters that are just starting to rise in his chest. They can wait. For now.

[elviscl]

30 Days of Techienician Day 19: Date Night

I need more dresses in my life <3