#it’s supposed to be a little nod to where technos chat ended up after his passing

[viktorscane]

🐦‍⬛👑

‘in the bedroom after the war’

when technoblade left the dream smp. phil adjusted relatively quickly. after all, the two had spent plenty of time away from each other in the past and he knew it was only a matter of time before they would see each other again.

one thing he would never quite get used to though, was the quiet. while techno was never a super talkative person the creaking of the wooden floorboards, the mumbling to himself, the front door opening and closing often as the piglin hybrid went about his daily chores, the dogs barking, the scribbling of quill on parchment. all sounds that were inherently technoblade were suddenly gone.

the first few days were hard, a grief settling over phil’s heart as he tried to navigate the silence and understand why his closest companion left so suddenly. on the fourth day, though he awoke to the usual caw-ing of his crows outside. he rolls over, the sun streaming in through the window bathing the room in a beautiful pink and golden glow. it was peaceful and quiet as his new life typically was.

he stirs more and finally pushes himself up out of the large, empty bed. pushing himself down the stairs to the still smoldering fire. he throws a few logs on top, adding water into the kettle perched atop it. reminding himself to add only enough for himself, as he had been making enough to serve two the last few days.

he rubs his eyes sleepily, giving a crow a light scratch on the head as he passes it. it caws shrilly, staring pointedly at the seed bag in the corner of the kitchen. “i know, i know.” he mutters. “let me make my tea first, mate.”

he opens a cabinet to grab a mug from the shelf, he notices that most of the clean mugs were on the highest shelf. most of them being varying shades of red and pink, belonging to techno. phil sighs and pushes himself onto his tiptoes and reaching almost blindly to get one. the shelf buckles a bit under the weight and the closest mug tips and down it goes.

it hits the ground with a loud thud, phil swears and rubs his temple with annoyance.

dropza LOL dropza dropza OLD AGE LOL fallza E

he pauses, quiet voices echoing around his brain. he takes a step backwards looking around the room to find the source of the voices. only being met with more quiet chants of ‘PHIL!’

it took a moment for his tired mind to process that these voices existed in his mind, but were very much real. he wracks his brain for some sort of explanation, he hadn’t hit his head recently right? was the events of the last few weeks finally taking a toll on his psyche?

he listens to the chants for a second longer, the mumbling blended together mostly but some things stuck out to him. one phrase in particular was very very familiar.

BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!

it was a phrase that techno mumbled to himself often and had mentioned that the voices in his head spoke that phrase like a mantra. from his understanding, when technoblade had ascended to godhood the voices were a side effect. they mostly rambled about whatever he was doing in the moment but they also helped him during combat to give him information about the other party. they were bloodthirsty and violent but techno always regarded them as a part of him.

phil bends down and picks up the mug, it remarkably hadn’t broken in the fall. he turns it over in his hands brushing the dust off of it. he runs his fingers over the crown that had been carved into the front of the clay. he remembered techno sitting down with his dagger on the steps of their home and working at the clay. it was clumsily made and the crown was crooked, lines shaky and uneven. but it was so inherently techno that it made phil smile fondly.

the voices rumbled on about what felt like nonesense in the background as phil sets it down on the counter, bracing himself against it.

he could only take this as a sign from his long time companion, friend and ally. sending his greatest assets to phil as if to tell him that he’s okay. his heart ached but he persevered, tipping the boiling water into the mug and adding the tea bag in. he pushes open the curtains, staring out the window towards the brilliant pink and gold that was slowly fading away from the sky as the daylight began to filter in.

“hello there, old friend.” he says softly.

[helliontherapscallion]

I'm sorry for adding on to your pile of requests but I just wanted some family fluff with sbi where all of the siblings are having fun on a road trip or vacation

I don't know if that's specific enough for you if you want a little more detail maybe they're just being really dumb and making stupid videos with each other because that's something my sister and I do a lot

(A/N): I hope you don’t mind that I added Kristin and Tubbo (BASED ON THE CHARACTERS, NOT ACTUAL PEOPLE). Real life AU btw (no covid tho)

Okokok so this is deadass something Philza and Kristin is both dreading and looking forward to

1. They love spending time with their family especially now since yall are getting older and don’t spend as much time together anymore/getting ready to fly the coop

2. Have you met the SBI fam? Chaos incarnated.

After packing, yall set out on your trip to the hotel yall rented for a week or so (about an eight hour drive away from the house)

You and your twin Tommy 100% smuggle Tubbo underneath all of the luggage and a blanket

You’ll just ask them for forgiveness when you’re about halfway through

It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission 

Wilbur and Technoblade catching you hiding the stowaway and blackmailing you both into doing their chores for a few week 

Seating: Phil and Kristin in the front, Tech and Wil in the middle, You and Tommy in the back, and Tubbo in the trunk (it’s a mom van)

Before getting too far into the trip, a gas station is raided for snacks and drinks

Philza raising a brow at the amount of food you and Tommy get 

Philza’s eyes were torn off from the refrigerator in front of him by his wife lightly nudging him. Looking at her in question, she raised her eyebrows and pointed at their youngest kids. It looked like they were just looking at the Monster drinks, so why- oh god the last thing he needed was two already hyper teenagers hopped up on Monster trapped in a car for eight hours. Before he could go over there to stop them, Kristin grabbed his arm. 

“They’re up to something. Listen to what they’re saying.”

He strained his ears to hear what you both are whispering to each other. “...e like this flavor?”

Tommy shrugged, “I dunno. I’ll text him.”

As Tommy texted someone, Phil looked back at his wife. She wore a similar wary expression as they both stared at each other. He nodded in confirmation, “definitely. How do you reckon we confront them?”

He watched as his wife thought for a moment before she sighed and looked at him with a hint of excitement in her eyes, “let’s wait to see. It might be a pleasant surprise.” 

“What? Are you mad?” He eyed his youngest gremlins once more. It seemed that they finally decided on a flavor and are now moving on to the snack portion. He looked back at his wife and felt his heart skip a beat at the small grin on her face. “...fine. Let’s just see what they’re doing after they do it.” Oh, the things he does for love.

He kept a very close eye on you two after that 

You both are on your phones for longer than usual

Texting Tubbo so that he wasn’t lonely 

Tubbo has fun with hiding too, never being bored at all

The only thing that he (and you and Tommy) struggled with was holding in his laughter

You jumped as you felt someone gently slap your shoulder. Turning around, you saw Tubbo’s hand peeking over the backs of the seats. You glanced at your parents in the front seats, they were deep in conversation. Good. You saw Tommy stifle a laugh and pull out his phone to record. 

Tubbo made grabby hands at something but you didn’t know what he wanted, so you decided to mess with him a bit. Smirking, you put your earbuds in his hand. It snaked back underneath the blanket before he threw it back at you and did more intense grabby hands. You put your metal water bottle in his hand. He did the same thing before he threw it back at you. It collided with your forehead with a loud bong sounding throughout the car. Tommy started to laugh loudly and ended the video. You followed suit in the laughter as Tubbo’s hand froze midair and quickly slinked back into his lair.

All noise in the car came to a halt as they all looked behind them (well, Phil glanced through the rearview mirror suspiciously) to see you and Tommy laughing your asses off with you holding your forehead. Through blurred vision, you could see Kristin looking at you with worry and Techno and Wilbur looking confused and mildly annoyed.

“(Y/n) honey are you alright? What happened?” You opened your mouth to respond, but only wheezes came out making you laugh harder. You could hear Tubbo silently cackling to himself in the back, the blanket shaking slightly. Without being able to speak, you only nodded your head and gave her a thumbs up. 

Tommy sent the video into the siblings' group chat and you could see over Wilbur’s shoulder as he watched it before starting to cackle and save the video to his phone. Even Techno got a good chuckle out and saved it to his phone making Phil and Kristin even more suspicious. Well, Kristin was just excited for what you two (four? Was Techno and Wilbur in on it as well?) had planned. Phil could just imagine the chaotic things you had planned. And he did not like what came to his mind.

When the rest stop came eventually (about three hours into the trip), you all left the car to stretch your legs and take care of business

Taking separate ways to walk in pairs (same person they sat next to in the car)

You and Tommy wait until Phil and Kristin leave before getting Tubbo out of the trunk

You three vibe walking along the winding sidewalks for a bit before you come back to the car and get Tubbo back into the trunk

You, however, forgot to use the bathroom so you leave Tommy and Tubbo in the car 

“Fuck, I forgot to use the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”

“Be quick, I’m not fuckin telling em if we forget you.”

“Pfft, they won’t forget me. Stop joking around.”

With that, you left the car and made a beeline to the bathroom. After that, you went back to the car. Well, where the car was supposed to be. There was no sight of a van anywhere in the parking lot. That asshole, he just let them drive off? He and Tubbo’s probably giggling to themselves in the backseat like school girls. You were only gone for like eight minutes. 

Sighing, you walked over to a nearby bench and sat down, pulling up Techno’s contact and calling him. 

He picked up after a few rings. The second you heard the dial tone stop, you spoke to him, “check the backseat.”

“What? You’re taking a nap, why’re you calling me I’m literally right in front of you.”

“Just fuckin check, Tech.”

In the background, you could hear Tommy snickering to himself. You heard some rustling before Techno started laughing, “Dad, we left (y/n) at the rest stop.”

“YEAH YA FUCKIN DID!” 

You could hear loud laughter from your brothers and muffled cursing from Phil. You heard Kristin tell Techno to hand her the phone. 

“We’re so sorry, we’re turning around right now. We’ll be there in about five minutes. Stay in one place and don’t talk to strangers.”

“I dunno Mom, that trucker looks really friendly. Might do some hitch hiking with him.”

You ended up befriending an old lady when she sat next to you on the bench with her husband. She even gave you some butterscotch and those strawberry hard candies that all older people somehow have but you can never find in stores. Her husband was telling you stories about his younger days when you saw the familiar van pull into the parking lot. Waving goodbye, you thanked them and hopped back into the car. 

After profuse apologizing from your family and scolding Tommy for tricking them, you were on the road again. You glared at Tommy with a small smile on your face, “you fuckin prick. Did you seriously make it look like I was sleeping under a blanket?”

“Yeah, I told you that I wouldn’t tell them if we forgot you.”

“You fuckin dick,” you grabbed a few butterscotches and strawberry candies and handed some to Tubbo after ensuring your parents weren’t looking. He took them gratefully and quickly. You heard him whisper a ‘thank you’ and opened them with plastic crinkling. 

“Wha- are those butterscotches? Gimme some.” He was about to snatch them out of your hands before you moved away from him. “No, you left me at the rest stop. You don’t get any. Do you guys want some? I’ve got butterscotches and strawberry candies.”

After you handed them out to your family, Phil looked at you confused in the rearview mirror, “(y/n), where’d you get these?”

“Oh, I just made some friends with an old couple while I was waiting.”

“You what? What if they kidnapped you?”

“Naw they couldn’t’ve. Ethel has hip problems and Charles was in a wheelchair. They were chill anyway.”

“...Just- just don’t do that again.” “Well don’t forget me again at a rest stop three hours away from home and you got yourself a deal.” 

After a while the family was chill again and everything was back to normal

It was getting closer and closer to when Tubbo would make his reveal

You three agreed that Tubbo would just wait for the perfect time 

That time came about three hours later when Phil and Kristin was asking everybody where they should stop for food

“So kids, we have three options: McDonalds, Wendy’s, and Arby’s. What do you want?”

“Wendy’s is obviously the superior choice.” Tommy proclaimed and you nodded in agreement. You leaned back and whispered to Tubbo, “now would be a great time.” You pulled out your phone to discreetly record the front seat. 

“No it isn’t. Arby’s is you heathens.” Wilbur chimed in, glancing at his twin for back up. Techno shrugged, “I’m fine with anything as long as it’s edible.”

“I’m more of a fan of Wendy’s myself!” Tubbo’s muffled voice chimed in from his makeshift hut in the trunk. You snickered as Kristin whipped her head around to look at the back seat and Phil’s eyes snapping up to look at you through the rearview mirror. 

“...Tubbo?”

“Hi Mrs. Tommy and (y/n)’s mum!” You flipped the camera around just in time to catch Tubbo poking his head out of the blanket and grin sheepishly at them. You panned over to Tommy’s ruby red face as he was holding in his laughter before flipping it back to the front. 

“You absolute gremlins, this is what you’ve been hiding?” Phil scolded you and Tommy, his knuckles whitening from gripping the steering wheel. You could see his shoulders bouncing slightly with a slight strain in his voice from holding in chuckles. 

“Honey, have you been in the trunk this entire time?” 

“Yeah, but it’s quite comfy back here! Tommy and (y/n) gave me pillows and some snacks. Got some stretching done at the rest stop.”

“You’ve been back there for six hours?” Phil’s incredulous voice asked. 

“Yep! Don’t worry, I had a lot of room. Anyways, my vote goes to Wendy’s.”

The car was quiet before Kristin started to laugh, “Wendy’s it is. See Phil, I told you it was gonna be a pleasant surprise!”

Tubbo sat between you and Tommy in the backseat for the rest of the trip 

Techno and Wilbur saying that they knew Tubbo was back there but left out the blackmail part

There was no way they’d risk losing their little siblings doing their chores for them for a few weeks

At the hotel, the rooming was the same as the seating in the car

You, Tommy, and Tubbo having the time of your lives alone in your hotel room

Jumping on the beds, checking for hidden cameras and double sided mirrors (well, that doesn’t sound fun, but you had fun doing it), truth or dare, racing each other down the halls at night time, the works

B L A N K E T  F O R T S (but always cleaning up the hotel room in the mornings bc yall are respectful to the staff)

Getting plenty of videos of you guys ding dong ditching Techno and Wilbur’s room

Them getting tired of it so they tell Dadza and Momza and they tell you to stop : (

Walking around aimlessly around the hotel hallways with Wilbur and Techno

Going up and down elevators aimlessly 

Pulling an all nighter with Tommy and Tubbo on the last day

Philosophical late night talks when yall hardly know what you’re saying anymore (and becoming closer than ever before)

“Tommy, Tubbo?” You three were currently sitting on the balcony chairs looking out at the empty parking lot and the occasional cars driving by. It was about three in the morning and you guys were determined to stay up all night. “If you think about it, a hotdog is puréed meat in an intestine casing. When we eat the hotdogs, we turn it back into puréed meat. It eventually goes through your intestines which makes you the hotdog for a solid couple of hours.”

“...What the fuck, (y/n).”

“No no, they’ve got a point. Don’t you understand, Tommy? We are hotdogs.”

“...I’m starting to think you guys need sleep. Speakin nonsense.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Do you two reckon we’re alone in the universe?”

“What do you mean, Tubbo?” You glanced at the male next to you and raised an eyebrow. He was looking up at the stars with furrowed brows. 

“Like, do you guys think there’s life out there. Looking down at us right now wondering the same thing.” 

You hummed and looked up at the stars. They were twinkling down at you with the occasional shooting star blazing by. Red lights from far off satellites being the only visible sign of humans in the dark expanse of space. “I think so. I mean, nobody knows how big the universe is. You never really know.”

“Honestly I don’t know what’s scarier, being the only lifeforms and being completely alone or having things out there that we don’t know about.” 

You sling an arm over your twin’s shoulders, “that doesn’t matter. As long as we have each other, we’ll never be alone. We’ll face whatever the universe has in store for us together.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I don’t know, I just hate it when people only see me as the loud annoying one. It really gets to me sometimes and I don’t know what I should do about it. Fuck, even Wil and Tech see me like that.”

“Toms, fuck them. They don’t know you like we do. You’re caring, ambitious, and brave.” 

“Yeah, don’t listen to what they say. We’ll prove them wrong when we form our own nation one day.”

Tommy’s sullen expression slowly melted into a smile, “yeah, I’d like that. You’d be the president.”

Tubbo grinned back at Tommy, “and you’ll be my trusty vice president and (y/n)’ll be our Secretary of State. We’ll rule together.”

“Our nation would be a place for people to escape tyranny and injustice. Somewhere where men could live free, you two would be amazing leaders.”

“What do we call it though is the question,” Tubbo hummed in thought.

“How about ‘Manberg’?”

You looked at your twin with half lidded, exhausted eyes, “I like it, but it needs more… pizazz. How about L’manberg?”

You watched as he smiled widely at the stars, “it’s perfect.”

Watching the sunrise together on the balcony wrapped in blankets

Sleeping on the rest of the way back home

Best sleep of your life

When you wake up (about an hour or so away from home), you see that there’s blankets over you three and you had your head on Tubbo’s shoulder, Tubbo had his leaned up against the seat behind him, and Tommy’s cheek was squished against the window

You stretch out your limbs a bit trying not to disturb the two beside you

Checking your phone to see pictures of you three sleeping sent into the family group chat with Kristin replying with a bunch of heart emojis

You send the videos and pictures you took along the way of you, Tommy, and Tubbo doing stupid things in the hotel room and in the car

If you looked in the middle row, you could see Wilbur watching the scenery pass by out the window with his earbuds in

Techno is reading one of his books (you have no idea how he doesn’t get car sick)

Phil and Kristin are talking lowly to each other holding hands on the center counsel 

Soft radio music is playing in the background

Life is good

General taglist (comment if you want to be added):

@crybabyjabby  @izzybobizzy13  @goldenstarofthunderclan  @bunnyz-pxstel  @averytiredfanfictionwriter  @dcml04  @sparkling-gayyyy  @bbigbbrainn  @thaticecreambish  @kiinokochii  @satansphatass  @bxkubitch  @bxmentchildxx  @roxy3457  @montygator17  @feverish-dove  @the-fictionwriters-hairdo  @jichuuchaeng  @404rynnotfound  @luluwinchester  @laura--444  @the-cult-classic-bitch  @youngstarfishdinosaur  @nottheotheruser

[ray-ray-writings]

Stream Stresses-SBI Au

This is a Brother!Technoblade, Brother!Wilbur, Brother!Tommyinnit, and Father!Philza x gn!reader in the SBI inc Au. I hope that this is written how the anon that requested it wants it, but I’m not sure. So basically, the SBI is a real family dynamic, the thing is that all of Philza’s children, Y/N, Tommy, Techno, and Wilbur are all well known streamers and everybody’s fans know this and love the family dynamic that you four have, because you’re literally family. So yeah. Here you go, I hope you enjoy. 

Check out my masterlist here!

When Y/N makes fun of their brother, chat jumps to his defense by saying some not so nice things about Y/N. The mean things cause Y/N to shut down their stream with tears in their eyes, worrying their father, Philza.

Y/N’s POV

“Hello chat!” I exclaimed, adjusting my headphones as people slowly began to flood the chat, “How are we today?” A variety of responses flew through my chat before my question was returned to me. “How am I today? I’m doing good! Thank you for asking!” My eyes scanned my notification and I couldn’t help but smile at the subs and donos rolling through. I quickly thank everyone by name before clapping, “Okay chat, today we are going to be playing Minecraft. But we’re not going to play on the SBI server, no we’re going to attempt speedrunning!” I explained. I eagerly watched my chat explode in support, a lot of ‘POGS’ flying by my eyes. “Well let’s get started, shall we?” 

I quickly opened my Minecraft and adjusted my stream so that my viewers could see what I was doing. “What should we name the first world? Yes we’re naming them, what monster does not name their speedrun worlds?” Random names flew through the chat, until one caught my eyes. “Tommy! We’ll name this one Tommy so when it let’s me down it won’t be anything new!” I cheered, typing the name into the world box, giggling to myself. For the most part the chat found it funny, but I did see some people say some mean stuff for making fun of my brother. 

I quickly cleared my throat and shook it off, “Here we go chat!” I exclaimed before loading in the world. I spawn in an acacia biome next to a desert, “So far Tommy’s treating us pretty good huh?” I joked, rushing over to a tree and punching it. I gained a bunch of wood and then began running through the desert in search of a village. I found one rather quickly and began my raid. I got everything from the chests and then found the iron golem and hit it to get it to chase me so I could build up and kill it… Only problem is I wasn’t quick enough.

I let out screech as the iron golem flung me up in the air, dealing a crazy amount of damage to the point where when I landed, I died. I gave a quick huff and pout as I exited out of the world. “Okay… What did I say, should have been expected to be let down by Tommy!” I exclaimed, my eyes scanning the chat. A few people laughed, but a lot of them were calling me horrible. They were saying that I shouldn’t blame my inability to play the game on my brother. It caused a pain to strike in my heart, because that’s not what I was doing at all. Really mean names began flying through my chat causing me to clear my throat and look away. “Um… Let’s try again,” I mumbled, creating a new world. 

“We’re just going to keep going down the list” I announced, trying to bring my energy back up as I typed the name “Wilbur” into the world box before hitting ‘create world’ and loading in. I let my eyes dance back to chat that seemed to go back to normal, but there were still some really mean people in chat. This time I spawned in a plains biome next to a village. I got pretty far this time. I made it all the way to the nether, even found a fortress, but my excitement about it died pretty quickly… because I did too. 

“NOOO!” I shouted at the ‘You Died’ screen. “I didn’t even see that blaze there! Damn it Wilbur!” I exclaimed, exciting out of the world once more. My eyes looked over to chat again, praying that the haters had gotten bored and left… My prayers were not answered. Instead, there were probably the most amount of haters I’d ever seen in my chat before. Every message was filled with hate. Telling me that I wasn’t good enough, that I should just quit, that my brothers were so much better than I was and there was no reason for me to even continue. I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t help the tears that formed in my eyes and began streaming down my cheeks. 

“Ummm… Thanks for coming. I’m going to end stream now,” I sniffed, closing Minecraft and going to my streaming settings. “Bye,” I whimpered out before ending the stream. I sat there frozen for a minute before breaking down into sob. Why do they hate me?

*POV Switch*

Philza’s POV

A grin crossed my face as my phone lit up with a twitch notification. I quickly shifted my attention to my phone screen to figure out which child it was that was going live. It was Y/N! I quickly set up my phone in such a way that I could ‘watch’ their stream while I made dinner for everyone. “Hello chat!” I heard them exclaim, “How are we today!” 

It really warmed my heart to watch my children stream. All four of them had worked extremely hard to get where they are today. I did everything I could to understand the Twitch community so I could support my children as they achieved their dreams. Sure it was hard at times, me trying to keep up with everything in all their streams but also when they’re all streaming at the same time and just screaming at each other, but we make it work. 

My focus turned to the food that I was making. Footsteps entered the kitchen pulling my attention away from the stream, “Hey Dadza,” Techno’s monotone voice greeted me from behind. “Hello Techno,” I greeted back, throwing him a smile over my shoulder. “Is Y/N streaming?” Techno asked, walking to the refrigerator, pulling it open and grabbing a water bottle. I nodded my head at the question. “Yeah, they’re speed running,” I responded, turning my head back to the veggies I was cutting for dinner. Techno let out a hum before turning his attention to my phone. 

As I cooked, I could hear Techno let out small laughs at what they’re sibling was saying on their stream. Twentyish minutes had gone by before Techno spoke actual words, “What the fuck,” He muttered, getting closer to my phone. “Language… What’s going on?” I asked, still focused on making dinner. “Y/N is crying,” He explained. My head snapped to my phone and sure enough, tears were streaming down their face. “Bye” they croaked out before the stream just ended. Not wasting any more time, I grabbed my phone and I ran out of the kitchen and toward Y/N’s room. 

As I grew closer, I could hear sobs coming from their room causing my heart to sink in my chest. I gave a quick knock on the door before barreling in. Y/N was still sitting in their gaming chair, hunched over into themselves, their hands muffiling the sobs falling from their lips. “Oh honey,” I whispered, closing the door behind me. Y/N’s head shot up and their red rimmed eyes met mine. Another loud sob broke from their mouth causing my heart to hurt even more. I took a few quick steps forward to get to them and offer them comfort. Y/N rose from their gaming chair and fell into my open arms. I quickly wrapped my arms around them in a tight hug. “I’ve got you honey,” I murmured, “I’ve got you.”

At some point, I slowly made my way to their bed and sat down, leaning against the headboard, pulling them to sit across my lap, burying their face in my chest like all those years ago when they were a lot younger. I couldn’t help but be reminded of the afternoons that they and their brothers would go outside to play and ride bikes and they would come back in with scraped and bloodied knees and palms. I would pull them into my lap, dry their tears, and help them calm down. It’s a bittersweet memory. It feels nice to think back, but under these circumstances? Not so much. 

Slowly but surely, Y/N’s sobs died down into simple sniffles before stopping all together. “You okay?” I questioned softly, leaning back ever so slightly so I could meet my child’s eyes. Their puffy ears peered up as they slowly nodded, “Yeah. I’ll be okay,” they muttered out resting their head back on my shoulder. “Do you want to talk about it?” I asked carefully, not wanting to upset them again. A soft sigh left Y/N’s mouth, “I suppose I should. It’s best not to bottle it up,” they thought aloud causing me to smile just a little bit. A small bit of pride welled up inside me of how grown up they sounded. 

The smile quickly faded from my lips as my child explained what had happened on their stream. How chat had turned on them and the mean things that they said. I could feel my blood begin to boil. I was extremely pissed at not only chat, but at the mods for not stopping it. But I had to remain calm on the outside, for Y/N’s sake. 

“I’m so sorry that happened honey. You don’t deserve that. Nothing they said is true okay? You work so hard and it shows because you’re so good at what you do. Your brothers are good at what they do too. You guys are on equal playing feels and are all exceptional streamers. You deserve all good things honey. And I’m so sorry I wasn’t there to mod. You’re never streaming without me modding again. Do you understand me?” I rambled, staring at my child curled in my lap. A small giggle sounded in the air causing me to relax ever so slightly. “Yeah. I understand you dad… Thank you.” 

Before I could respond, there was a small knock on the door. “Come in,” Y/N called, staring curiously at the door. It swung open and there stood my three other children peering nervously into the room. After standing in the doorway in an awkward silence for a moment, Tommy lets out a loud scoff before pushing his way into the room and crawls up on the best next to us. Tommy then surprises me by wrapping his arms around his sibling and gives them a tight squeeze, “You’re a good streamer Y/N,” I heard him mumble in his sibling's ear. “Chat can be just a little stupid sometimes.” Another giggle passes through their lips as Y/N slides off of my lap and sits in between Tommy and I. “Thanks Tommy,” they whisper back, turning their body to properly hug their brother back. 

The closing of the door pulled my attention away from my youngest two. Wilbur and Techno were now also completely in the room and were heading toward the bed as well. I moved over so that one of them could sit in between Y/N and I and the other could go sit next to Tommy. Wilbur took the place beside me, sending Techno over by Tommy. Not saying anything, Wilbur turned his body and reached over and wrapped his long arms around Y/N and Tommy, trapping them in their own hug. For the first time ever, neither of them complained. Neither told him to get off, simply just accepted the affection from their brother. 

And to my surprise and delight, Techno leaned onto Tommy and wrapped his arms around the two as well, his arms only able to wrap around Y/N. The four didn’t say anything as they laid in the cuddle pile. I couldn’t stop the tears that formed in my eyes. They hadn’t done this in years. Before Wilbur and Techno hit their teen years, the four of them would cuddle in piles like this all the time. When I couldn’t find any of them, I would only have to find one to find all of them. But once the teen years began, the two eldest felt that they were too cool to cuddle with their siblings and the piles came to a stop. It warms my heart to see them do this, even if it’s under really shitty circumstances. 

One by one, their breathing evened out. One by one, they fell asleep. Once I was sure all were asleep, I slowly and carefully got off of the bed and managed to do so without waking any of them. I pulled my phone out of my pocket, made sure the ringer and flash were off, before snapping many photos. I didn’t plan on sharing them with everyone, they were just for me to have and to hold. Maybe I’ll print one and put it in my office. 

I carefully slipped out of the room, closing the door softly behind me before heading back to the kitchen. The kitchen was exactly how I left it when I fled to Y/N’s room after seeing them cry. As quietly as I could, I put everything away. I decided I was no longer in a mood to cook. Besides, on days like today, I think Y/N deserves to have their favorite carry out… Don’t you?

I don’t know if I liked how this one turned out, so let me know what you think! Leave a like if you did enjoy it and maybe even reply or reblog or even send me an ask telling me what you thought!!

[stuff-from-the-void-matron]

Laurel Wreaths & Animal Teeth (7)

(c!Technoblade x fem!Reader)

(I know y’all are getting tired of waiting for Techno to arrive, so am I! But I have no solid control over the story plot lol but I swear it’ll happen soon!! And y’all know the drill! Reblogs and comments keep this story going. So if you want a chapter 8 then please show this chapter some love! <3)

---------------

(FORGOT TO MENTION ART!

The amazing 'YeetUsFeTUSDelETusss' on DA was so cool and drew two pictures to bless our eyes!!)

READER HERSELF!

READER PROTECTING HER BOYS!

--------------

Only Tubbo showed up the next day, and he said he sadly couldn’t stay for long because him and Tommy were needed back at L’manburg for a while. Meaning him and Tommy wouldn’t be able to visit for a bit, but they’d try to visit as soon as possible! Hearing they’d not come see you for who knows how long made you pretty sad. You honestly looked forward to when they’d visit. It was honestly the highlight of your day. But you knew whatever nonsense was going on in L’manburg currently would need their attention. Though you wondered what exactly was going on. You recalled a decent amount of the ‘history’ of the Dream SMP but you knew you could be misremembering or even mixing things up. But you did remember the big things that happened. Like the wars and stuff. So needless to say you were concerned.

‘What point in history am I in right now? Whenever it is, L’manburg is apparently still standing,’ you thought pensively before asking Tubbo what was going on that they’d need to stay in L’manburg.

Tubbo sighed and said it was ‘just some drama’ but apparently their, meaning his and Tommy’s, older brother figure Wilbur had been president of L’manburg for the entirety of the time L’manburg had existed. But some new citizens who joined them found out he’d not been properly elected and didn’t think it was fair to everyone that Wilbur had basically just made himself president without any input from everyone else. Which you could see was not right but this information told you that you were in the pre-election time. Which meant Schlatt and Quackity hadn’t won yet… But that hinged on this universe even being the same one that you’d watched on youtube. Things could be different here for all you knew. You’d always believed in the multiverse theory so who was to know WHICH universe this was. Or how you even got here. All you could do really was to just… wait and watch.

A couple hours passed during the short visit and towards the end Tubbo showed you how to message others, ie; him and Tommy mostly. You’d known how to message others and put in commands and stuff in regular minecraft but you’d just sort of never thought to try those things here in this place. Though to be fair you’d been dealing with a lot of stuff so fiddling with your inventory and everything hadn’t been your top priority. And when he’d mentioned messaging him your first thought had been ‘how?’, because this was a ‘real life’ minecraft, where things were very similar but not always exactly like how it was in the real game. The biggest difference being that there was no computer keyboard or ‘screen’ for the type/chat option to be at the bottom of like in the game.

But to your surprise the place to type in a message was actually IN your inventory. More specifically it was at the very bottom of the main section right below where your items were stored in the hot bar. You’d never paid the long ultra thin box at the bottom any mind, assuming it was just part of the weird design. But no, Tubbo showed you with his inventory how if you tap on the thin box (that you’d honestly thought was just a line) it expands into a typing window! Your eyes widened at that and watched as he tapped the typing box again and a little keyboard appeared below the typing box and he started typing something into it. You squinted and he said to message someone you needed to be sure to type ‘/msg’ and then whoever’s name you’d like to send the message to!

He demonstrated this by typing out the first part then right after it typing your ‘name’; aka Reader. Briefly you wondered why it had been made that but you brushed that thought away to focus on what Tubbo was doing. You saw him type ‘hi reader!!’ before hitting Enter. Then a second later you heard a soft ‘ping!’ sound and you just KNEW your inventory was waiting to be pulled up. Like knew in an instinctual sense. Like how you knew to blink or how to walk. Just an instinct you couldn’t explain so you brought it up and there at the bottom the ‘line’ was flashing a pale red. So you did what Tubbo had done and tapped it, revealing the little typing box. Only this time it had a message in it! It said, ‘Tubbo whispers to you: hi reader!!’ and you smile. Excited now you type out a message to him and hit send. He got it and laughed after he read it. 

‘Reader whispered to you: hello my little goat boy!! :)’

After that he blinked when more messages popped onto his text box. These were from Tommy and Wilbur it looked like. With a sigh he checked his clock and dismissed his chat box before saying he was sorry but he had to get going. He’d actually stayed longer than he was supposed to. You were sad to see him go but knew he’d be back, and hey, now you could message him and Tommy to make sure they got back to L’manburg safe instead of just wondering like before. So you told him to be careful on his way back and to message you that he was safe home when he arrived, and also if he needed any help. He laughed and cheekily said he would but gave a shy smile when you pulled him into a hug and gently knocked your antlers with his horns, but he happily returned it. Not so secretly enjoying the affection. But he had to pull back and leave.

That left you to your own devices.

-0-

With nothing better to do you initially spent the next three days building a couple fountains in the village (which was getting pretty big..). One tiny frog shaped one in the little grotto at the west side of the village and a much larger more traditional one in the opposite side of the village. You’d even set up park benches, flower plots, lamp posts, and stone sidewalk around the bigger one. It was very pretty and the villagers seemed to be enjoying it. But after that was done you’d sorta gotten bored. You weren’t really inspired to do anything else to the village so you thought of ways to occupy yourself. Eventually a metaphorical lightbulb flickered to life above your head and you got an idea. 

You could go to the Nether! 

Sure you weren’t the biggest fan of the place but it beat sitting around twiddling your thumbs waiting for a reply from your only two friends like some loser. And hey, you liked giving piglins gold. They made cute little piggy snorts when they were happy. So with that loose plan in mind you got up from where you’d been lounging by the creek and brushed yourself off before heading out to the place outside the bamboo and prickle berry wall you’d placed the first Nether portal. You crafted one real quick before tensing up when you heard the sound of rustling behind you. Assuming it was a creeper or something you glanced back, not that it would hurt you but you still found it unsettling for anything to be sneaking up behind you. You caught a brief glimpse of something small and white disappearing into a cluster of ferns. You paused, wondering what it was but then about a block to the left of the ferns a chicken and her chick walked out from around a tree. ‘Oh, must have just been a baby chicken’, you thought with a mental shrug before turning back to your task of lighting the portal with your flint and steel.

Once activated you stepped into the purple swirling mist and your vision warped before you ended up in the Nether again, stifling heat and all. 

-0-

You’d been exploring the Nether for what felt like hours. The place was goddamn enormous! You’d followed the same sand block trail from the last time you’d been here, seeing the piglins and a few striders along the way. And to your delight a familiar little piglin baby started following you. She (you think she’s a ‘she’, that’s the vibe you’re getting anyways) had to be the one you’d played with the last time you’d been in the Nether. You crouched down and patted her head and pulled a golden carrot from your inventory before gifting it to her. She squealed happily and munched on it. You kept walking along the sand path before reaching the fortress. That’s when you diverted your path to the right and started exploring that way, careful to keep laying down sand as you did. You thought the baby piglin had stayed back but after a while of walking you heard a soft snort and glanced down to the left of you to see her happily trotting along with you, still nibbling on the golden carrot.

You wanted to melt, she was such a cutie pie. You stopped and asked if she should be travelling so far away. Won’t her parents miss her? She blinks and seems to understand you before shaking her head ‘no’. You figure she must have some pretty lenient parents. But you suppose piglins are sturdier than humans so it makes sense they’d keep their kids on a looser leash than humans would. So you ask her where her parents are and if they’d be okay with her wandering off with you, a stranger. She tilts her head and shrugs. You purse your lips and ask if she can take you to her parents so you can ask if they’d be okay with it. This time she shakes his head no. So you ask her why and she seems to be thinking how to answer before she goes over to the closest block of sand and starts drawing in it. You look over her shoulder and see her drawing three hearts. Then your stomach sinks when you see her draw an ‘X’ over each heart, meaning one thing..

“Oh sweetie, did your parents lose all their lives?” you ask in a gentle tone.

The tiny piglin nodded and your heart broke for her. You asked some more questions and discovered she wasn’t really being taken care of by any one piglin. The other piglins knew her parents were gone so they’d sorta chip in to make sure she had food. But that was really it. This made you feel worse so you just sighed and patted her head and said she could join you while you explored the Nether. She snorted happily and you two continued on your way. Eventually after walking for a bit you came across a warped forest. You had to admit the biome was much prettier in person. The stark contrast between the Nether’s usual red color scheme and the teal of the warped forest was really beautiful. Even the weird little green/orange fungus that were growing everywhere were cute. You even picked a handful to keep, placing them in your inventory before continuing your little jaunt with the baby piglin. 

That last thought made you mentally pause and realize that you couldn’t just keep calling this kid ‘baby piglin’. So you stopped walking and looked down before saying you forgot to introduce yourself. She could call you Reader (since that’s what your little name thing said..). Then you asked what her name was. She blinked before snorting a little, like she was clearing her throat, and said, “Azogamay.” 

You smiled and said you liked her name, making her give a cute little tusked smile. Then as you continued exploring you both made small talk. Nothing deep (how deep could conversation get with a little kid) but you asked each other the usual questions. Like favorite foods, favorite colors, favorite animals, etc. Then Azo (you’d taken to shortening her name to make it easier) answered one of your questions with some gibberish that made you pause. You glanced down at her and gave a ‘huh?’ that made her giggle before apparently remembering you weren’t a piglin. She said she forgot and spoke Piglin. That made you raise your eyebrows because you’d never thought about other species in the game having their own language. But now that you were thinking about it, it totally made sense. Of course they would, duh. Now very curious you asked her to teach you a little! Like did she know how your name would be said in Piglin? Her answer surprised you…

“Eaderray!” she said in her quiet baby voice.

Now you two had entered a wide soul sand valley, which made Azo anxious. She hid behind your leg, making you recall that Piglins didn’t really spawn in this biome or like soul fire (which is super common here). You had to admit the place was rather creepy. It didn’t help that the soul sand beneath your feet was emitting a rather creepy whispery wail. So you decided to turn back and try another direction. Azo seemed relieved and trotted along behind you. But once you were walking again you remembered your last thought and had a vague feeling about this ‘piglin speak’ and wanted to hear more. So you asked Azo some other words, just to test this theory of yours. And well…

Skeleton? Eletonskay…

Blaze? Azeblay…

Strider? Iderstray…

Lava? Avalay...

Gold? ...Oldgay (that may have made you snicker).

But you got the idea and honestly you cannot be held accountable for your reaction after you realized Piglins honest to fucking god spoke PIG LATIN.

You lost it. You laughed so hard you doubled over and had to brace your hands on your knees to keep from collapsing onto the ground. Azo didn’t know what was so funny but your laughter was contagious and she ended up laughing too, intermixed with little snorts that made you laugh even harder. It was a whole cycle. And by the end of it you’d laughed so hard you started coughing and had to sit down to catch your breath. The giggles returned a couple times but eventually you got control over yourself enough to be able to breathe normally again. As you sat there, little Azo looking up at you in amusement, you couldn’t believe the absolute batshit nonsense that was happening in your life right now. But out of everything that had happened, you think finding out Piglins spoke pig latin had to be the funniest. Though you wanted to test your theory further so you said to Azo,

“Ellohay Azogamay, isyay isthay ightray?”

Azo’s eyes brightened and she perked up, looking close to bouncing from excitement as she realized you were speaking ‘Piglin’ to her. She started babbling at the speed of light, in a way that all excited toddlers seemed to be able to do. While it was cute enough to pull a chuckle from you the downside was that you could not understand a single word Azo said. You got her to slow down, telling her you didn’t speak Piglin fluently so she would have to go slow with you otherwise you’d be lost. She nodded, just happy that you could understand Piglin. So she slowed down a lot and chatted with you that way. And that’s pretty much how the rest of your time in the Nether went. You traversed through the hellish dimension and brushed up on your pig latin with the little piglin. 

It has definitely been a LONG time since you’d even thought about the made up ‘language’. You’d had a friend in elementary school who had been Obsessed with it. It was all they spoke sometimes and they’d talked it up so much that it caught on with the rest of the class, yourself included, and soon everyone was using it to write notes to each other, like a secret language. You’d even speak to each other only in pig latin during recess and lunch breaks. You’d been fluent in it and didn’t even have to think before speaking. Though after a year it had lost its popularity and everyone slowly stopped using it since the fad was over. But you still remembered a good deal of it. Enough to speak it slowly anyways. But the more you used it the easier it was to speak it. It was like riding a bike you supposed, you never truly forgot it.

-0-

Things were going fine until they weren’t. You’d stopped to have lunch in a crimson forest, more for Azo’s benefit than your own, and were sitting and eating for a while before Azo started playing with a baby hoglin. Which had been fine, you’d seen baby piglins and hoglins do that in the game before, no biggie. But they’d gotten rambunctious the way kids do when they’re playing together. And while chasing each other around Azo had smacked into one of the adult hoglins, which had pissed it off enough for it to snarl angrily and start chasing Azo. And Azo in turn began squealing in fear while running away. You’d dropped the steak you’d been idly munching on and sprinted after the two. Sadly the hoglin was closer to Azo than you and managed to get one good hit in with its tusks, the force behind it practically yeeting Azo up into the air. You yelled in horror as you watched the baby piglin fall down into a lava filled ravine. 

Panic flooded your body, you knew zombie piglins were fireproof but regular piglins were not as far as you knew. Let alone baby piglins who just took a direct hit from a damn hoglin. So without thinking about it you dove into the ravine after Azo, catching her in your arms and fully planning to hold her up above the lava since it wouldn’t hurt you. Once she was in your arms you jerked back instinctively, not sure why, just maybe bracing for the impact with the lava. You waited but… nothing. About that second you realized that you weren’t moving anymore. You’d come to a halt and at first you wondered if maybe you’d landed on a block and not noticed. But… one glance down revealed you were not in fact standing on a block. Actually you weren’t standing on anything. You were hovering about 3 or 4 blocks above the bubbling lava at the bottom of the ravine. You were so stunned that you almost missed the sniffling snorts that started up next to your face but thankfully they broke you out of your shocked state. You looked at Azo and your heart broke when you saw her tearing up and looking close to crying. Forgetting momentarily about whatever the fuck was going on with you floating you focused on soothing her.

“Aw sweetie, are you okay? You took a hit from that hoglin, where does it hurt?” you cooed.

She was babbling mostly, being too upset to try to speak English. And understanding crying pig latin was almost impossible. So you just asked her to point where it hurt. She reached for her back and side and you softly told her you were going to lift her shirt a little bit to see if there was a mark, and she nodded shakily and sniffled while you did. You winced at the blooming bruise and adjusted her so you were basically cradling her and with your free hand you opened your inventory and started looking through the potions. You grabbed a healing potion and uncorked it before offering it to Azo, whose snout wrinkled at the potion. You told her it was alright, it was a healing potion that would make her feel better and get rid of those bruises for her. She looked unsure but still let you raise the mouth of the potion bottle to her lips so she could sip it. She took a few sips before hiccuping, potion swirls wafting off of her after she did. The baby piglin blinked and felt the pain in her back and side start to disappear. 

You smiled and said that must feel better, Azo nodded and was happy she wasn’t hurting anymore. You let her take one more sip for good measure before putting the cork back into the bottle and stashing it in your inventory. But once that was done you were reminded of your current predicament. You were still floating in place above a ravine of lava.. With zero clue on how to move too. Briefly you internally panicked at the thought of just.. never being able to move again!! Being stuck fixed in one spot forever with no way to get down or live freely! Though before you could panic further you took a deep breath and told yourself to relax. This wasn’t permanent, it couldn’t be. There logically has to be a way for you to move. You got yourself stuck here and you’ll get yourself down as well.

And the last thing you wanted was to look scared with Azo here with you. She was just a little kid and needed the only adult around to be strong for her. So you put on a smile and reassured her that things will be okay and you’ll figure out how to get them both safe on land in no time. Azo nodded, looking less worried than before. So you started trying things you think would get you to move. You could move your limbs no problem. Proven by how you could move Azo around with your arms and kick your legs about without issue. But your body as a whole was still locked in place. Though when you leaned your upper body to the left you hit a breakthrough! Tilting your torso to the left managed to move your whole body to the left by about a block and a half! Now onto the right path you started leaning your torso this way and that, figuring out what movements actually got you moving and which ones didn’t. Figuring out how to move side to side and forwards and back was pretty easy. But it was figuring out up and down that was tricky. 

At the moment going down was the last thing you were interested in, what with the lava beneath you. So you tried focusing on going up, and after a lot more wiggling about that you were sure made you look like an idiot to anyone who could be watching (Azo only giggled a little) you finally figured out that to go up you had to tense and stretch your torso a specific way. Like exactly how you would do if you were trying to reach something on the top shelf, only you didn’t have to move your arms or legs the same way, just your torso. Like how people straighten themselves to seem taller, not slouching at all. After getting that down you manage to go up and then over out of the ravine. Which was a relief and a half. Now that the threat of sinking into lava wasn’t a worry you instead fixated on getting down. Thanks to figuring out how to get up you had an easier time getting the hang of getting down.

Once your feet touched the ground the floating thing disappeared and gravity was restored to you, making you able to walk around normally again. You gave a small cheer, Azo snorting happily as you carried her back to your spot on one of the crimson mushroom tree tops. Once seated you let out a breath and felt your shoulders relax. You hadn’t even been aware they’d been so tense, but you guess it made sense what with how you just sorta had a weird physics related mishap. But now that you and little Azo were safe you felt like you could breathe again. 

You took a golden apple out of your inventory and took a bite, the sweet juice soothing your metaphorical ruffled feathers. You noticed you mostly just eat for the taste now. Which was fine you guessed. When you glanced down you held the apple close to Azo’s face, asking in semi-good piglin if she wanted a bite, chuckling when she eagerly sunk her little teeth into the sweet fruity flesh of it. You gave her the rest and just watched the other Nether inhabitants mill about peacefully. Today had been a wild ride for sure. At least compared to your usual peaceful days. You leaned back against the lump of red fungus behind you, Azo cradled in your arms, and sighed calmly. You’d been ready to rest your eyes when you heard a soft ‘ping!’ that had you blinking back into focus. It was your communicator app thing. Thinking it was just Tubbo messaging you to say goodnight or something you casually opened the message. But when you did you raised an eyebrow at the note from your kid.

‘Tubbo whispers to you: the election is tomorrow afternoon, can you come? 

‘Tubbo whispers to you: i’ve got a bad feeling.. i’m not trying to pull you into our mess’

‘Tubbo whispers to you: but idk i’d feel better if you were there.’

You had a bad feeling too… You hoped what you likely knew was going to happen DIDN’T happen but.. it probably was. So you sent back a quick reply to Tubbo.

‘You whisper to Tubbo: of course I will! you can show me around your home! :)

You tried to keep your reply upbeat and happy, not wanting to feed into the teenager’s worry. Even though you were probably more worried now that he was. But regardless.

It looked like you were visiting L’manburg.

[strawberrylemonz]

Innit an Adventure

An addition to the AU, lol. Instead of chat being in his head, like Techno’s, Tommy’s chat are ghosts that follow him around :)

This one is dedicated to @ivorylin for being very supportive of my first post regarding this au. This is also dedicated to @petrichormeraki for being poggers and enjoying the first part of this series, as well as inspiring it.

Part 1

Part 2 [CURRENT]

Part 3

--------

“Brother!!! Pog!!!”

“Big brother returns!”

“HE CALLED HIM STARCHILD, I’M GONNA SOB”

“I just woke up, what’s happening?”

“GOODBYE SBI, HELLO HERMIT GRIAN”

”HERMIT HOMIES HOURS”

“HOLY SHIT, HE’S OUR BROTHER”

“I was getting a snack, what’s up?”

“DJLFKNGON I’M GOANNA   CRYSLK”

“BEST BROTHER EVER”

“I’m on the toilet, pog”

“I have tacos :)”

“BRGB SOBBING”

“GRIAN POGGGG”

“This makes me happy you didn’t do a double flip”

“ADIOS TECHNOBRO AND WILBRO, I ONLY KNOW BIG BRO G!!!”

“Anyone else have dust in their eyes?”

“CHAOS DUO RELATED POG”

Tommy let out a shaky breath as he rubbed his eyes. Chat was going crazy at the new news and, to be honest, he couldn’t blame them. If he was in their position, he’d be freaking out alongside them. Wanting to end both the silence that filled the cavern and the nonsense Chat was saying, Tommy let out a hoarse laugh before speaking.

“Chat really likes you, G.”

A smile formed on the teen’s face as his head bounced with the hefty laugh that came from Grian, whose chest began to rumble alongside the laughter. Finally lifting his head off his brother’s chest, Tommy allowed the remaining tears in his eyes to fall as he looked to Grian’s face. Grian smiled fondly back at Tommy, wiping away the tears from his little brother’s eyes. 

“I suppose I should say hello to all of them. Is Chat similar to Techno’s voices?”

Concern flashed across Grian’s face as Tommy flinched at the mention of Technoblade. It was small, and could have been easily overlooked if Grian wasn’t watching his brother like a hawk. He made a mental note to ask about that later that night, when they were around the campfire.

“Nah, he’s just insane. Psychotic or some shit like that. I’m just really fucking cool and can see spirits and shit.”

Eyebrows from the crowd (shit, they were still there, weren’t they?) and Grian were raised as someone Stress half heartedly scolded Tommy for his language. Tommy just rolled his eyes, knowing that they only scolded him as a joke. They had all grown accustomed to his wording, and were worried when he didn’t slip in a few curses into his sentences.

“Spirits?”

“Yeah, spirits. I call em Chat most of the time, but they have different nicknames, and they all have individual names. Clara explained that it was one of the many side effects to her marking me as a ‘Starchild’ in her name. They are the spirits of the lands, from servers all around, or some shit like that. I can see them all, but they make the choice to stick with me or not.”

This was...news. Grian, who was still processing that he his baby brother was alive, sitting right in front of him, as well as the fact that Clara was real, could only stare. He wasn’t so sure how to feel about his brother being indifferent to all the spirits, but he suppose that it couldn’t be helped. Spending pretty much your entire life seeing spirits would make him indifferent to the spirits as well. 

“So, Chat is...everywhere?”

“Basically, yeah”

Grian hummed as he proceeded to greet Chat, being polite to the beings he couldn’t see. Much to the annoyance of Tommy, Chat seemed to be loving Grian even more. Maybe a bit too much.

“HE’S SO POLITE”

“How thoughtful of him”

“HELOO HI GRI A  N HWAHT’S UP BRO”

“Grian bro supremacy”

“GRIAN BRO SUPREMACY”

“HERMIT HOMIE WOOOOOO”

“BEST BRO POG”

“holY SHIT I’M IN LOV E ADKNVOD”

“THE RACCOON HAS A POG BROTHER WOOO”

“HI GRIAN HI”

“Rodent brothers??? pog?????”

“HELLOHELLOHELLOHENSLO”

“TELL HIM WE SAID HI, CHILD”

“Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, calm down, calm down, calm down, calm down. Chat says hi, Grian. And, hey, I’m not a child, what the fuck!? I’m a big man!”

Impulse snickered as Mumbo walked over to the two brothers. Smiling down at them, he helped the two back to their feet. Grian smiled as he set a hand on Tommy’s shoulder, squeezing it slightly. Tommy, in turn, beamed with pride at his brother and his friends. 

“Alright, we spent enough time being emotional and shit. Let’s get going, I have more cool shit to show you guys.”

Laughter filled the cavern as Tommy fixed his hair, his booming man child I’m not a child voice being drowned out as he led them back outside. Slightly huffing. He let out a yelp as he was nearly tackled to the ground from behind. Letting out undignified noises of protest, he turned to see the smug smile of Grian, who was ruffling his hair. 

“Alright, big man, show us your land of paradise!”

Barking out a hearty laugh, Tommy ducked out from his brother’s hand before grabbing it, spinning a few times, and pulling him forward. 

“Aw, look at them!”

“Wait, so Grian has two sections now?”

------

The traditional booth games in Tavern Town were fun. From balloon darts to milk bottles, to ladder climb and hoop toss, Tommy thought of it all. Unique designs decorated each booth, all holding an individual and unique look. Everything about the area was impressive.

“Where did buy get these for the games? I don’t think I’ve ever seen them in the main server.”

Tommy peered over to Doc, who was inspecting the prizes neatly strung up on all the booths. There were plushies of different types of mods, some familiar, others not. They came in all types of colors and sizes, and were overall impressive. Walking up beside Doc, Tommy just shrugged his shoulders, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

“I didn’t buy them, I made them.”

Scar perked up, before jumping right into the conversation.

“You what? Toms, that’s impressive! I didn’t know you could sew.”

‘Fucking hell,’ Tommy thought to himself. He didn’t expect to get praise for his simple hobbies.

“Yeah, I sew. I’m actually pretty crafty, being resourceful and shit. I also knit and crochet. It’s not much, but it’s really fucking therapeutic and all that jazz.”

Before anyone else could comment, a dinging noise sounded at one of the booths. Turning to look at the cause of the commotion, they saw that Stress and Impulse had won a game together. Giving each other fist bumps, they watched as a screen popped up, giving them prize options to choose from. After receiving their prizes, they hurried over to Tommy with smiles painted on their faces.

“You bet we’re gonna win one of each plush here.”

A high pitched laughter erupted from Tommy, who was starting to enjoy his decision to hand make all the prizes in his park. Wiping away a tear of joy, the teen I’m eighteen, I’m a fucking man! You’re a child, Tommy beamed at his friends, who smiled warmly in return. Tommy’s joy seemed to increase as more booth alarms were set off, many more prizes coming off the shelves. By the time everyone was ready for the next land, they all had at least two plush toys each.

———

“This is delicious! You baked these?!”

The group was currently sitting in the seating area in the Dream SMP section of the park, more specifically, L’manburg. They had gotten pastries from the duplicate bakery that belonged to Niki. According to Tommy, it was an exact replica to the real thing. The pastries sold there were the same ones Niki sold back at L’manburg. Tommy had used the recipes and techniques that Niki had demistrated to both him and Tubbo to create the dishes.

“If you think these are good, you should taste Niki’s. I swear, her pastries were sent down from Heaven by Jesus himself. They taste fucking amazing, godly.”

Grian smiled as he nudged Tommy’s shoulder with his own. Popping another sweet cake in his mouth, Tommy quirked an eyebrow as he faced the older boy.

“You should teach me some of your hobbies, Starchild. We can do a hobby exchange.”

Tommy visibly brightened up as he wiped some frosting from around his mouth. Smiling, he nodded his head happily.

“Hell yeah! That sounds fuckin’ amazing!”

The group ate with content as they looked around their area. They had already seen the rest of the Dream server lands. 

“It’s amazing that you’ve made all of this by yourself. You haven’t even showed us the rest of the park yet! Good job, for a child.”

“Hey! I’m not a fucking child! I’m turning 19 soon!”

“Oh yeah, I forgot you were an Aries.”

“What’s wrong with being an Aries?”

“Nothing is wrong with being an Aries, Tango.”

“Oh shut it, you Librarian.”

“Librarian?”

“Yeah, the worst sign.”

“First of all, kid, I’m a Gemini.”

------

The rides and games in the DSMP were very diverse and unique. Tommy had really put a lot of effort and time into every attraction, no matter how small. From things as small as a scavenger hunt through the Badlands, water themed adventures in El Rapids, to fast paced coasters in L’manburg.

“Scoot over, bandit child, I’m sharing this ride vehicle with you.”

“What the fuck, man?”

“Oh, don’t act surprised. I know you made it to where two people share a seat just so you can spend quality time with your brother.”

“Oh, fuck off, I didn’t even know you were my brother until an hour and a half ago.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

The first ride the group decided to board was dubbed A Home. Entering a little shack, everyone boarded their ride vehicles and waited for the ride to begin. While they waited for the vehicles to move, Tommy explained how he managed to use the latest mods that were added to the server to his advantage. He managed to fit different tracks to different rides in the same builds, as well as add animatronics. Just as he was about to receive yet another wave of praise, the ride began.

“It’s like looking at a younger version of you!”

“That’s kinda the point, genius.”

Grian’s statement, as obvious as it was, was true. As the vehicles left the shack and entered the caravan, and animatronic Tommy, merely 16 years of age, welcomed the riders as they witnessed the beginning of a new home, L’manburg. They kept comments to themselves when they saw, yet again, the replica of Tommy’s old base. The ride track took them through different areas of the DSMP, following the young Tommy as he searched for a home.

“-the citizenship of Wilbur Soot and Tommyinnit!!!”

“What?!”

“What does he mean revoked?!”

Before Tommy could reply, the vehicles lurched backwards, keeping the vehicles facing the stage at all times as the animatronics turned to take aim at the riders. It wasn’t until the red stone to the dirt entrance revealed the entry way to Pogtopia that the vehicles did a 180, moving forward into the entry way before going down the spiral steps into the ravine. Laughter filled the air as the group saw animatronics of Tommy, Wilbur and Techno conversing together, joking around and teasing each other. Suddenly, the ride vehicles fell down to the next part of the track, the prime path. As they raced through the tunnel, they witnessed an animatronic Tommy and Tubbo embracing and conversing, their cheerful voices free from worry. The group could only sit in awe as the scenes continued to change.

“-goodbye, Tommy.”

“What does he mean goodbye?!”

“Oh my fucking god, shut up!”

The vehicles suddenly raced through the Nether, coming out to an island far from DSMP. The sign at the entrance of the area welcomed the group to Logstedshire. There, they could see an unhappy Tommy staring out towards the ocean, listening to Chirp as he mumbled nonsense to Clara. And just as quickly as they came, they raced out of the sunny area and into the snow. They raced around the inside of Techno’s cottage before racing outside, towards an empty area. There, an animatronic Tommy yelled out in shock as an animatronic Technoblade pressed a button, turning around as a secret lair was revealed.

“Welcome home, Theseus!”

For the final time, the scene changed. They entered, backwards, into a portal, coming out to face a replica of the spawn to Hermitcraft. There, in wonderous glory, stood an animatronic Xisuma, welcoming the group to Hermitcraft. Then, the track dropped, leaving the riders back at the entrance to the ride.

“Holy shit.”

“Haha! Holy shit is right!”

———

The group quickly learned that Tommy spared no expense in all his attractions. As they explored the different lands, they really saw the individuality of every land. L’manburg had fun rides, including Nation’s Legacy, Blood’s Ballad, Wither’s Wrath, and Creator’s Cabin. Nation’s Legacy is an underground ride that worked like a turntable to tell the history of L’manburg, ending on a grim and looming hint to the possible destruction of the nation. When asked about the fate of L’manburg, Tommy admitted that he appeared in Hermitcraft before he could witness the possible doomsday, so he wasn’t entirely sure what had occured afterwards.

Blood’s Ballad is an interactive ride that used a special red stone technique. The ride vehicles could seat up eight passengers at a time, each using special gloves that allow them to interact with the special ride elements. The goal is to get the most points out of everyone in the ride vehicle. The ride took the group on a journey with Technoblade, the Blood God. The group racked up points training alongside him, as well as fighting all sorts of mobs. By the end of the ride, Tommy was sulking as Stress managed to gather the most points. Stress was enjoying the victory, smiling happily as “SUBSCRIBE TO TECHNOBLADE” boomed through the speakers. 

Wither’s Wrath was more of a small scale ride to enjoy. There were only three ride vehicles, each shaped like a wither and able to hold three riders. Each rider sat in a wither skull. Grian smiled as he pulled Mumbo and Tommy into a a wither vehicle with him. As they strapped in, they were transported to a virtual world where the rules of the game were shared. The goal was to cause the most destruction in the virtual world than the other vehicles. Each player controlled their own skull, making it easier to gather points. At least, that was the case for-

“Fuck yeah! Team Kickass all the way! Check it Grian, Mumbo, we’re badass!”

Creator’s Cabin was simple enough. It was just a large cabin that held enchanted portraits of everyone who resided in the DSMP. The portraits could move within their frames. They could also interact with each other. When the group walked in, the portraits were chatting away with each other. Sam’s portrait seemed to be listening in on the conversation that the portraits of Tubbo, Tommy and Purpled were having, occasionally joining in when he saw fit. Fundy was chatting away with Eret and Niki, a bright smile on his face. Ranboo was timidly peeking over at the group with Tommy and Tubbo, obviously wanting to join in. The portraits of Quackity, Sapnap and Karl were deep in conversation, while the portrait of George was asleep sitting up.

“Hey, Tommy?”

“Yeah?”

“Why are there two portraits of Wilbur?”

“Oh, right. Grian, about Wilbur-”

“AHOY THERE! WHY DON’CHA BOARD ME SHIP AND CONQUER THE WATERS WITH ME?”

The group, aside from Tommy, jumped at the booming voice. Without hesitation, they all ran out to the water, searching for the source of the voice. There, out on the water, stood a lone animatronic. It was the animatronic of a petite woman, one with red curls dancing around as she swayed and spoke. Once more, her confident, melodic voice filled the air. 

“JOIN ME ON MY QUEST TO RIDE THE WONDROUS WAVES OF THE SEAS”

With that, she raised her right arm, hoisting a sword into the air. On cue, she began to rise as a ship emerged from the sea below her. Once it was no longer submerged, the ship rocked a few times before settling. A banner unraveled and blew in the breeze, the name of the area now visible for all to see. 

Sally de Mon’s Sea Voyage

“You like it? Creating the entrance for this ride was a fucking bastard. Kept me up all night and crap. Almost gave up completely on it.”

“It’s amazing! I was not expecting to see something like that!

“Hey, Tommy? Who’s Sally. I don’t think it was ever explained how you know her?”

“Really? I gotta fix that, then. Sally is my sister-in-law who-”

“I HAVE A SISTER-IN-LAW?!”

“Oh, shit...surprise?”

------

The Badlands was a fun, interactive section of the DSMP area. The various puzzles and mazes made it fun for all the participants. The muffin stand was also a fan favorite to the hermits. 

El Rapids was a water-filled adventure. Because he wanted to play around with the word rapids, Tommy made several water-based rides and activities, his favorite being the log ride. They just seemed to be the perfect addition to the area, adding a way to cool down to balance all the water-free rides. It seemed as if Tommy had thought of every type of ride for every type of biome and scenario.

SMP Earth was another large section of the park. It also held the only other largest ride in the entire park, one that led the riders throughout the Antarctic Empire, as well as its surrounding cities and towns. The area for the empire was beautiful decorated in colors of all kind. Flowers and banners decorated the buildings and streets, brightening up the area. Classic activities, such as the sparing rings and archery, as well as the axe throws and parkour courses were set up. It all felt familiar to Grian, who couldn’t help but smile at his brother. Grabbing one of the fliers, he inspected it before shooting his brother a look of uncertainty.

“You didn’t”

“On the contrary, brother dearest, I did!”

“Did what? What did he do?”

Grian laughed as he showed the group what the flier said. It was decorated in beautiful, hand-drawn flowers. Golden lettering perfectly spelt out the message.

Floral Festival of Spring

Join us in the weeklong celebration of Spring! Enjoy the festivities with friends and family as you explore the traditions held within our grounds. Finally, enjoy the wondrous Floral Gala held on the final night of festivities. Dawn your greatest fabrics as you dance the night away, before enjoy a magnificent firework display.

Signed by his royal highness,

Prince Thomas Theseus Minecraft

“He used his full name and everything!”

“Your middle name is Theseus?”

“Your actual last name is Minecraft?”

“Did you actually write this? It’s worded and written so…formally.”

Huffing a bit, Tommy crossed his arms. Fixing his posture, he stood up, tall and proud, as he puffed out his chest. It took everyone every fiber in their bodies to not laugh at the sight of him.

“I can be very formal, thank you very much. I’m not a fucking idiot, I remember the formality lessons the teachers put me through. And I take the offense to that writing comment! Do you know how many attempts it took for me to be able to recreate the stupid fancy font used back at the empire? And another thing-”

Grian playfully hopped on Tommy’s shoulder, startling the younger brother to his usual stance. Ruffling his hair, he assured his brother with a laugh.

“Calm down, Toms. You know that we’re messing with you. You did amazingly. How many more flyers do you have? We’ll set them up in the Hub to be distributed across the main server. It’s been a while since I’ve attended a royal ball, so let’s make it grand!”

Laughing, Tommy had no choice but to agree with Grian. His smile faltered, however, once realization sunk in. The next activity for the group was the campfire. The secrets of his time at the Dream SMP that he kept for over 2 years would finally be revealed.

‘Better late than never to prepare the waterworks’, thought a very nervous Tommy.

[itskatastrophe-x]

Far Off Places (CH 2)

Chapter 1 , Chapter 2 , Chapter 3

Word Count : 3,022

^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^

It took a few hours to wake up, but when you did, you sat up in a cold sweat, sharp pains shooting through your ribs, legs, and back. Almost three days of walking and running had taken a huge toll on your body. You scrunched your face in pain and shot a hand to your chest, noticing bandages around your arm and hand. That’s when you were very aware of your surroundings and two other figures in your peripheral. You looked at them in shock, their faces mirroring your same expression. You remembered the one with the wings just as you fell to the ground, but this second person you hadn’t seen. How many people were here, you wondered.

You tried to speak but your throat was raw and all that came out were raspy whispers and coughs. The one with wings looked at the taller one and motioned to a doorway. The taller one nodded and walked away swiftly, coming back seconds later with a bottle of water and another one full of a sparkling pink liquid. He handed you both of them and advised to drink the pink one first and wash it down with the water, explaining it was a health potion. You obliged and gulped it as fast as you could, almost gagging from the taste, and quickly chugged and swished the water after, feeling the effects almost instantly. You thanked them both and handed the bottles back to the boy and he took them back through the doorway, leaving you and the winged man alone. You fiddled with the bandages on your arms for a moment and cleared your throat a couple times before finally speaking.

“Where am I? Who are you? Thank you for the help.” The man lightly chuckled and took off his hat, his hair falling to frame his face. “My name is Philza, but you can call me Phil. The other one is Ranboo, he’s our friend that lives over by the mountain.” His voice had a very thick accent, unlike the boy, Ranboo. You nodded and he continued. “You’re outside of the Dream SMP. I live with Ranboo here with Technoblade. He goes by Techno. He’s currently asleep and we’re not sure when he’ll wake up. You’ve seen our dogs,” he chuckles out, drawing a smile onto your face. You scratch the back of your neck and heat makes its way to your face. “I’m sorry if I woke you. Your dogs made quite the ruckus.” He smiles fondly at you and waves you off. “Oh, don’t worry about it. We’re normally up around that time anyway. Days have been pretty restless lately, what with all the wars and such going on.”

He notices the worry on your face and goes on. “We tend to stay out of things. We’ve been involved too many times and we all like to keep things peaceful. These cabins are essentially a safe place. No one really knows where we live and we’d like to keep it that way. You aren’t here as a spy are you?” You shake your head and look down at your hands, bruises and cuts litter your body, but are slowly fading thanks to the potion from earlier. “No, I uh…” You clear your throat and steel yourself to speak more. “I… I travelled for three days to get here. My homeland was destroyed and I have nowhere to go.”

You look up at the man, the younger boy now standing next to him, staring at you in wonder and concern, the same concern seen in Phil’s eyes. “I’m still not sure how much I can trust anyone so I won’t say much more, but I lost my home and everyone I know. I’ve come a long way and I need somewhere safe. The person that murdered and burned my home could still be out there, and I need help. I know we’re strangers but I hope to trust you two more. You seem like nice people and, if you’re willing, I’d like to find some help some day to go back and figure out what happened.”

They both stare at you for a while until Phil smiles politely and nods. “Of course! Do you have a name you’d like us to call you?” You think for a minute, not being able to come up with a name to go by so as to keep your real name hidden. Ranboo speaks up a minute later. “We could call you Faer, if that’s ok. As a name it means Traveler.” You smile brightly at the small  name and nod. “I guess that fits, seeing as I am technically a traveler now. I didn’t do much of that back home, so sure, let’s go with that.” They both nod in unison. “Faer,” you say to yourself. A fitting name, short and sweet and it rolled off the tongue nicely. Maybe one day when you knew you could trust them you’d tell them your real name, but for now that nickname would do.

They gave you some supplies, a bed, and some armor and better clothes after you got some rest and pointed you to a good spot to set up your own little home. They also gave you a map of the surrounding areas and gave you a rundown of some of the people that lived in the main cities, but there were so many that you forgot half of them. Ranboo followed you out to pick a spot to settle down, idly chatting about how life was in the area, who to stay away from, where all the farms were, and just general stuff to pass the time. Eventually you ran out of wood so you both ventured into the woods to chop some more.

After a couple hours, your small abode was looking good. It wasn’t anything fancy or as big as Techno or Phil’s houses, but it did the job. All you had to do yet was finish putting walls up inside, decorating, and making it pretty outside. You added some fences to give yourself a front yard, placed torches to liven up the place, and also made a small deck out front facing the aforementioned houses. It took a couple more hours of work to get the inside done, but everything was done around sunset and you were ready to pass out. Phil came over close to the end and said Techno was awake and they would be over soon to welcome you in. You were grateful to have such a warm welcome, but you were still on edge. How well could you trust these people? Sure, they gave you plenty of things and were friendly, but it felt like they were hiding something or were keeping information away from you. The way they would shirk off certain questions or avoid subjects completely was weird. You assumed it was because they didn’t trust you either, so you shrugged it off. You were a stranger to them. A person that ended up passing out on their land, giving them no info on who you were or where you came from. You were lucky you ended up here, though. Hearing some of the stories Ranboo told you made you glad this was the closest on your journey.

Ranboo returned, after leaving to clean himself up, with some flowers, a diamond sword, and a couple emeralds to get you started. After chatting with him for a couple minutes you heard a knock on your front door, signaling the return of Phil. You hopped off of your seat and opened the door to greet him. He had a couple dishes of various kinds of foods piled into his arms, so you gladly took some from him. What you were not prepared for was Techno. You didn’t know what to expect, as Phil had given no description, but the tall half pig, half human standing behind the winged man with a disgruntled look on his face, flowing red cape, and glinting golden crown was absolutely something you weren’t expecting. I mean, you weren’t one to judge, you just had no clue what to expect. Phil walked past you and asked Ranboo for help setting everything up, leaving you with the large man. He gave you a huff and walked past you, cape gently hitting you in the shins as the wind from him walking pushed it out behind him. You stood there, slightly in shock with the door open, as he made himself at home in your new living room. You closed the door and turned around to see him with his head hanging off the back of the couch, eyes closed and arms crossed. He did just wake up, maybe he’s still tired.

The night was going well in your eyes. You and Ranboo were getting along well and you could see why he was saying Phil was very much like a powerful father figure. Techno joined in on some conversations occasionally when he thought he had something to say. You asked him some simple questions but he refused to answer anything. You chalked it up to him not trusting you at all so you let it slide and shrugged it off. Phil had nudged him or elbowed him a few times if he thought he was getting out of line, but you waved it off saying you weren’t bothered. Honestly you weren’t bothered. You had heard worse in your courts back at home, so little phased you at this point. Thinking about your home had apparently made you zone out, because you were brought back to real life when you heard your new name being called. Ranboo had shook your shoulder lightly, concern etched onto his and Phil’s faces, amusement and curiosity finally glinting in Techno’s eyes. You laughed lightly and put a hand to your face, feeling wetness on your cheeks. When had you started crying?

“Faer, are you ok? What’s wrong?” Ranboo’s hand retracted and he stared at you with intense focus, very clearly concerned. You looked down at your empty plate, long forgotten from the hours before during your conversations. You contemplated telling them the truth, second guessed yourself, then shook your head and covered your face with both hands, letting out a short sigh. You knew you would have to tell them eventually, and you supposed now was as good a time as any. You started off at your lineage, being born into a royal family, being sheltered since you were young, your training and lessons. Everything shortened into smaller stories to keep things simplified. Everything leading up to your parents inevitable deaths and you becoming the ruler of a whole kingdom.

Techno had perked at the words “royal family”, finally becoming invested in something and listening closely, asking questions every once in a while. Ranboo and Phil sat in shock as Techno had basically taken over the conversation, you pouring out details as he asked. You weren’t sure why exactly you were letting him get so much out of you, but all of them seemed to relax the more you talked about your past, until finally you reached the downfall of your oversized city. Ranboo had gotten more invested in this, and seemed to want to figure out how it happened as well. He said he was a fan of theories and small details that seemed to be hidden, so he agreed to helping you find the arsonist.

They asked for coordinates so you got up, grabbed all the plates to take them to the kitchen, found your journal, and brought it back to where everyone was sitting. Ranboo’s eyes lit up as he watched you flip through the pages and you caught onto his gaze and smiled. He opened his own bag and brought out a journal silently, smiling the whole time, mentioning how he kept his own journals. You made a mental note to try to ask about them at another point as he put his away. You finally flipped to the page holding info about your kingdom and pulled out a map from between the pages as well, flipping them to face Techno and Phil. They looked over everything and you watched intently as they pointed and flipped, exchanging words every few seconds.

“We can just make a portal,” Techno finally grunts out. “Most of our locations we stay in have portals to each and highways connecting to the main portal by the community house. The only thing we would worry about is having you out and about. Some of the people here… Aren’t so trustworthy.” You think back to your conversation with Ranboo and nod. “Yeah, Ranboo said something about an Egg? What’s that all about?” They all go quiet and you feel like you’ve asked the wrong question. “I’m assuming it’s nothing good, so I won’t press anymore, but if it’s unavoidable then you’ll have to tell me eventually.” Phil speaks up from his side of the table. “Well, all we should tell you now is to not touch the vines, and if you hear anything to let us know right away. Don’t trust any bad thoughts.” You were taken back by that but hesitantly croaked out an ‘ok’ and left it there.

You all spent the last hour together coming up with a plan to get you to your kingdom, what you could look for, and who else you might be able to trust. The date was decided to be set for a week from the present day and you would find two more people, Karl and Sapnap. Ranboo said you would get along well with them and they were people they knew could help that had a lot of knowledge. Karl was a master at problem solving and a time traveler (though he still didn’t know exactly how to control it and only used it when he had to), and Sapnap was born in fire so he knew it well, meaning he might be able to know something from the wreckage. After everything was said and done, you were waving goodbye as they all crossed the snow covered field to their separate homes.

You shut the door and sighed, leaning your back against the solid wood plank, your head also falling back to rest on it, eyes closing as you listened to your breathing and heartbeat. The gentle crackling from the fireplace and torches calmed your nerves more as you pushed off the door and made your way to the kitchen to extinguish some of the lights. After cleaning up and tidying everything, you looked over the living room once more and smiled to yourself, finding your way up the stairs and into your bathroom to wash off and get ready to sleep.

All this alone time gave you time to think about the plans, and the more you thought, the more you doubted this person named Sapnap. You were told he had some kind of fire ability, and seeing as most of your kingdom was set on fire, you didn’t think he was very trustworthy. No matter how far away this place was, he was still suspicious to you. I mean, what were you supposed to think when you got to a random location and on the first day upon arrival you were told that there was someone here with a fire ability? Were you just supposed to trust this stranger immediately, just like that? You didn’t like that thought at all, but you trusted Ranboo and Phil enough already that you figured you should give this Sapnap guy a chance.

And with those last few thoughts, you finished settling in to sleep, finally in a proper bed after three long days. The thick blanket and the flickering light of the last embers in the hearth helped you to drift off to sleep. You made a mental note to write in your journal when you wake up, since you were exhausted and could barely keep your eyes open.

Hot. Burning. Loud crashing. Your eyes snapped open and you were finally aware of your surroundings. Your kingdom around you, burning to the ground, craters dotted the ground. You were surrounded by fire. You screamed out in pain and searched for a safe way out. Why was this happening? No. You knew the answer, you just had to remember. Right? Right! Dreams. You could solve things using your dreams, being thrown back into the middle of situations to see what went wrong. To look over missed details. The only downside was the fact that all your senses still worked. It was like time travelling but without all the paradoxical consequences. Essentially just to play detective.

You ran through the blaze, trying to find a safe path while also looking for clues. There was nothing but destruction, burnt remains, and the smell of burning wood. You finally made it to a clearing where the plaza in front of the castle was, and there in the distance between all the red flames and black smoke, there was a flash of color. It was fast, so you almost missed it, but it was there. Who was that? With that thought alone, you were sprinting in the same direction, not caring about the flames that would kiss your skin or the ember covered logs that would catch your legs. You needed this lead, no matter what kind of pain you went through.

You spent what felt like hours running around. Your legs felt like they were being torn apart, your skin was burning and blistered in a lot of spots, and it was getting too hard to breathe. There was no sign of the green that you saw earlier, so you gave into your body and fell to the brick walkway under you, the rough texture stinging your skin. You closed your eyes, breathing heavily, hoping you would wake up soon. Then you heard it. The sound of feet on the pavement ahead of where you laid. Your body hurt as you lifted your head, vision going fuzzy and dark as the person neared. Green.

[darkeninganon]

Jesus on a candlestick in a desert I’ve had this chapter sitting in my folder for weeks because I keep FORGETTING TO POST IT LIKE A FOOL.

Anyways, more Gream (Ghost Dream). This chapter is pretty tame, but Trigger Warnings for: Talk of amputation, Talk of death, implied/mentioned (fatal) vore, and implied/mentioned digestion. Read at your own risk.

Sam huffed, pacing around the entrance to Pandora, smoke and a quiet hissing floating from his mask. This wasn't enough. Sam looked around, gritting his teeth. With a deep breath he concentrated, lower body shifting into a four-legged form. Sam sighed in relief, trotting around the entrance area. Very few people knew he could do this, mainly just Ponk and Dream. Dream hated the form, mocking Sam as he "pranced" around the prison. Ponk had liked the soft, fluffy, green fur that covered his legs, plus it came in handy when Ponk was tired of walking.

Quackity was late. Of course. Sam really should have realized this would happen. The visits had stopped abruptly; then he saw "Gream"; and he had yet to see Quackity, having to leave several notes and messages before even hearing a response. Sam grumbled, digging a leg into the dirt right outside the entrance as his frustration grew. And the response? "Meet me at the entrance". That was it. That was all Quackity had to say after multiple messages of "We need to talk", "There is a problem", and "Hurry up and talk to me". Sam was just about at his wit's end.

"Sam?"

The warden stopped, freezing on the spot at the familiar voice... The smoke faded from his mask, and the hissing quieted to a dull buzz. "Hi Ponk." Sam didn't turn. He couldn't. Ever since Ponk had stolen the key cards and tried to break in, and Sam had punished him-

Sam's mind froze at that.

He... He loved Ponk, didn't he? Yeah, he did. Yet he had stolen one of Ponk's lives... and... Finally, Sam turned to look at Ponk, eyes locking on the empty spot where an arm was supposed to be. Tommy, Tubbo, and even Ranboo were protective of Gream, and it finally clicked why. Sam approached Ponk, the masked man backing away, glancing away as the creeper-hybrid came closer.

"S-Sammy? You okay? I know you... have been having a rough time, but I-"

"What do you want your arm to look like?"

The silence was deafening. "What?"

Sam pointed to where Ponk's arm should have been. "Your arm. I know you wanted to... wanted me to give you your arm back, and that I can't but... maybe I can make you an arm?" Sam muttered, picking at the edge of his mask. It was a bad habit he had when nervous.

Ponk chuckled, stuttering out a nervous reply "Well... I mean, I'd want it to be really cool. Like, really, really cool. Nothing creeper-related though, alright?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah, of course. How about..." Sam took a deep breath, trying to not let his anger show; "How about something emerald related?"

"Yeah! I'm sure Foolish would love that!" Ponk said in pure excitement.

Sam cringed, unseen behind the gas mask. "I'm sure he would." By Prime, it sounded so forced, even to him.

"Alright! Bye Sam~!" Ponk ran off, snickering to himself and talking to the sentient lemons he apparently saw.

Sam thought that was... interesting. Everyone talked about a thing called "chat", but to each person it manifested in a different way. For Sam it was little creepers, Ponk had lemons, Foolish had these things called "Dozers"; and then there were those whose chats had no physical form; Like Dream, Techno, Tommy, and Quackity. For Quackity, his chat seemed to just be things or voices he heard calling to him from... somewhere below ground. Tommy said his chat spoke to him through other people, their cries falling from another's mouth when that person was talking to Tommy. Techno apparently had voices in his head that were his chat. And Dream... What did dream say his chat was?

Sam tapped a foot, unable to remember. Something about the sky, night, and the stars. Oh, right... Dream's chat spoke to him like the stars would, flickering in and out and silent when unable to see him. Some poetic shit like that. Sam really wasn’t paying attention to it.

“Sam! What do you want now?”

The warden jerked to attention, head snapping to face Quackity as the other man called to him. “Right, so… did you know Dream died?”

Quackity smiled, unable to hide his joy. “Yeah, I… May have been a little too harsh on him during my last visit. Accidents happen, you know?” He laughed, trying to sound embarrassed and nervous.

“Well, he came back.”

Quackity paused, looking at Sam. “What? What do you mean…”

“Dream came back… as a ghost. Calls himself “Gream” now. He’s hanging out in Snowchester.”

Quackity stared at Sam, mind contorting with thoughts and scenarios that could lead to Dream living with Tubbo. It didn’t make sense, clearly the former prisoner had threatened Tubbo into letting him stay. “Are you fucking serious?” Quackity hissed, asking himself more than Sam.

“Yeah. And he apparently has some powers-”

“Idiot ruins my stomach and has the gall to come back, fucking bullshit.”

Sam perked up. “What did you just say?”

“Nothing, talking to myself, anyways, he has powers?” Quackity asked, speaking louder, unaware Sam had heard his muttering.

“He… He emits a slimy… acid almost. Like… it’s pretty dang strong. It eats through wood, metal, and… I don’t even know what else! He also… might be able to turn invisible. Don’t quote me on that. Either way,he’s protected by Tubbo, Tommy, and Ranboo-”

“Ranboo? Fucking Ranboo is protecting him?!”

“Yeah? Quackity what happened-”

Quackity turned to leave, baring his teeth in rage as he stormed back towards Las Nevadas. “I should have tested on that stupid Ender-freak. First he turns out to be a traitor, then he doesn’t fight, then he marries Tubbo and has a kid! That’s- UGH! He has got to go, he’s caused enough harm.” Quackity stopped, staring at the Las Nevadas sign. He still remembered that night.

After he had eaten Dream, the prisoner was still for a while, at least until Quackity left the prison. Then he started screaming and punching and kicking. But that wasn’t the worst part. The worst part was after the death message had shown up. Quackity’s stomach had practically roared in disapproval, and he nearly got sick. He did get a little sick. Turns out clothes aren’t digestible and tiny clothes are hell on the human gut.

Quackity shook his head. He didn’t need to dwell on the past. All that mattered was what he was going to do now. He needed to get “Gream” away from Tubbo, and possibly take care of Ranboo. The leader of Las Nevadas stormed to the needle, stepping into the “secret” room, and sticking a lever into the wall, opening the actual secret room.

“Hello, Quackity from Las Nevadas!”

“Hi Charlie. Do you know where the shrinking potions are?” He asked, walking past the slime man. “We need them again. Something came up.”

“Oh yes! They are inside me, along with my bones! I did that to keep them safe!” Quackity spun around in time to see the slime man open his chest, two femur bones sticking out with glass bottles of potions between the bones. “See? This is something all humans can do. They are stored in my stomach. For safety. Like you did with Dream!” Charlie took the potions out, handing them to Quackity. “It is a shame he is bad at staying alive!”

Quackity stared at the potions, nodding absently as he thought about it. Charlie didn’t need to know the true purpose of the visits or why Quackity wanted to make a shrinking potion. “Yeah, really sucks. But hey…” Quackity looked up at Charlie, smiling, “What happened in the past is in the past. We can’t change it now. Either way, be on guard, we might have some… really bad people trying to come into Las Nevadas soon.”

"I understand! I'll make sure that they learn that the house always wins!" Charlie saluted, practically bouncing in place. He was bouncing in place. Quackity found it adorable and nodded.

"Thanks, good to know I can always count on you buddy." Quackity left the room, leaving Las Nevadas. He had to find this... ghost Dream.

[writing-wrxngs]

Overnight Babysitting

(Heyo! Been a minute! I’m juggling like a shit ton of one shots along with the long form fic I’m desperately trying not to abandon so that’s why I disappear sometimes. Also being back with my parents is Not Fun so my vibes have been completely off for weeks. I do have something for you though! It’s fuckin massive too, it took forever lmao)

Phil turned to Techno and Wilbur one last time as he put on his coat to go. “And you’re sure you’ve got this?”

Techno nodded. “We’re sure.”

“Positive? I’m going to be gone all night.”

“We’ve got this!” Wilbur said, full of self assurance. “It’s not going to be much different than any of the other times we’ve watched Tommy.”

“Well yeah,” Phil agreed, “but it’s still a long time. I didn’t expect you boys to be alone this long ‘til you were older. This was unexpected.”

Wilbur scoffed. “We’re plenty old! Me and Techno are teenagers now!”

“Right, right. No matter what, I have to go so I suppose I have to trust you two,” said Phil. “You know everything you need to do?”

“Yeah,” said Techno. “We’ve got leftovers for dinner, keep Tommy entertained for a bit, make sure he gets ready for bed, put him to bed and get ourselves to bed.”

“And what does getting Tommy ready for bed entail?”

“Run him a bath, for one,” cut in Wilbur before Techno could answer. “Get him some clean pajamas and make sure he brushes his hair and teeth, then it’s bedtime.”

They actually remembered. Phil had been drilling that into both of the boys all day as soon as he found out he would have to leave, but he was worried they weren’t actually listening. It was quite reassuring really. By all means, leaving two thirteen year olds in charge of a child overnight was unwise, but it was necessary. Techno and Wilbur were capable boys. And clearly, knew what they had to do. Phil smiled proudly. “Alright, I actually think you two can do it now. I have to be going now,” he said. He called Tommy over and picked the boy up to give him a hug goodbye. “You be good for your brothers while I’m gone,” he said.

“I will!” said Tommy.

Both Techno and Wilbur knew that was a lie. They had been alone with Tommy before. As soon as Phil was out the door, Tommy would find some way to cause a problem for them. It was just in his nature. Neither of them could say anything about it, though. Instead, they shared the same doubtful silence and a glance of disbelief.

Phil set Tommy down, and opened the front door. “I should be back by morning, try your best not to destroy anything! Take care, boys!” He said as he left.

“We will!” Techno and Wilbur said in unison. Techno closed the door, giving one last wave to his father as he walked away into the evening light.

Wilbur leaned down to Tommy. “I know in a minute you’re going to become a thorn in our sides but can you do one good thing first? Run ahead and get the table ready for dinner. It won’t take me and Techno long to make dinner ‘cause we just have to heat it up on the stove.”

Tommy scrunched up his nose. “I guess,” he said, running off to the kitchen.

Watching Tommy run and disappear, Wilbur crossed his arms and looked at Techno with concern. “What do you suppose Dad meant by should?”

“Well, should typically means that it might not happen but he’s clearly fairly certain it will.”

Wilbur glanced to the direction of the kitchen. “And if it doesn’t?”

Exhaling, Techno paused in thought. “We deal. Act like everything is fine. Take Tommy to school, go to school ourselves, and go from there. If he’s not back by the time school lets out, then we worry.”

Shifting uncomfortably, Wilbur nodded in agreement.

“That’s not going to happen, though. He’s never not come back when he said he would. There’s nothing to worry about. What happened to the bravado you were showing off earlier?”

“Just a front, you know how I am. I don’t want Dad to worry about us. He’s clearly on some serious business. You’re right anyways. Like I told him, we can handle this, and I’m gonna prove that right now,” said Wilbur, shaking off the worry he had before. “Let’s get dinner now before the kid realizes something’s up”

The two joined Tommy in the kitchen, getting the soup that Phil and Techno had made from their garden vegetables last night and putting it on the stove.

“Look!” Tommy said, tugging on Wilbur’s sleeve.

Wilbur turned to the rest of the kitchen while Techno stirred the soup.

“I set the table just like you said! I even got matching bowls this time!” Tommy said proudly.

Smiling, Wilbur gently shooed Tommy away. “Good job, kid. Why don’t you sit down now, foods almost done.”

Tommy nodded and ran to his seat.

After that, the soup was done, and Wilbur sat down while Techno ladled out servings for the three of them. “Thanks,” he muttered to his brother.

Techno just nodded in response and sat down himself. “Careful Tommy, it might still be hot,” he cautioned.

“I know,” said Tommy. He blew on a spoonful of soup before eating it. After he swallowed he looked at both of his older brothers. “How come Dad had to leave all of a sudden?” He asked.

Both of them shook their heads. “He didn’t say,” said Techno.

Tommy shrugged in response. “Weird,” he said, turning his attention to dinner instead. He was only five, but he already understood his fathers idiosyncrasies. If Phil didn’t want anyone to know, nobody would be told, and that was the end of the story. It would work itself out, so why worry?

The brothers spent the rest of dinner just chatting and teasing each other, just spending time in each other's company without Phil there to reign them in. As much of a pain babysitting could be, it honestly was fun, just to have that freedom. Sure, Tommy’s usual little brother bothersome-ness increased without any real authority to stop him, but Techno and Wilbur could dish back out their older brother teasing more, too. Eventually, they all got done and piled up the dishes in the sink.

Wilbur stood at the sink. “Who’s on dishes tonight?”

“You, I think,” said Techno.

“Bullshit!” retorted Wilbur. “I did them last time!”

“No you didn’t!”

Wilbur stopped before he yelled back. “Wait, did you?”

“No, Dad said I helped out enough with dinner.”

“Then who did them last time? We’re the only ones who know how to wash dishes.”

“We’d know if Dad did because he complains when he does them,” said Techno.

“Did we-?” asked Wilbur, afraid to finish the sentence.

“Oh god,” Techno said, not needing the sentence to be finished. He checked the sink. “Well, the answer is nobody did the dishes and Dad’s been too busy with whatever’s got him occupied to notice.”

“Shit,” muttered Wilbur. “Split the work?” he suggested.

“Someone’s gotta watch Tommy.”

Wilbur shook his head. “No we don’t. He’s at that age where he thinks chores are cool because he can pretend to be grown up. We can rope him into this, easy. Watch,” he said, walking out to the living room, where Tommy was sitting. “Hey Tommy,” he said, putting on a grin. “Wanna help me and Techno with some big kid stuff?”

Grinning at the opportunity, Tommy nodded. “Yes!” he exclaimed, running out to the kitchen.

“Pull a chair up to the counter,” Wilbur said to Techno as he came in behind Tommy. “We’ve got a third set of hands.”

Techno did as he was told, and Tommy hopped up on the chair. “You know how to work this kid too well, Wilbur,” he joked.

“So what am I doing?” Tommy asked eagerly.

Tossing a dry dishcloth to Tommy, Wilbur said, “drying duty. I give you a dish, you dry it. Break one and we kill you.”

Tommy chuckled. “You can’t kill me ‘cause then Dad will kill you.”

“And it’ll be your fault we’re dead,” Techno said in response. “Let’s get to work now.”

The dishes eventually got done, with only one soap fight ensuing between them all somehow, and all the dishes clean. They were all dried too, and all unbroken, so no little brothers were murdered that night.

Checking the clock as he dried himself off, Techno turned to Wilbur in shock. “Wil. Tommy was supposed to be taking his bath like, five minutes ago.”

“What?” Wilbur said, also checking the clock. “Oh god,” he said.

Techno was already rushing to the bathroom. “I’ve got the bath handled. Get Tommy and get him clothes. If we hurry, we won’t be behind.”

Wilbur didn’t really have any choice but to agree. Techno had already set the plan in motion. The two of them had shooed Tommy off to the playroom while they finished cleaning up. He walked down, and found him there still, playing with some playset he had gotten for his birthday. Not even greeting him or saying anything really, Wilbur picked Tommy up, tucked him under his arm like a lumpy suitcase and went back out.

Obviously, Tommy struggled against his grip. “Wha- Wil!” he cried. “What’re you doing? Put me down!” he said, punching Wilbur’s ribs in defiance. “Wilbyyy!” he complained.

“You can’t baby-talk your way out of this, Tommy,” Wilbur said as he climbed the stairs. “We screwed up and now you missed you stupid bathtime.”

Tommy was finally released at the door to his bedroom. He scowled at his brother.

“Pick yourself out some pjs. Something you can dress yourself in, cause I’m not helping you and neither is Techno.”

“Fine,” Tommy said, running into his room. He returned with the clothes he needed.

Wilbur snatched them to make sure that they were a matching set, which they were, and that there wasn’t any reason Tommy would have trouble putting them on. No buttons, no long sleeves, all good. He gave them back to Tommy, and rushed him down the stairs to the bathroom.

By the time it took for Wilbur to get Tommy’s clothes and come back, Techno had filled the tub and already had the bubbles in. Him and Wilbur got Tommy in the bath and gave the boy his privacy after that, checking every so often just to make sure he hadn’t drowned.

Tommy came out of the bathroom, cleaner and in his pajamas. He still wore the same indignant expression he had from before. “Now it’s bedtime, right?” He asked, mustering up as much bite as a five year old could.

“Sure is,” said Techno.

“Wil, you didn’t have to pick me up like that,” Tommy said as he passed by the two and up the stairs.

Wilbur followed Tommy, as did Techno. “Well Tommy, the thing is, you have a penchant for being a brat and not doing as you're told,” explained Wilbur. “Sometimes it’s faster to just use force rather than try and talk you into something or fight with you.”

Turning back to Wilbur, Tommy said, “wait, what's a penchant?”

“It means you like something. Like how you like to change the subject when you’re being told off.”

Tommy just ignored that. He went down the hall to his room and waited for his brothers to come.

Techno and Wilbur just stood at the top of the stairs looking at him.

“Who’s gonna put me to bed?”

Both twins crossed their arms and looked at each other. Of course Tommy would pull something like this. “I handled the bath,” said Techno.

Wilbur sighed in annoyance. “You did. Fine. I’ll put him to bed,” he said, rolling his eyes as he followed his little brother into his room.

Tommy climbed into his little wooden bed and got underneath the sheets. He grabbed his favorite stuffed animal, a raccoon Wilbur had won at a fair and held it close. “Thanks Wilby,” he said.

Doing the obligatory tucking in, Wilbur couldn't help but let out a smirk. That kid knew how to press his buttons as much as Wilbur could press his. “No problem,” he said. “Aren’t you getting a little old for this though?”

Making a face in thought, Tommy nodded. “Yeah… but I wanted to tonight cause I’m kinda scared about going to bed without Dad. It’s lonely when it’s just us.”

“You don’t have to worry about a thing,” Wilbur said, ruffling Tommy’s hair. “He’s gonna be back before we even wake up, and me and Techno will be right in the next room ‘til then.”

Snuggling into his bed, Tommy smiled. “Okay!” He said. “Goodnight, Wil.”

“Night, Tommy,” Wilbur said as he turned out the light and left the room. He went to his and Techno’s room to get to bed himself. Or more likely, get in bed and stay up far too late for his own good.

Techno, who had already changed into pajamas and was in bed, looked up upon Wilburs arrival. Looking back down at the book he was reading, he greeted Wilbur but said no more.

Rifling through his dresser for a shirt to sleep in, Wilbur chuckled to himself. “Tommy’s something else, y’know? Poor kid just didn’t want to be alone at bedtime. It’s so weird,” he said, finding a shirt and changing into it. “You kinda just have to tell kids that it’ll be okay, but you don’t know that. It doesn’t feel like lying, though. It’s just… the right thing to do. You suppose Dad’s had to do something like that?”

Having closed the book due to Wilbur’s rambling, Techno nodded. “Well yeah, just think about it. I’m sure there’s dozens of things Dad’s covered up for us when we were little. We just don’t remember ‘cause we thought it was nothing.”

Wilbur got into his bed and hummed in agreement. “Oh, absolutely. I just think it’s odd how we don’t really think about it.”

“Well can you think about it quieter? I was reading before you came in.”

“There’s not much else to think about on that subject. I’m just gonna sleep anyways,” Wilbur said, taking his glasses off and putting them on his bedside table then rolling over to face the wall.

After some time, Techno too got tired, and set down his book before doing the exact same ritual. Glasses on the table, rolled over to face the wall. A mirror image.

The two fell asleep, despite Wilbur’s belief that he’d be up all night. Being around Tommy can be tiresome. They both slept peacefully in their room until a sound woke Wilbur up. Crying. Before he could get up himself, his sheets were ripped from him. Rolling back over, he fumbled for his glasses and put them on for a minute.

Tommy. He’d woken in the middle of the night, and was clearly upset. “Wilbyyy,” he cried, “I had- I had,” he hiccuped. “I had a bad dream and I can’t sleep.”

Annoyed, Wilbur pulled his blanket back up. “Tommy, you can if you try. Just get back in bed.”

The boy sniffled and pulled at Wilbur’s sheets in protest. “Nuh uh, I don’t wanna. I’ll be all by myself in there!” He said through tears.

Oh. Of course. The kid wasn’t scared of some dream he had or monsters under the bed. He was just lonely. Little brat melted Wilbur’s heart. “Lemme guess. You don’t wanna go to sleep alone?”

Tommy shook his head emphatically.

“Fine,” Wilbur said, already taking his glasses back off. He made some space on his bed. “Get in you little crybaby.”

His demeanor already changed, Tommy climbed in next to his big brother and snuggled in. “Thanks again,” he mumbled, already sleepy again.

“Yeah, yeah,” Wilbur said, also setting into bed. “Don't mention it.”

Finally, all three boys were to bed and asleep peacefully. Tommy wasn’t even a pain to share a bed with. Apparently, sleep was the only time that kid was completely still. Wilbur didn’t lose any sleep at all.

Like he had promised, Phil was back in the morning. It was still quite early, long before any of the boys would need to be up. He had stopped in the bathroom first, to get the first aid kit. His little trip had gotten him some bad injuries, but he could fix them up before any of his boys ever knew. And likely never would know. After that he went upstairs. It had been a sleepless night for him, and he was dying to see a bed.

Of course, he had to see if his kids were asleep first. Techno and Wil’s room was the first in the hall, and he popped his head in there first. Techno was asleep, his long hair splayed all around him and flowing onto his face. He looked over to Wilbur’s bed and couldn’t help but grin. Wilbur was asleep, a surprise of course, based on how sleepless the boy usually was, but there was another thing that took Phil by surprise. Tucked under Wilbur’s arm, fast asleep and smiling vacantly, was Tommy. For once in their lives, his sons weren’t fighting or getting up to something. Phil didn’t know what led to this moment, but wasn’t particularly worried with that. Whatever it was, it was just proof that his boys could handle themselves, and Phil was proud. Still smiling, he left the room and went to his own, collapsing onto his bed and finally sleeping himself.

[tack-tick]

Technoblade Sometimes Dies

@dreamsmp-au-ideas I wrote a thing based on for the SBI Swap AU. Everyone else check out this blog if you haven’t already. Loads of great ideas on there and the person who runs the blog gives good responses to ideas!

To those who don’t know, basic gist it Tommy swapped with Techno and Philza swapped with Wilbur. This is about the duel to determine L’Manberg’s independence, which doesn’t go well for Techno. If this does well, there’ll probably be a second part.

ao3 link here- https://archiveofourown.org/works/29849562

“Techno, for Twitch’s sake just set a respawn,” Philza said as he gave Techno a small shove towards the bed. Techno sighed as he sat on the bed.

“Really Phil,” he said “You think I’m gonna lose to Dream of all people, I kinda have a motto to keep up”

“Technoblade never dies, I know but,” Philza sighed as he rubbed a hand across his face “Dream is a very skilled fighter, you know that”

Techno shrugged as he got up from the bed and straightened his uniform. The two has cleaned it up as best as they could but the green and white had long since fades after many battles. Techno had already told him he was switching back to wearing his cloak after the war ended. He always said that if there was one thing L’Manberg needed, it was a bit more style.

“Besides, Tommy would never let me hear the end of it,” Techno said with a shudder. Philza chucked at the thought as he checked to make sure he had healing potions on him.

“You ready, mate?” He said as he nodded towards the door. Techno gave him a confident grin and the two walked out.

If Philza had known what was going to happen, then he would’ve just given up L’Manberg’s independence.

+

The five members of the L’Manberg squadron marched to the path, each one quiet.

Ranboo was whispering encouragement to Techno, but he seemed more like he was trying to reassure himself rather than the older man. Philza heard Techno say something about making sure he wrote down Techno winning the duel in his memory journal.

Philza could feel Bad giving him worried glances as he whispered with Skeppy about something. He glanced over at Bad to give him a reasssuring smile. Skeppy wasn’t telling any jokes for once. Instead, he kept his hand on his sword handle, ready to pull it out and fight if needed. The five slowed down as they reached the top of the hill, where Dream and his goons were waiting. Dream, George, and Sapnap.

“What’s Eret doing here?” Skeppy hissed. Philza glanced up in surprise. He figured the traitor would rather hide out in their castle than come out and watch. Philza shook his head. Now wasn’t the time to worry about that.

“You think I’m gonna win?” Techno said to him as the two left the group and walked to the center “Chat’s already giving me the L”

Philza rolled his eyes. “Tell Chat that Dadza says to shut it” He gave Techno a light pat on the back “It’s time to show Dream the power of The Blood God”

Techno chuckled and gave him a confident grin. “Yeah, blood for The Blood God,” he said. The two stopped in front of Dream. Dream stood with his arms crossed, like a man who had much better things to do.

“I trust you have the potion?” Dream said and Philza wordlessly handed it over. He gave Techno one last glance before he flew to the small hill overlooking the path. The water below was silent and still, like nature itself knew the importance of this duel.

“I will count down from one to ten,” he shouted to the two armies, “Once I get to ten, you both shoot”

Techno and Dream both gave silent nods and turned around. Both were holding their bows casually, like this was just a casual fight and wouldn’t end in someone with one less life.

“One!”

The two each took one pace.

“Two!”

Philza glanced over at their enemies. George and Sapnap looked as arrogant as ever, even though he saw the glint of a healing potion in George’s hands. Eret was glancing back and forth between the sky and the fight. He pulled his red cloak closer to himself. Philza wondered if the traitor felt any guilt, any shame. Well, too late now.

“Three!”

L’Manberg’s side was watching anxiously. Ranboo already had his memory book and quill pulled out and he tapped the quill against the book. Bad has the bandages out and he was crouched, ready to sprint to Techno with them if necessary. Skeppy glared at the SMP forces, especially at Eret. Philza saw Eret whilt a little under the glare. Even though Techno had told them over and over again that he would be fine, both sides knew one thing.

“Four!”

If anyone could beat Techno, it was Dream.

“Five!”

If anyone could beat Dream, it was Techno.

“Six!”

Philza winced as he saw Techno shudder at the sixth pace. He couldn’t see what Dream was doing, but he hoped the potion was affecting him as well. By now, they should both have reached half a heart.

“Seven!”

Philza should have know not to take Techno to the negotiations. He knew that if there was one thing Techno hated, it was losing. He’d already proved that during the potato war. Techno had insisted on coming in case Dream tried anything. Even if Philza could protect himself just fine, thank you very much.

“Eight!”

Techno was muttering something under his breath. Philza could just imagine what Chat was saying at this point. Probably a jumbled up mess of tips and discouragement and E. Philza actually wasn’t sure what would happen to Chat if Techno died. Whether they would be stuck in the void with him or temporarily released out in the world. He hoped they wouldn’t find out.

“Nine!”

Techno gave him one last look and Philza gave him what he hoped was an encouraging smile. Underneath the confident air, he saw just the slightest trace of fear in Techno’s eyes. Like he just now realized what he had gotten himself into. Then, the fear disappeared as Techno looked away and readied his bow. Philza raised his hand at the final pace.

“Ten paces, fire!”

The two warriors both spun around and arrows flew from their bows. Years of fighting and experience were clear in their shots. It was also clear in that they both dodged the shots with ease. Techno’s arrow landed behind Dream and Dream’s arrow was slowly sinking in the water. Techno quickly jumped into the water and started desperately digging in the mud for the arrow.

Techno let out a triumphant yell when he found tha arrow. Philza sighed in relief but then he heard a sharp gasp from Bad. Philza’s eyes widened in horror as he saw that Dream got his arrow first and was aiming it straight at Techno’s back.

Techno wouldn’t see it in time. Philza could only watch, frozen in horror, as Techno spun around to aim.

The cocky grin slipped off his face as the arrow hit his chest with a sickening thump.

“TECHNO!” Philza screamed as he flew towards the water. He heard yells, both of horror and triumph. He heard splashes as the others ran towards them. Philza tried not to look down at the now bloody water. Philza scrambled through the water and sat Techno up. He could already feel tears welling up at the sight of him.

The arrow was sticking out of his chest and Techno’s eyes already looked dead. His clothes had so much, too much blood on them. Techno was looking at the arrow in shock, like if he blinked it would disappear.

“Phil, I don’t think I can, I mean I don’t think he’s going to,” Bad trailed off as he held the bandages limply in his arms.

“There’s got to be something you can do!” Ranboo said as he looked back and forth between Techno and Bad, his eyes flickering from red and green to purple. Philza vaguely heard Skeppy yelling at Dream to stay away. Philza couldn’t focus on them.

Techno was going to lose a life. His son was going to lose a life and it was his fault and he never ever should have-

“D-dad,” Everyone went quiet as Techno tugged on Philza’s sleeve. “I’m...sorry”

“Don’t be sorry,” Philza said with a watery chuckle as he pulled Techno up into a hug and ran his fingers through his hair. Like they used to do back in the old days when Chat was too loud and Philza was the only one Techno would turn to. “You’re gonna be just fine, Bad will fix you up and-“

“Heh, no I’m...not” Techno said as he clutched at Philza’s jacket, “Don’t worry...I’ll come back...soon as I can”

Philza let out a sob as he felt Techno’s chest start to slow down. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m-”

“I choose...this” Techno said, his words getting painfully slow, “Won’t regret it...one bit”

“You’ve done such a good job Tech” Philza said, “I’m so proud of you”

“D-dad?” Techno said.

“Yes, son?”

For the first time in years, Philza heard fear in Techno’s voice. “I’m scar-”

And then there was a poof of smoke and Philza was left holding a jacket stained with blood and tears and a golden crown that fell into his lap. Philza was sure he could hear Ranboo crying.

“Oh my goodness Phil,” Bad said as he crouched down beside him and swept him up in a hug. Philza clutched at Techno’s jacket and for a moment everyone was quiet.

Then Philza collapsed into Bad’s arms and let out a heart wrenching cry as he sobbed. As he sobbed for the son who he was supposed to protect.

Philza sobbed and all Bad could do was hug him even tighter.

Philza wasn’t a general mourning the loss of his country. Philza was just a father who had done one of the worst things a father could do.

Leave their child behind.

[theonlygamergost]

What happens in the toy aisle, stays in the toy aisle - Fd!au

This fanfiction is based on the Family Dynamic au made by @antarctic-bay if you would like to know more, go check them out!!!

Also please bear in mind that the things written in this might not be canon!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tommy Techno and Will are pretty chaotic without supervision, so when they go pick up Phil from his workplace, they make a fatal mistake: they enter the toy aisle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Enjoy~

Phil sighed in relief after a rush of clients had gotten out of the store, the offices had just closed so it was pretty normal for a rush to be around this hour, yet this one ending only meant that in a half an hour, the students rush was going to begin.

This also meant that he had half an hour to refill the shelves, so many things to do, so little time.

“Evening everyone! Evening Phil!” The new employee’s shift started round about now, he greeted everyone and went in the back where he worked, Phil was able to reply with a wave and a smile. The new guy had it rough since he worked the night’s shift in the warehouse, but Phil sometimes brought him coffee or something to eat before leaving work: the guy was slightly older than Wilbur and Phil only felt empathy for the guy.

He stretched his very tired body and started to put the products on the shelves, sleeping three hours for two nights in a row wasn’t the best idea he ever had but convincing Techno to stop studying so late wasn’t an easy task, plus, insomnia is a bitch ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

The store’s “peace” (for how peaceful a store can be that is) was abruptly interrupted by the shouting of “HEY BIG P!!!!” coming further down the aisle. Customers and employees alike stared in confusion at the young boy who had yelled and the other two teens with him.

Phil turned to see his brothers wave at him with a grin on their faces, “Boys? Wha- what are you doing here?” He asked in disbelief, what were they doing here?

“We came to see you Big P!” Tommy hugged his older brother out of nowhere, making them almost lose balance. The other two smiled as they watched the wholesome scene.

“Thank you for coming to see me boys but, the store is on the other side of the town from your school! There has to be another reason you came all the way here” Wilbur and Techno snickered, making Phil more suspicious

then he already was.

“Now I’m genuinely concerned, what are you little shit-heads up to?” Phil engaged his dad-mode, placing his hands on his hips and looking at the teens for explanations. Tommy and Techno smiled innocently while Wilbur answered.

“We came here to pick you up after your shift ends! There was no point in going back home and then coming here so…” He looked around while putting his arms behind his back, Tommy nodded aggressively like he always did when Wilbur talked for the three of them, “We came here directly from school in my car, It just didn’t feel right to make you come back home on the bus. You work for all of us so this is the least we can do”

Phil stared at them in silence, that was so thoughtful of them.

Phil moved around town with the old trusted scooter their father gifted him on his sixteenth birthday, but as time passed, it only became more old and less trusty, so it was no surprise when two mornings ago the scooter didn’t start, the noises it emitted were more than worrying so he brought it to the mechanical near their house. He could afford the repair costs but he completely forgot that he had to use the bus to get to work, so he woke up “at the same time as usual” the next day… he didn’t calculate that the scooter was way faster than the public transport though,  so he arrived twenty minutes late.

“That is very… kind of you guys, but my shift ends in an hour, what are you going to do until then?”

Techno shrugged, “Laugh at kids toys” saying it like it was the most normal and obvious thing in the world.

Phil couldn’t help himself from face-palming, smiling behind the hand that covered his face: he loved his brothers very much, but god why were they so chaotic?

“Fine then, go to the toy aisle, just… don’t get yelled at for making too much noise ok?” Their eyes started sparkling, they were waiting for this.

After thanking and saying goodbye to Phil, Wilbur and Tommy bolted out of view, Techno sighed and shook his head before walking with hands in his pockets after them.

Phil smiled and got back to work, moving the groceries from the cart to the shelves.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So wait, you’re telling me that the teacher gave you a vote without checking your paper?” Wilbur was playing with his yo-yo while casually chatting with Techno, Tommy was bouncing a basketball around them.

“Yeah, I mean… it’s pretty normal, the teacher says that it’s always a “waste of time” to check my papers because she never finds any errors” The blonde boy was half-listening to his older brothers, they said they were going to the toy aisle to make fun of stuff, “Stil, the teacher shouldn’t do that! Correcting homework is part of her job!” Yet they were talking about boring stuff, who cares about school anyway?

“I am aware Wilbur, that’s why she doesn’t like me anymore, I said in front of the class that she gave me an A+ but I made two errors she didn’t correct, now both the class and the teacher think I’m an asshole” Techno sighed, he never really cared about what people thought of him, but it still kinda hurt.

Wilbur stopped playing with the yo-yo, looking at the ground while in thoughts.

“Have you reported this to the principal?” Techno shook his head.

As he was about to say something, a bunch of bouncy balls hit them.

“GWAHAHA! YOU JUST GOT PRRRRANKED BRO!” Tommy laughed hysterically at them, holding a small box full of them.

“You in this Techno?” Wilbur grabbed a couple of balls off the ground, “Count me in Will” Techno juggled a ball in his hand, ready for what was about to happen.

“Wait- guys- w-we can talk about this!” Tommy slowly started to back away from them, hoping for an agreement.

“One…” Tommy gulped, Techno adjusted his glasses.

“... Two… “ Tommy became a stuttering mess, Wilbur grinned as widely as he could.

“THREE!” They said in unison, bringing back their arm to launch the bouncy ball as hard as they could.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Proudly, Phil placed his hands on his hips as he admired the work he had just done: The whole aisle was know refilled and ordinated.

He chucked the empty carton boxes into the cart along with the cutter and pricer. Taking it in the warehouse where the new guy and another employee were drinking coffee, the night was long for them so this was the first of many.

As they noticed Phil walking in, they greeted him, “Yo Phil! Want some coffee?” The older Pandel brother shook his head and thanked them, “No thanks mate, I’m good” Taking one card box at the time, he cut them and folded them to throw them away while making small talk with the other two employees.

“Did you know that the manager got caught flirting with that young cashier the other day?” One of the workers said after taking a bite of their sandwich, “He’s an asshole who looks like a creep, I’m not surprised… “ The other one was playing crosswords, he replied as he scratched his head. “Vertical, four letters, a Japanese company who products televisions and owns a console? Dude, I don’t play those videogames how am I supposed to know?”

“Sony” Phil replied while dropping off the cutter, the guy who asked the question stared at the journal. “Um… Oh Yeah! It fits! Thanks Phil” He scuffed it off as he closed the storage door, heading off to change out of his uniform. He wondered what mess the three brothers could have done while out of his sight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before he changed and waved goodbye to his co-workers, Phil had sent a text to Wilbur, asking him to meet up outside the store, when he arrived there, they were already waiting.

“Alright!” He stretched his arms “I’m so done doing shit today, who wants to order pizza?” The brothers agreed and cheered as they got into Will’s car, of course he was driving, so Phil sat in front and the other two in the back.

“Thank you for picking me up today” He looked at Wilbur.

“No worries big P!” Tommy emerged from the back seat, a soft “It’s the least we could have done” came directly from behind him, he smiled.

“So what did you end up doing while waiting for me?” The car became as silent as rock, Will’s eyes widened.

From that day, the three brothers never entered Phil’s workplace again, also bouncy balls were now banned in the Pandel household.

[innittowinit]

Can you pick me up? my uni burnt down (Chapt. 2)

Relationships: Sleepy bois inc (all fics i write are platonic)

Summary: 

 In which Techno goes to England for University, his building catches fire in the night, and he isn't prepared for the difference in climate between England and California. SBI fluff ensues

Chapter summary: 

After waking up, Wilbur has the great idea that they should do a sleepy boys stream. Tommy doesn't get told about this id

Words: 1785

Language: English

AO3 Chapt. 1

Listen, waking up on a sofa, with a thin blanket shared with 3 men was never going to be the best morning. His back hurt and his legs were numb from Wilbur having sprawled out over the three of them as he slept. 

Stretching his arms back, he recounted the events of last night. God, it really was only a few hours ago, he was so tired. Had this been last year, he would have been able to stay up for days on end and then just crash for an entire weekend. It wasn’t last year though and Techno had gotten himself into a fairly healthy routine, he couldn’t exactly be sleeping through his uni classes anyway. 

“Alright you two” Hearing Philza’s voice, he propped his head up, “Get up, you can’t lay around all day”

A groan came from the mass of blankets and cushions that happened to be Wilbur, who was curled up in the centre of it,

“Phil it's so early and we went to bed so late. It’s fine to sleep in”

“Okay” he chuckled, humouring his tired friend “It’s midday Wil, im taking the blankets away now”

Techno thought it was much too early too, as he tugged the sleeves of Wilbur’s hoodie down a little further so they could act like gloves. 

“Do you mind if I use your PC to try and find out what’s going on with my classes at some point? They'll probably send me an email or something” He grumbled, standing up so he could stretch his back out properly, following Phil slowly to the kitchen.

“That’s fine, it's up in my room, do what you need”

Breakfast was nice, it had been a while since Techno had had time for it honestly, and even longer since he had been able to eat with people he cared about. He had a couple slices of buttered toast and a bowl of some british cereal which he didn’t really like but he didn’t want to be rude so he ate it anyway. 

“You wanna stream together later?” Wil asked through a mouth full of food, earning a snort from Phil. This was nice. 

“Yeah maybe, you use face cam though, I’m not like against showing them my face but y'know, it is what it is” he shrugged, spooning another mouthful of his breakfast into his mouth, he had to admit it was very bland, he much preferred the sweeter ones that were more popular in America. 

“Well think about it, if you decide you don't want them to see you, you can always just sit off to the side and I'll turn my monitor so you can still see it. My office is big enough for it anyway, it’ll be like where Niki was during that one MCC remember?”

Techno nodded and carried on eating, they really were 3 very sleepy boys right now. Maybe he’d take a nap once he found out what was going on with his classes. 

------------------

------------------

Streaming without any gameplay to comment about and with facecam on? Techno wasn’t exactly looking forward to it. That just didn’t really sound like something he was going to enjoy.

It was nerve wracking and he always seemed to glance at the camera too much when it was pointed at him. He knew the fans would be disappointed if he didn’t do it though, When Wilbur tweeted out saying that he and Phil would join him in a ‘you laugh you lose’ he watched as the replies freaked out. 

You could say he was just a bit camera shy, he wasn’t incredibly insecure, sure there were things he didn’t like that much but everyone had things like that, it just made him nervous to know that people were looking at him. 

He’d be okay with his friend’s though, he trusted that they’d never put him in an uncomfortable situation. He knew if he got overwhelmed he could sit outside the frame. 

It would be okay. 

“Hey hey chat” Wilbur mumbled into the mic, making it loud enough so that everyone could hear but it still sounded like he was whispering. 

“We’ve got the blade here, bet you weren’t expecting that huh chat? Or maybe you were, maybe you read the title of the stream, bet there’s someone watching who didn't think he’d be here though” he finally turned the music off and switched from his ‘starting soon’ screen to his regular camera. 

Wil went through the rules, it was the normal stuff, he added in some jokes here and there, prodding Techno and Phil to talk at times. They’d already agreed that this wouldn’t be for youtube, since that seemed to add a bit too much pressure for Techno, but hey, he still had to welcome his chat. 

“Okay!! First media share! Lets go”  

After a series of videos, some funnier than others, Techno had started to loosen up a bit. He was getting more comfortable with the camera and while he’d probably cringe while looking back at the footage, at least he was having fun right now.

He had a warm feeling in his chest that wasn’t usually there when he was streaming alone, sure it was usually fun but nothing was better than being with his friends while doing it, there was really only one person who was missing. 

As if on queue, chat started spamming Tommy’s name, for a moment Techno thought he had been mumbling his thoughts out loud, before he looked between Phil and Wilbur, who both seemed equally confused. Moving Wilbur’s mouse over the chat to pause it, Techno tried to read some of the messages. 

“Oh he tweeted something” he mumbled, pulling his phone out of his pocket without a care. Maybe some irl streamers would have used the computer but knowing Wilbur’s history, he doubted it could run Chrome and streamlabs at the same time. 

Looking at the tweet he felt a little pang of guilt. It was lighthearted and jokey but he knew there’d be a little truth to it. He nudged the other two and read it aloud to them. 

‘Damn guess I’m not a sleepy boy after all’

The air felt a little thick after that, they hadn’t meant to exclude Tommy; all of the excitement of Techno coming to stay had just made it a little hard to arrange to have Tommy here after all. 

Still, they probably should have still told him though. They were supposed to be each other's family.  

“Hey chat I think we’re gonna have to end stream early.” Wilbur finally piped up, deciding it wouldn't be right to carry on when they had hurt their friend, not that chat needed to know that though, he didn’t want to embarrass Tommy. 

“I feel kinda sick and I don't think you all wanna watch me vomit right? Yeah so it’s best we end it now” 

Techno sniggered to himself at that, in games Wilbur always seemed to be very cunning but he supposed he wasn’t very good at lying when it was about something he actually cared about. Said something being Tommy.  

After raiding Fundy, the trio hopped straight onto discord. 

Tommy didn't answer the first time he was called. 

Or the second. 

Finally, after three calls, Tommy decided he’d talk to them. 

“You are all a bunch of dick heads, you know that? What the hell! Why wasn’t I invited to the sleepy boy’s stream! Wilbur you bitch!” Through all the vulgar language and the constant yelling, it was clear that Tommy was genuinely upset. 

He had every right to be, as far as Techno was concerned. From his point of view his friend’s had just gone off and hung out without him. He just hoped he’d calm down once they explained everything.  

“You know I thought we were friends! I thought we were brothers! But if you don’t wanna hang out with a ‘kid’ you can just tell me and i’ll- i'll go!” He was still yelling, as usual, it was clear he was trying to make this into a joke where he could overreact but Techno noticed the small sniffles and the quiver in his voice. 

By the looks on Phil’s and Wilbur’s faces, they recognised it too.  

“Listen, Tommy” 

Wil was the first to talk, it made sense, it seemed that Tommy trusted him the most at times. Sometimes Techno could be a bit too cold and sometimes Phil could get a bit too overbearing.

Techno understood this, he didn’t take it personally, he knew it was only natural that you have people you trust with your emotions more than others. It didn’t mean Tommy didn’t love them just as much, just that they weren’t his ‘go-to’ when he felt down. 

Techno felt the same way sometimes. Feeling’s got complicated and personally he thought Phil was the best to talk to about that, the fact that he was older and had his life sorted out gave him a sense of comfort, like he could trust him because he knew what he was talking about. 

“We didn’t plan a meetup, it just sorta happened. Phil was at my place, helping me record, and then Techno’s Uni had a fire and he needed a place to stay while they’re making it safe again” Wilbur sighed as he heard Tommy moving on the other side of his mic. Techno wondered what he was doing. 

“We would have invited you, had we known that we’d all be in the same place Toms” 

Phil took over, giving Wilbur a little sympathetic smile. The brunette so obviously felt guilty about the situation. 

“But when we got the call from Tech’ it was past 3 in the morning and it was tipping it down with snow, as soon as we got home we all slept. We decided to do a stream this morning but never once did we intend to try and make you feel like you aren’t welcome with us” 

Finally it was Techno’s turn to talk...Fuck.

He wasn’t exactly the most sentimental guy, he struggled to show his emotions and he just assumed everyone he cared for just knew that he cared for them. He rarely had to say it out loud. God okay. He just had to swallow his pride and go for it. 

“Tommy you are a sleepy boy and you are our brother. We did kind of a dick move today and if I was you I’d probably be upset too. I know I didn't like seeing you guys playing without me during MCC and that wasn’t even any of our decisions. We should have called you or something. I know I kinda tease you a lot but that’s just how I show I like people. Listen Tommy if I didn’t care about you I wouldn’t be comfortable enough to make those kinds of jokes with you. It’s not funny if it’s hurting you though..”

Techno bit his lip, this wasn’t as hard as he had anticipated but it was coming out like word vomit. 

“You’re young Tommy but you’re so talented. We love you”

There was some more rustling, it sounded like Tommy was wiping his eyes. Maybe the boy had expected a yelling match, only for it to turn out to be very emotional. 

“I love you guys too.. If you ever exclude me ever again though I’m getting my vlog knife out”

[nostalgic-pancakes]

Watching the starlings as autumn draws in

Summary: Tommy and his friends try on some skirts, and he reflects a bit on how they all got here. (It's a happy story) Title from September by Sparky Deathcap

Pairings: None! Platonic everyone (esp in irl fics_)

Read on AO3 (preferred place to read)

Word count: 2570

Warnings: None, except for surface-level references to the exile/prison arcs, but not much.

Other notes: I wrote this in a fit of madness last night in like three hours at 2 am, so i’ll probably edit it honestly but for now, enjoy! (If the CC’s ever display discomfort with this type of fic I will take it down)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"WELCOME BACK TO THE STREAM, BOYS!" Tommy exclaims, rubbing his hands together as he starts rapid-fire answering questions about the stream, and the stream title from chat. It's funny, how over time, Tommy's come to see Chat as this one entity- an old friend. The nervousness of answering questions as a fifteen year old with nothing but a big personality, a twitch account and a copy of Minecraft is all but gone now, nineteen years old and happier than he's ever been.

Dreadfulzombie19: what are u doin this stream

"THANK YOU FOR ASKING, Dreadfulzombie19, today is gonna be a bit different, innit Tubbo?" Tommy raises his voice a bit at the end of his sentence, just loud enough for one of his flatmates to hear him. When Tubbo yells back an affirmative, Tommy turns back to his setup. Chat's gone a bit wild again, even though he, Tubbo and Ranboo have been living together for over a year now.

"Okay, okay, calm down chat- so recently I was at university, as usual right? And I had an eight AM class again, and… yeah I can see you all can relate."

"BUT! BUT! On my way back to the flat, I saw something really cool." Tommy hesitates in his speech to take a sip of coke again- his blood pressure's been acting up lately and watches Chat to wild again, asking him what he saw.

"Okay, so there was a shop- new place, which doesn't happen often this is fucking Brighton- and they sold skirts and dresses and stuff with adjustments for AMAB sizes!" Chat goes a bit bonkers, but Tommy's mod team- a little smaller than it used to be, now that he isn't the centre of YouTube or Twitch attention anymore, none of them are- are handling it, and pretty well.

"So I had to go, right? As many of you probably know, last year, I made the astounding discovery that gender-based stereotypes and expectations are, in fact, fake and I should not give a SHIT. And so I go in and look through the stuff- it's a really poggers shop by the way, and I find the perfect thing- it was the most poggers skirts and shit, okay? So, today's stream is going to have me wearing this pogchamp shit and wearing it right, with the help of…" Tommy ends his monologue by picking up the joke shaker-things that Phil had gotten him as a housewarming gift last year and indicates for his first two helpers to enter the office.

In walks his mother, face obscured from view as always, waving to the camera, and Wilbur, also wearing one of his only skirts for this occasion. Eret had taught him, on a phonecall in the skirt shop that week about the different types of skirts with a handy diagram. Wilbur's was a pleated circle skirt, brown to offset the bright yellow of his sweater and beanie, the same colour as his hair. It's very swoosh-y, so he's wearing black leggings with his regular shoes too. Motherinnit's also wearing her favourite skirt, a baby blue prairie skirt, Tommy thinks, and it's one he's seen fairly often.

Wilbur ducks down in order to show his face to Chat, and ruffles Tommy's hair while he's at it. Tommy's taller, but not by much, so Wilbur still fucking makes short jokes, That fucker.

Chat is now going so fast that he simply cannot read anything but some of the all caps messages and can barely make out some of the emotes.

"Okay, OKAY, CALM DOWN CHAT! WE HAVE TO GET TO FUCKING BUSINESS!" Tommy yells into the mix, like he did when he was sixteen and used the 'many people find me annoying at first' intro. Nowadays he just lets the content speak for itself. Anyone who wants to be here already is, by now.

Wilbur laughs a bit, and that hasn't changed at all. "Tommy, how is chat supposed to calm down if you're not calm?"

"I am their god!! They will obey via sheer digital willpower!" Tommy replies back, pretty zealously (What? An English Literature class is mandatory for his film degree, and The Great Gatsby by Zelda Fitzgerald is a good book, as are most of the other assigned ones. He's had entire conversations with Techno with just lit quotes and it drives everyone insane. Tommy loves it.) Chat seemingly has listened to his godlike abilities, with a few OG's spotting his half-quotation of one of Dream's last lines in the Dream SMP. The rest are spamming 'MOTHERINNIT'.

"If having a shitty magic trick book from a washed-up politician makes you a god, then what does that make me?" Wilbur replies, with one of Foolish's lines and swatting his hand at Tommy. Tommy swats back.

"Bitch" "Arsehole" "Shithead" "Fuckface" Wilbur finishes cheerily, as if this happens all the time. It does. Chat's used their antics now, four years of consistently making content together will do that for you.

Eventually Motherinnit reminds them both to get back on Topic, and Tommy goes back to facing the camera, addressing Chat directly.

"Today, my beloved mother, and my idiot brother-" "hey!" "And maybe my flatmates will be joining me to show off some cool as SHIT skirts! And a dress or two. We all have our selections, right?" Everyone nods in affirmative, even Tubbo and Ranboo. Though the camera can't see them. Ranboo's just come home from his final class, then. He should probably take the first hour back off, and judging by how Tubbo is forcefully judging Ranboo to the shower, he probably gets it. Tommy signs an affirmative to both of them, and gets back to the camera, where Wilbur's showing off all of his (very poggers) very stupid brown or yellow skirts. Tommy's are in cool colours, for fuck's sake.

"Oh yeah, Puffy just confirmed she'll be on stream! She'll be here in about twenty minutes, accounting for fucking traffic, and Niki' going to get onto VC after her own stream, what game is it this time?"

"GRIS." Wilbur answers.

"Poggers- she is the SHIT and will join us soon! So expect some QUALITY QUALITY content this stream!! Remember to not spam her chat to finish faster." Exclaims Tommy, even if it ends up as a light warning, as he picks up his own very poggers skirts from the extra armchair in his office to show the camera.

One is the classic red and white, mostly white but with bright red on the waist (elastic) and the bottom, and it reached to about Tommy's knee, if worn at the hip. It had no pleats, but the red bits were a very nice velvet texture, and while the skirt was heavy, it still had very much swoosh value, and pockets!! Big ones!! He slips the skirt on top of his jeans before entering camera view, the skirt visible in all its classic Tommyinnit glory, as he takes his place right next to Wilbur, who just took. a quick spin at the behest of several dono's., Skirt spying out from his lower shins all the way to his knee, making visible one of his (many) petticoats. ("What? It's cold all the fucking time here, Toms.") Tommy also makes a quick little spin, skirt flying outward, not upward, so it looks like he's hula hooping for a moment there. Lastly, Motherinnit spins around too, and while her skirts do not swoosh, she looks opulent, like she was about to go to waltz with the enemy, for whom she has a dagger in the back of her dress for. (He finished Anna Karenina and the Six of Crows duology within the same week and has not yet recovered. Jack Edwards is laughing at him as he thinks in his English Lit Graduate glory.)

It's fun, trying on different skirts- he and Wilbur accidentally bought the same dress at one point, which they paired up to wear, darting off into their respective changing rooms while giggling like idiots with their checkered blouses and the grindl skirts that Niki had sent over when she heard of this stream idea, laughing the whole time. Tubbo enters as dramatically as possible with Puffy, and while Tubbo looks really fucking good in his handkerchief skirt with embroidered bees and plain white shirt, it's Puffy who steals the show with an exact, real life version of her red banquet dress.

Fans from way back in the SMP, before Tommy had started branching out start going insane and are bringing back emotes Tommy wasn't sure were still available, but she is fucking stunning- deep shades of red and crimson, with slits on either side of her waist and all the detailing. She'd gotten the contact for her dressmaker through Bernadette Banner, Tommy recalls- she was so fucking cool when she streamed with him once, and gotten him to swear less and supplant those world's with bigger ones to intimidate instead. While he still curses like a sailor as part of his persona, it's less so and he does way less in real life these days, unless the situation calls for it. It's also just rude, especially in uni libraries, where he spends too much time these days wondering why he didn't read more as a kid.

Puffy's stolen his audience for a WHILE, and Niki coming on hasn't helped any, so Tommy exits camera view for a while to hug Ranboo really quickly- he's had midterms and has basically been dying all month.

Everyone on this stream- Tommy, Wilbur, Motherinnit, Tubbo, Puffy, Niki and Ranboo enter the camera frame after entering their dressing rooms for the last time on this particular stream, Puffy with full in-character wigs and makeup, Tommy in an Edwardian-Gothic reminiscent black and red dress, Ranboo in something he bought when he gap-yeared in Japan, punk lolita or something, Niki flaunting her pink in a Marie Antoinette style show of finery, Tubbo dressing in all green this time, something like a very deranged biology teacher who hasn't slept in days (Tubbo hasn't-Tommy has to get into that), Wilbur like a forest-nymph, all earthy tones and swishy fabrics and nature highlights, and finally Motherinnit, who hasn't changed but is here to take pictures as they all lean in together to fit into frame, as drastic as their height difference is. Niki is going to be edited in later, and everyone on the 'Dream SMP but nobody does Dream SMP and we're all fucking nerds' discord server is going to get a copy.

The stream wraps up there, after about two hours, and it's only about six in the evening- a far cry from the late nights and long hours from the beginning of Tommy's career, so everyone runs to their changing areas for the last time, into pajamas now, and packs away all of the clothes they wore, properly, as to not incense Karolina Zebrowska, and Jemma, Dan's wife, who would look at them disappointedly and nobody wants a sad Jemma because that means no cooing at their son. Also it just feels shitty.

Everyone huddles in Tommy, Tubbo and Ranboo's living room, and they out on UP for like, the millionth fucking time (they still cry when Ellie dies), and Tommy is leaning into Wilbur's side and feeling his mum play with the hair in his very small, stubby ponytail he's developed by being in Uni as he and Tubbo intertwine their legs together and Ranboo rests his head in the tangle of limbs, playing with his fidget cube. Puffy stays on Wilbur's side, intently texting someone and smiling the whole while, and Tommy takes a moment to reflect (something he's been getting better at doing) on how the actual hell they all got here.

The Dream SMP was always going to end- everyone knew it, if course, they were the fucking writers. But by the time they did, not only were their respective brands too closely intertwined to just… sever that quickly, but they'd become too close to even want to. So the SMP discord never shut, even though Dream and George had planned it months ago, and they continued supporting each other with their interests. Wilbur made a lot more music solo, with his band and even just random ass streams where he practiced guitar for an hour. He kept playing Minecraft, but it wasn't his main focus. A bunch of people left. More stayed. YouTube left him alone.

Dream, George and Sapnap are still Minecraft streamers, but their YouTube channels are mostly blogs of them being poor excuses of adults with other former SMP members joining in sometimes. Tommy and the Dream Team were closer than ever, even though the seeds of their friendship had been sowed when they used to linger after heavy streams together, reassuring each other that none of that was true and that nothing like… that would happen in real life, because Dream had used real abuse tactics, and those still hurt unless immediately taken care of. So they were. It was a running joke that Dream was stuck at 99 million subscribers since nobody really wanted the face reveal anymore. The other Dream team members were doing peachy.

Phil and Techno were also still primarily Minecraft streamers, but they also released things like advice videos and mental health stuff, especially for relationships. They had a new scripted series where Tommy was a minor character. The dadza jokes were still as real, and yes, outside of streaming, both of them were lovely people and responsible adults (mostly). They collaborated with DanTDM and co a lot more now.

Puffy and Niki kept doing games, but did lots of different ones, testing point and clickers to triple A titles, and making it all fucking hilarious while they were at it.

So where had that left Tommy?

After the Dream SMP, he'd kind of had no idea what to do, and he was going to University for the first time, so he just… did whatever he thought would be fun. He learned about vintage fashion from the queens themselves- Mina Le, Bernadette Banner and Karolina Zebrowska and had fun learning how to sew for the first time, fixing and making his own clothes for the first time, clunky as they were, Wilbur had cried, genuinely, when he saw the Lovejoy shirts that Tommy had made for the band. He'd found a genuine love for literature in university, so Tommy started talking to booktubers and studytubers like Jack Edwards and Noelle Stevenson. Tubbo and Ranboo had joined him, fucking around in any YouTube niche they found even remotely interesting. Eventually, they all found a happy medium- a bit of everything.

Some people obviously weren't happy with that but Tommy was happy as he was, making what he liked with his best friend's, living together close enough to most of their friends (family) to have fun and drop in on one another at ass-o-clock in the morning to comfort, to laugh. His sub count hasn't gone up in a while- most of his audience is static, with about 80-90k online on a stream at any time.p

It was a nice feeling, to have carved out a space for himself and the people he loves, and be is so, so glad that he got this chance.

Looking at his mostly asleep family, Tommy thinks 'yeah. Life is good.' as the last thought before he sleeps.

[takemeawaytocamelot]

Speed Dating - Learning to Dance

Here you are my lovelies!! The accidental series! HUGE shout out to @tammywt for helping me with the dancing bits (even going so far as to dancing with her hubby to let me know how small a space Jamie and Claire could use!). And to @diversemediums for being an amazing beta and helping me when I get stuck!

Catch up on Jamie teaching Claire how to ride HERE

Jamie was waiting for me outside my work, leaning against his truck.

“Evening, Sassenach,” he said with a tender smile.

I returned the grin and gave him a hug.

“Evening, Jamie. I hope you haven’t been waiting too long. I ran a little late.”

“Nah. One of the mares seems ready to drop at any moment, so the lads call in every hour or so.”

My eyes went wide.

“Oh! Which one?”

“Filly Dancer,” he said flatly.

It wasn’t his horse, but the owner didn’t seem to know much about horses. I knew Jamie was trying to work out a way to buy the mare and give her a better name.

“That’s the one that was bought pregnant, right?”

Jamie’s eyes rolled as he helped me into the truck.

“Aye. Bloody idiot didna ken what a pregnant horse looks like. And then he tells me ‘it’s two for the price of one, James!’”

I settled into the comfortable seat as he started the truck up and prepared to pull out.

“You remember the agreement we made?” I asked when he was on his way to my flat.

“We’ve made several, if memory serves,” he said.

“I’d let you teach me something if you let me teach you something in return?”

He smiled, recalling just when we’d made that arrangement.

“Aye. And ye’ve ridden Thistle three days this week.”

“Well, tonight is my turn to teach you something.”

“I think it’s fair to mention,” he said, turning a corner. “I already ken CPR.”

I rolled my eyes and slapped his shoulder.

“I’m not teaching you anything medical. That’s my job, like horses is your job.”

“Oh? What is it I’m to learn then?”

“You’ll see after dinner.”

That was another thing we’d come to an agreement on. He had a big house and a large (very comfortable) bed, but this was supposed to be a relationship of mutual respect. So we switched off which home we spent the night in. I could hardly believe we’d only known each other for three weeks. I felt like we’d been best friends our whole lives.

He was also teaching me to cook, which ended up mostly hit or miss. I wasn’t a bad cook, I just didn’t know how some flavors worked together and I certainly couldn’t improvise the way he did. Two nights ago he’d texted me a list of things to get from the grocery in preparation for tonight.

When he pulled up to my flat, I smiled to myself. He had no idea what was in store for him tonight. It would be a little more difficult since he didn’t enjoy music, but I had a plan I thought might work.

I left him in the tiny kitchen to change out of my work clothes, grinning to myself. I dressed in comfortable jeans and a loose t-shirt, setting out the dress I’d wear later. Then I went to the kitchen where Jamie had started dinner.

Maneuvering around the small area was difficult, but we’d figured it out. I stayed mostly on one end, chopping vegetables and measuring out spices before sliding them down the countertop to Jamie. He was the artist when it came to food and I loved to watch him work.

“How was work today?” he asked, stirring the vegetables in the pan to keep them from overcooking.

“Good! No one failed the exam today.”

Jamie grinned at me with pride.

“Well done, Sassenach. Means you’re a verra good teacher.”

We chatted comfortably about the day before he declared the food was finished. Something was nagging at me, something we hadn’t talked about and needed to. Now was as good a time as any.

“Jamie,” I said, pushing a carrot around my plate.

“Aye?”

“Why haven’t we talked about it?”

I couldn’t look up and meet his gorgeous blue eyes. If I did that, I knew I’d lose my nerve.

“Weel… I thought if ye wanted to, ye would have already. Talkin’ about it doesna change anything. It’s still true.”

His voice didn’t sound hurt or upset, but he was good at hiding behind a mask.

“I should have said something after you told me.”

“I’ll no’ lie and say it was fine ye didna. But we promised each other honesty. I’d rather ye say nothing than ye say something that may no’ be true.”

I did look up at him then and was surprised that he wasn’t holding his mask up. His thoughts and feelings were written in the lines of his face.

“I can’t lie to you,” I said quietly. “I don’t know what I’m feeling. I know that I love being with you, being around you. I want to say it back to you.”

“Claire,” he said, reaching across my table to take my hand. “I’ve waited a long time to meet ye and I’ll wait as long as ye need. But dinna say ye love me if you’re no’ sure of it. No amount of time will make me love ye any less.”

I did want to say that I loved him back, but I wasn’t sure. Three weeks and I thought I might be in love. But I’d never been in love before, so I didn’t know how to identify what I was feeling.

“I mean it, mo chridhe,” he said softly, thumb rubbing the back of my hand gently. “I love ye and I dinna think I’ll ever stop.”

Somehow that made me feel better. He wanted me to love him too, but he wouldn’t push me before I was ready. Another item on the ever-growing list of things I loved about him.

After the dishes were put in the dishwasher and the leftovers were boxed up, I smiled at Jamie.

“Alright. You take a seat on the couch. I have to change before I teach you your newest skill.”

“Change? Three outfits in one day, Sassenach?”

“No peeking before I come out.”

He nodded gravely, though the corner of his mouth curved up in a sly smile.

I ran to my room and hastily pulled the burgundy dress on. It was a new item I’d been keeping for exactly this occasion. I put on the heels that went with the dress, taking a moment to observe how I looked in my long mirror. They made the muscles in my legs stand out, which I thought Jamie would appreciate.  

Smoothing the velvet down, I walked back out to where Jamie sat.

“Okay,” I said. You can look now.”

Jamie stood and turned to look at me, his brows lifting and mouth dropping open.

“I must say, Sassenach. I verra much like that color on ye.”

“It’s a little dark,” I admitted shyly. “Makes me look pale.”

“Brings out the flush of your cheeks, and makes your skin look like ivory.”

I spun a tight circle to show him the flow of the dress before offering my hand.

“Tonight, Mr. Fraser,” I said in as sultry a voice as I could manage. “I teach you how to dance.”

He took her hand, pleasantly surprised at this new thing she intended to teach him. But he couldn’t resist the urge to feel the velvet covering her arms. She shuddered at his touch.

“Normally, the man is the one who takes the lead in the dance. But, since you don’t know what we’re doing, I’ll lead you. So just relax and let your body move with mine, aye?” she winked.

God he loved this woman. This beautiful creature he held in his arms, teaching him something new simply because she could.

“But before we can get carried away in that, would you help me push the couch back a little?”

They cleared a decent space to be their dance floor. Then, she placed one of his hands on her waist, one of her hands on his shoulder, and began. She moved slowly and he mirrored her, except he stepped with the wrong foot.

“I’m sorry!” he said, trying not to step on her again.

“Don’t worry, darling. Like I said, relax.”

She picked up a count again.

“One… Two… Three… Excellent. No, love, your hand goes here,” she said, replacing his hand on her hip.

He’d managed to get most of the way to fondling her arse before she’d corrected him. They turned and danced slowly around her flat, holding close to each other.

“Alright. Now, I’ve got some music to help us. Techno doesn’t exactly scream waltz to me, so I got creative. This is a good song to waltz to, but I did a little adjusting with the balance.”

“What does that mean? I canna hear the music the right way.”

“I know, that’s why the drum is heavier than the rest of the orchestra. This way you can follow the beat of the music and not worry about the music itself.”

Tenderly, he traced the edge of her jaw and smiled at her.

“That’s verra kind of ye, Sassenach.”

She stepped away and turned on the music. At first it sounded jumbled and awkward to him, until the drums came in. That allowed him to tune out the music he couldn’t really hear.

“Alright, ready?”

He nodded and watched her eyes.

“Almost,” she said, pausing them for a moment. “It’s a long step followed by two quick steps. Remember it’s one, two, three.”

“Aye, aye. So a long,” he demonstrated. “And two quick?”

“Very good! Now lets try again.”

The longer they danced, the easier it became. Everything flowed as if they were one person, not two. Claire’s smile seemed to light up the whole world and all he wanted was to get lost in her.

Eventually, her modified song came to an end. Something else came on, filling the small flat with something much different. It was a gentle piece, though he had no idea how well the melody blended. But the soft, crooning female voice began drifting through the room and he pulled Claire closer.

Come away with me in the night…

Both of her arms were around his waist now, hands clasped behind his back. His hands were on her hips, one or the other of them moving toward her rump.

Come away with me…

The song continued on, setting a different mood around them. Earlier had been a comfortable sort of intimacy, something he’d never felt with anyone but her. Then they’d been playful, dancing the night away. Now…

Come away with me and we'll kiss

On a mountaintop

Come away with me…

Now all he could think about was her body pressed against his. The feel of her buttocks moving beneath his hands. He began to wonder what their children would look like. Would they have his hair and her eyes? Or would they have her delicate hands and his broad shoulders?

And I'll never stop loving you

“It’s true,” he whispered in her ear. “I will never stop lovin’ ye.”

She rested her head on his shoulder for a moment, still moving gently with him.

And I want to wake up with the rain

Falling on a tin roof

While I'm safe there in your arms

So all I ask is for you

Their swaying slowed to a stop and Claire looked up at him, meeting his eyes.

To come away with me in the night*

“Jamie,” she breathed.

“Aye, lass?”

She reached up and kissed him, long and slow, until his lungs burned for oxygen. Her heart was fluttering like a hummingbird’s wings against his fingers, which had come up to caress her cheek.

“I’ve never said this before.”

“Then take your time wi’ it. Choose what ye say carefully and let it be true when ye say it.”

Her heart slowed a little, but not much. She took a few moments to gather herself and then met his eyes once more.

“Jamie, I love you.”

His kiss was filled with all the words he was suddenly unable to say. Each movement of his lips told her everything he felt, how much she meant to him. The need for air forced them apart, but not for long. Gently, he bit the edge of her ear, pleased at the shudder that ran through her.

“Say it again,” he begged.

“I’m in love with you, James Fraser. Head over heels.”

This kiss kept the tender adoration, but added an element of hunger as well. His body thrummed with his need for her, a desire to show her just how much he loved her back. He wanted her to know that her heart was safe with him, that he would protect it until his final breath.

Both hands squeezed her rump as she brought her lips back to his. He tried to find the zip for her dress, having decided he didn’t have the patience to walk the few steps to her bedroom.

“Wait,” she panted. “I picked this dress for a reason.”

When she stepped back, he felt empty and reached out his hands for her. Eyes locked with his, she pulled on the bow tied at her hip. His brows lifted as she unwrapped the dress, letting it hang open.

“Weel,” he said. “My outfit doesna just pop open like that.”

He took a moment to admire her, belatedly realizing she had only a strapless bra beneath the dress.

“I’ll wait,” she said with a smile.

Quickly as he could, Jamie stripped out of his clothes and gathered her in his arms.

“You’re no’ wearing any underpants,” he observed, wrapping his arms around her waist.

“I couldn’t in this dress,” she said, nipping at his neck. “You’d have seen the lines.”

“I feel I must tell ye,” he eased them to the floor. “Your lover approves. And, he would also like it known, that he prefers ye wi’out pants.”

Claire snorted and broke into giggles.

“Is that so? What would happen if he found you here, stealing his lover away?”

He reached beneath her and released the bra, tossing it to the side. The dress spread out beneath her and he helped her pull her arms from the sleeves.

“Dinna ken. Is he a jealous man?”

One hand felt down the smooth, soft planes of her body until it reached its target.

“You know,” she said, stopping to gasp as a large finger slid into her. “I’m n-not really s-sure.”

For a few moments, he just watched her, taking his pleasure from hers. Her fingers dug into his arms, but he didn’t move, not yet. He didn’t settle himself above her until she throbbed around his fingers, voice squeaking in satisfied delight.

“A-are you a jealous m-man?” she stuttered, eyes still shut tight as she trembled.

Nudging her legs a little further apart, he eased into position and kissed her.

“Aye,” he half-growled. “I am a verra jealous man, Sassenach.”

He pushed solidly and decidedly forward, entering smooth and hard as Claire arched into him. She emitted a short, breathy laugh as she looked up at him, mouth gaping open as he thrust again.

“Does that mean you’re jealous of my lover?”

Teeth grazed the side of her neck again, biting just hard enough to leave a faint mark. He thrust roughly against her, the music of their lovemaking drowning out the music on her stereo.

“Aye. I’m jealous of any man who’s had ye before me, who’s kissed ye, who’s seen yer body, who’s made ye cry out.”

“H-he won’t b-be - oh God! - h-happy t-to - Jesus fucking Christ! - hear that!”

Jamie smiled, stilling himself until she met his gaze.

“Then the devil take him.”

And the flirting stopped as he laid claim to her body. Her cries filled the flat, her hips lifting to meet his with thrusts of her own. Each push brought him nearer the end, though he wanted it to last forever. Sweat rolled down his face and down his back, while her cheeks were flushed bright red.

Claire devolved into wordless exclamation as her body convulsed around him. Once… Twice more and he too fell into mindless pleasure. It wasn’t until she moved that he realized she’d bitten his shoulder. The mark was bright red and stung a bit, but he couldn’t be bothered to care.

“Tell me,” he said, licking up a trickle of sweat from her neck. “Does yer lover make ye cry out that way?”

She gazed up at him from beneath half-lidded eyes.

“I can’t say he does.”

Before his arms gave out and he crushed her, he flopped onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. She wriggled around, resting her chin on his chest while her fingers danced through his coarse hair.

“You know,” she said, adjusting herself to give him a slow, lingering kiss. “I’m a jealous woman too.”

“Are ye, then? Should I cast aside my other lover and profess my undying love for ye?”

Her teeth tugged on his bottom lip, one of her legs nestling between both of his.

“I don’t share very well. And I don’t think she makes you feel what I make you feel.”

A soft, pleased rumble vibrated in his chest.

“No,” he agreed. “No one could make me feel the way ye do, mo ghraidh.”

* Come Away With Me by Norah Jones

[innittowinit]

Abandoned amusement parks are the best place for young children (Chapt. 3)

relationships: sbi + tubbo

Fic summary:

Techno, Tommy, Wilbur and Phil have been hanging out at the abandoned amusement park in the woods since they moved in. Techno likes knowing he's definitely alone with his brothers Tommy likes climbing on the old rides Wilbur likes having a place to play his music Phil likes spending time with his younger brothers

That is, until a group of brothers calling themselves the 'dream team' move in down the road. Will the sleepy boys give in and share the park or will they succeed in scaring the new kids off?

Chapter summary:

Techno, Wil, Tommy and Tubbo go together :) chaos ensues

Chapter word count: 2643

AO3

Games were never peaceful with Tommy around, the boy had a habit of creating chaos where-ever he went. Befriending Tubbo had probably been the most he had done to surprise anyone though, nobody expected the loud blonde to bond with the quiet Brunette. What they didn’t know though, was that Tubbo shared just the same amount of chaotic energy as tommy; they were both beacons for destruction, the fact that Tubbo liked his alone time more only made this better since Teachers were keen to partner them up, convinced that Tubbo’s good manners would rub off on Tommy.

Spoiler alert! They didn’t. Instead, Tommy helped Tubbo come out of his shell, all the energy he had kept inside was finally able to be shared with someone and that made him feel great. Tommy loved it too, he loved his brother’s but there was nothing like the feeling of having a friend who you genuinely could be yourself with. Very quickly after becoming friends, they had pretty much become joined by the hip. Not in the same way as Techno and Wilbur though, they were both perfectly fine away from each other, but if they had the chance they’d laugh and yell and play for as long as possible, loving every second of it.

“Tubbo! Watch this!” Tommy laughed as he pulled his friend into his room, pulling out a toy record player. Nobody was sure why but the kid had an obsession with the discs, most people put it down to him just looking up to his big brother and wanting to get into music too. “I got a new disc! Look! Look!”

Switching it on, the toy started spinning the plastic disc around slowly. Anyone older could tell you that the ‘disc’s’ just had little speakers at the top and a sensor that told it when to play the music, but for Tommy and Tubbo, it was incredibly real. The two sat transfixed around the little box as it played the song, Tubbo looking up to his friend with a big grin once it ended.

“That’s really cool, Toms’”

“Yeah! Mum got me it because I finished all my chores without her needing to ask me” Beaming, he popped the little disc out of the player and put it away, sliding it carefully onto the shelf. It was sweet how much effort he gave to things he really cared about, he knew he had worked hard for this and he was proud of himself.

This day just kept getting better, Tommy thought to himself as he heard his brother calling for him, spending time with them was always a lot of fun. “Hey Tommy!” Wilbur chirped while knocking on his door “Me and Techno are going off to L’manburg now if you wanna come, Phil’s still at-”

As he opened the door, Wilbur’s face scrunched up into an expression Tommy didn’t recognise. He bet he would have said a bad word if he and Tubbo weren’t there. It took a minute to mull the situation over but he quickly realised that the sudden drop in mood was because they weren’t supposed to tell anyone about the secret base!

Tommy felt a little bit like a detective, he had been able to figure out what was wrong with Wilbur without even needing to ask. Now that he thought about it, Wil was very good at doing that too, Tommy rarely had to actually ask for thing’s if he felt sleepy or sick. He wondered why Wil was so good at that. Maybe grown ups were just better at those things, he couldn’t wait till he was 13 too.

“Aw c’mon Wil, Tubbo’s good at keeping secrets! Let’s go! Let’s go!” The boy sprung up and hopped over to Wilbur, tugging on his arm as he tried to convince him. It didn’t seem to be working. Wil shook him off and folded his arms, an exasperated sigh leaving his lips.

“Tommy, it’s a secret for a reason-”

“Tubbo can join in on the secret! Please Wil! You like Tubbo!”

Wilbur shook his head and sighed, glancing to Techno, who seemed to be standing outside the door, for confirmation on what he should do.

“Okay fine. But you can’t start going off there on your own, you still need one of us to take you okay?”

Tommy nodded excitedly and ran back to Tubbo, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him up, the poor boy still not knowing what was going on.

“Tommy?” Tubbo questioned, eyebrows perking up as he grinned, even in his absolute confusion he was still happy, because Tommy was happy, and that meant something good was happening.

“We’re going to the secret base Tubbo!” Tommy practically yelled it as he ran downstairs, tugging Tubbo along with him. “We’re going and it’s going to be so fun! I’ll show you all my favourite spots! But you need to promise that you won't tell anyone, not never! Ever never” His seven year old grammar skills weren't the best but at least he got his point across.

The duo sat at the bottom of the stairs, giggling and chatting as they got their shoes on. Recently Tommy had got some good white ones with a red cap on the toes, he thought they looked amazing; the best part though was that they were big boy lace up shoes, granted he couldn't tie his laces yet but he was still very excited about being so grown up. When he had first got them, he had bragged to Tubbo for hours about how he was such an adult now because of the shoes.

After Techno tied up Tommy’s laces for him, the four were off on their way to the old theme park. It had become a habit at this point, a daily routine. If they went all day with nobody visiting it, things just didn’t feel right. For Tubbo though, the walk through the woods was definitely not a habit, it was quite frightening actually.

“Psst” The shorter boy tugged on Tommy’s T-shirt, “You sure this is the right way? There isn’t even a path here..”

“Yup!” Not recognising Tubbos worries, Tommy just nodded and gave him a grin with a thumbs up. He was far too excited to show his friend around their spot.

Tubbo nodded.

After a ten minute walk through the woods, Tommy running and skipping the entire way, Techno and Wilbur having some kind of silent conversation with their eyes, and Tubbo silently panicking about the possibility of getting lost in the trees, they made it to L’manburg.

Overgrown as ever, sign large and rusted, it stood tall among the nature surrounding it. Tommy was the first to sprint over to the entrance, Tubbo’s hand clasped in his own as he pulled him along. It didn’t take long for Tubbo to become just as excited as Tommy was as he looked around. A whole amusement park, just for them. Any kid would have jumped at the chance.

“I know all the best spots! C’mon C’mon I’ll show you!”

And just like that, the two boys had run off to explore the park. Neither Wilbur or Techno saw any reason to go after them, Tommy knew his way around and he knew which places were stable enough to climb on, what they didn’t consider was that Phil was usually around to make sure he didn’t climb too high and get hurt.

====

Tommy led the way, most coasters had a path of steps up to the first big drop, he supposed that was for maintenance. It didn’t matter much now though, to him it was all a big climbing frame.

“Tommy this doesn’t seem safe, do your brothers usually let you go up this high”

Tommy just nodded and climbed higher, loving the feeling of wind in his hair as he looked down and saw the whole park, he could even see Techno and Wil sitting in the old pool as usual, he wondered what they were talking about.

“Do you know how to monkey bar Tub?” Tommy smiled as he sat down where the steps ended, he felt the presence of his friend sitting down next to him. He didn’t want to scare Tubbo but he really wanted to show him the best spot. Not even his brother’s had seen this since they were all too heavy to climb up here, he wanted to share his spot with someone.

Tubbo nodded, grinning a little as he looked down, he was still nervous but Tommy seemed to know this place well. Plus! He could monkey bar very well.

When he looked beneath them, he saw some murky looking water, this place must have been abandoned a long time ago because a considerable amount of it seemed to be flooded beyond repair. For a moment Tubbo wondered what kind of animals had overtaken that section and then he shook his head, deciding that it didn’t matter and he was good at monkey bars so he shouldn’t need to think about it.

“Hmm okay” Tommy smiled, swinging his legs back and forth, like he was on a swing “Okay so you see that big Water tower? You only need to swing a few times before you get to it, there's a loft inside and it’s a good place to hang out. I think The coaster used to pass through it, the loft probably had like spare parts or something though” Tommy smiled as he pointed to the tower, a few metres ahead of them, then to the tracks that they would be dangling from. “Just Monkey bar from the tracks and then I'll help you into the water tower if you find it tricky to pull yourself up.

Tommy went first. Anyone would have told them to stop had they been supervised. This was absolutely not something two seven year olds should be doing. As his small body swung from track to track, Tubbo took mental notes, memorising just where he put his hands. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t scared but he was excited too, this was cool! Sliding himself down on the tracks, he felt his weight shifting between the steps and his hands. Feeling breathless, he moved across the rails, one at a time. Tommy was spouting out encouraging words for him as he refused to look down but he couldn't hear him, he was just focusing on not falling. Eventually he felt Tommy’s hands clasp onto his arms, pulling him up and into the water tower.

“Oh my god..” Tubbo chuckled, crashing into Tommy with a big hug “That was so cool! Tommy you do that on your own? All the time?”

With a nod and a big grin the taller boy hugged him back, Tubbo was good at this stuff but dangling off a rollercoaster would scare anyone.

“So this is a secret? No grown ups know?” “Not a single one.” “What about your parents?” “They think we’re at the playground” “I’ll keep it secret too then. I think this is really cool Tommy!”

…

“Yeah but these super mean boys who just moved in are trying to take it away. Wilbur killed one of them though so I think it’s done now” “Wilbur’s cool”

The boys sat there, just chatting, for hours; Tommy showed Tubbo a couple more places you could get to from inside the water tower but eventually the sun started to set and they knew it would be time to head back down.

Like before, Tommy went first with the Monkey bars, then pulled Tubbo up. The walk down was always scarier since it was so steep, even with so much practice Tommy still felt like he’d fall down sometimes. They made it though, Tommy running down the final few steps flawlessly, muscle memory kicking in as he saw his brother’s waiting for them at the bottom.

Unfortunately for him, Tubbo didn’t realise the only reason Tommy could run this part was because he had done it so many times. The brunette let go of the railing and sped up, foot slipping off the small wooden steps and leaving him to fall through the gap between the rails and the steps.

It wasn’t a far fall at all. It was barely over two metres; it was enough to knock the wind out of him though, and it was enough to scare a child.

The trio came rushing over as soon as he had lost his footing, Tommy crouched beside him, trying to be a big boy and not make a scene. If Tubbo had gotten hurt it would be his fault, he was the one who insisted he came, he was the one that took him up an old coaster. This was his fault.

Tubbo looked hurt. He had flushed cheeks, like he was trying to be a big boy and not tear up, and he had a bloody knee that he had caught on his way down.

“Tech’? You've got some stuff for thing’s like this right?” Wilbur glanced over to his brother, after Wil had thrown a rock at George, Phil had insisted someone carry at least some supplies to clean out a wound god forbid someone got hurt again. It felt stupid that they needed it, Wil knew he should have been more responsible.

After getting a small green pouch out of his bag, Techno crouched beside Tubbo. He waved his arm a little but Tubbo didn’t understand what he meant, he knew about Techno’s problems with talking, Tommy had told him about it, but he had never bothered to try and learn how to read him. It was just too hard to try and understand all the different things, they could be so subtle and mean something else entirely.

Techno furrowed his eyebrows, was he mad? Then he waved his arm again and pointed to Tubbo’s knee. Still not understanding, Tubbo started to get a little upset; he felt incredibly guilty for this, he shouldn't have been reckless, now Techno was trying to help him and he couldn’t even understand him.

“Stick your leg out Tubster” Wilbur hummed, sitting on the opposite side of him and pulling Tommy into his lap, half because the boy was usually getting tired by now and half because he wouldn’t stop moving around and tugging at Tubbo, which he was sure would make Techno’s job harder.

Thankfully, Tommy didn’t put up a fight, he just leaned his head on Wilbur’s chest and watched the scene take place. Wil couldn’t help but wonder what he did all day that tired him out so much.

Techno carried on, carefully dabbing at the cut with some kind of alcohol Phil had given to him. He made another motion and Tubbo looked straight to Wil, feeling a little embarrassed that he couldn't understand.

“Bend your knee” Wilbur placed a hand on the boy's back, trying to provide some kind of comfort for him since he was sure it didn’t feel nice having to have someone translate everything for you.

With a plaster stuck over the cut, Techno helped him stand back up, looking over him one last time to make sure there was nothing else, before putting the med-kit away.

By now it was getting dark, Tommy had fallen asleep against Wilbur’s chest and Tubbo looked like he was almost there too. There was no doubt that he and Techno would be in trouble for not bringing them home earlier, yet again.

God. Wilbur thought to himself. They really needed to Teach Tommy how to read time, if he kept going off on his own.

----

“Wow Wil, I see you brought one of them back with a bloody knee. Upgraded from throwing rocks at kids your age, to throwing them at seven year olds?”

“Fuck off phil”

[innittowinit]

Abandoned amusement parks are the best place for young children (chapter 16)

Fic summary:

Techno, Tommy, Wilbur and Phil have been hanging out at the abandoned amusement park in the woods since they moved in. Techno likes knowing he's definitely alone with his brothers Tommy likes climbing on the old rides Wilbur likes having a place to play his music Phil likes spending time with his younger brothers

That is, until a group of brothers calling themselves the 'dream team' move in down the road. Will the sleepy boys give in and share the park or will they succeed in scaring the new kids off?

Chapter summary:  Philza minecraft to the rescue!!!!

Chapter word count: 2727

Ao3

Practically crashing his bike outside the park, Phil hopped off and sprinted into the direction of his brothers, throughout the past hour of his shift he had been going through hell. Trying to concentrate and deal with naggy customers was ten times harder when you were terrified your little brother(s) might be having a panic attack. Much to his surprise though, when he arrived, panting and out of breath, he didn’t see the scene of chaos he had predicted. In fact, Wil was happily chatting to George, a hand grasping at the other’s hand, Phil supposed he was trying to replicate the feeling of having Techno with him, and Tommy was sitting next to Sapnap, a few feet away, playing on Techno’s DS.

It seemed peaceful, yet tense, like how the air always seems to be freshest after a storm.

“Everything okay guys?” Phil cleared his throat, seeing all four heads peak up upon hearing his voice. Wibur’s face seemed to morph into a grin as he got up and ran to his older brother, letting go of George for a more suitable stand-in for Techno. The first thing he did was grab hold of his arm, reveling in the comfort that it gave him to have an ounce of familiarity amongst everything happening.

“They’re still stuck” With Wil, Mumbling was never a good sign, he always seemed to fall back into the habit when he was ashamed and didn’t want to admit to something. Did Wilbur really blame himself for this? It was an old park, it was honestly a wonder how it hadn’t happened sooner. He had a smile on his face but his body language betrayed any kind of front he was attempting to give.

Leading him to the door was Wilbur, placing a hand on the knob and trying his hardest to open it as if to prove a point.

“It wont open..” There was a sniffle before a cough was forced out to hide it  “It wont open.”

His voice sounded weak, like he was on the verge of just giving up,of just accepting that he’d never see Techno again. In Phil’s opinion that would be an incredibly childish thought, not like he’d ever say that, it was just that he’d found nothing was really impossible. Sometimes you need to think outside the box to figure it out, but everything was very much possible. That being said, he understood why Wil would feel that way, he couldn’t really knock him for something he couldn’t help, feelings could get messy and complicated but family could always figure it out.

First, he gave a little knock on the door and called into the booth, wanting to make sure the two were okay first, plus it would be a bit ironic if he came to help and accidentally swung the door into them because he hadn’t given a warning.

“You two alright in there? I’m gonna get you out, okay?” “Phil!” Dream seemed to yell like he had all the energy in the world “We’re okay! I broke my mask! Techno spoke!”

“You broke your mask?!” George had piped up, turning his head, brows furrowed with concern and confusion. The two got into a little back and forth, Dream trying to blow it off as totally-not-a-big-deal and George getting exponentially more worried about his brother.

However, all Phil was able to think about was the fact that Techno had spoken. It wasn’t incredibly rare nowadays, he had a small number of friends who he would speak to but he could honestly say that -that Phil knew of, of course- that Techno had spoken to someone he wasn’t already close with.

The pride swelling inside him was immeasurable, he knew just how hard Techno had been working to get to this point and the fact that it was paying off was just mind-blowing to him. Techno had worked so so hard and he had taken a massive step with something that was scary for him.

They were doing something right at least. Okay. Back on task, he couldn’t exactly gush about his little brother if he was stuck in a ticket booth.

Giving the door a quick wiggle it became very apparent that it was tilted off its hinges and without knowing where it was getting caught it would be pretty impossible to get it open. Sighing, he decided with great reluctance that he was going to have to ‘pull a Wilbur’ as they had started to affectionately refer to it.

Within five minutes he had found a rock, big and sharp, it could clearly do some damage if it had enough force behind it. Honestly, he felt a little bad about doing this, when they first found this place they had made the decision that they wouldn’t vandalise anything since that would just ruin the sanctity of their spot. This was a rare exception though, Phil very much still stood by the fact that mindless damage was bad but this was really the only way to get the boy’s out.

“I’m going to throw a rock through the shutters okay? Make sure you’re standing back”

“Standing back!”

The first throw made a big indent, the corner of the shutter caving up just so Phil could bash it a few more times and cause an actual gap. Once there was enough of a crawl-space, Phil held the top of the shutter up and signaled for the boy’s to go through. The metal was poking into his hands and he knew he’d need to bandage them up when he got home but he saw it as more important to make sure the boys got out unscathed. Especially Dream, not to say he didn’t love Techno, he just hadn’t met their parents and who’s to say they had had a tetanus shot?

Generally, he did try not to compare their home-life to other people’s since there were just so many factors that affected it, that being said if he wasn’t the one to book his brother’s vaccinations every few years, he doubted that they’d  get done at all.

Dream had been the first out of the booth, Techno guiding him from behind since his vision was pretty limited from the coat draped over his face. Upon finally being back out in the open, his brothers immediately came over to check if he was okay, pulling him away from the group for a moment to check for any scratches on his face. Suddenly it hit Phil, these boys were a bit rowdy, they were impulsive and loud, they made a lot of questionable decisions but at the end of the day, the love was still there; the exact same love and concern he had for his brothers was there. Maybe they weren’t exactly as rotten as originally thought.

Once Techno had so much as placed a foot outside the booth, Wil had rushed over, clinging onto him and whispering an array of apologies and promises to never ignore him like that ever again.

“Techno!” The boy had Techno’s cheeks cupped in his hands as he half examined him for cuts and half tried to reassure himself that his brother was very much still here. “Techno! Techno! Techno!”

Eventually, the boy gave in to his name being chanted and pulled Wilbur into a hug, rubbing his back gently. Everything was okay now. The scene was sweet and picturesque, the two holding gently.

As if materialising back from the corner they had scuttled off to, the Dream team were back but George was leading them instead of the usual Dream, that made sense, Phil thought to himself, the day had been emotionally exhausting for everyone involved, no doubt Dream just needed a cool down from his role.

“We’re gonna head home I think, Dream needs to get a new mask and I think we’re all pretty tired after today. We did want to come today to talk to you guys about everything that happened, I guess we kinda see why we shouldn’t come unannounced now. Still. I wanna talk so are we okay to come down Wednesday? We promise to always tell you beforehand if we’re gonna come now.”

“Wednesday’s good, I’ll be taking this lot home soon too”

George went to move but Dream stood still, giving Techno, who still had a very attention deprived Wilbur stuck to his arm, a tug on his sleeve.

“I uh.. I still have your coat”

Techno’s face contorted into an emotion Phil couldn’t read, apparently Wil could though because he passed him his phone, presumably so that he could type out what he wanted to say rather than going through the whole process again. Plus, that was a closed space with one person, Techno already knew trying out here would be too much so he didn’t bother, opting to just show him the phone screen instead.

‘Just bring it on Wednesday, idc, get a new mask though because you look stupid’

Dream ‘grinned’ (or as much as a grin you could do through a hood) and nodded, thanking Techno before he and his brother’s finally said their farewells and the sleepy bois were left alone in the park.

It was quiet, just for a minute Before Phil burst out into a massive grin, scooping up his brothers into a big hug.

“I’m so proud of all of you! I’m so proud! So so proud!”

Each one of them got a kiss on the forehead as Phil gushed over them

“Okay okay I think it’s time I get a proper explanation first though”

--

Phil had led them to a bench, the same one near the coaster that they had been sitting at earlier, and got ready to hear the full story. Wil was still holding onto Techno, keeping their hands linked even when they were sitting but he supposed it had also been pretty upsetting for Tommy too since the young boy immediately went to sit on Phil’s lap, something that he only ever really did if he was tired or in need of comfort, snuggles for the sake of snuggles were usually when he was sitting with the twins.

And so, with a little boy on his lap and his other two younger brothers in front of him, Phil gave out a sigh, trying to decide what was best to say. They all seemed so shaken up.

“If explaining what happened is going to hurt, you don't need to say anything, I love you all and I trust your judgements. Of course I’m curious but at the end of the day my job is just to love you guys and make sure you have something stable to come home to”

Tommy had curled up against his chest, taking this as a sign that he didn't want to be part of the conversation, Phil wrapped him up in his green jacket, hoping that the option to shield himself from it would help a bit.

“I can explain” Wil cleared his throat, fiddling with Techno’s hand, who was used to the affection by now. “They came down and.. I got mad. I knew you wouldn’t like it but I thought I was protecting everyone so I kept yelling and yelling and I wouldn’t even listen to what George was trying to tell me. Techno told me he was going into overload but….but…” He stopped fiddling with Techno’s hand, instead opting to squeeze it as his face contorted to one of guilt and pain.

“I didn’t want to listen or deal with it or just stop yelling so I ignored him. I carried on Yelling until he ran off, I think Dream must have followed him because they both ended up in the booth and the door got stuck. I got so scared and I was freaking out, Tommy was being really sweet and trying to help but I think it was all just a bit much, He and Sapnap went off to play which I was really glad about.. I.. I didn’t want him to see me like that. Anyway George helped me calm down and that’s around the time I called you. We kinda just spoke about everything, I told him about my music and how Techno plays violin, he spoke about some of his hobbies too. He’s kinda nice actually”

Phil’s face morphed into sympathy, scooting across on the bench to pull Wilbur into a hug.

“You all handled that so so well. I love you all so much and I’m so proud, Toms? Look up for a second big guy” A little face poked out from the big green jacket “I’m so so happy to hear you were helping Wil, that was a very good thing, I’m also very very very proud to hear you were able to give him his space when he needed thinking time, that was a very grown up decision and I’m incredibly proud of you for that.”

Tommy was grinning now, he clearly disliked it when his brothers were upset but the praise was enough to get back the usual smiley boy. “I’m the best.”

“That’s right” Phil laughed “You’re the best”

Next up, Wilbur. God if he had all the time in the world he’d still have to rush to say all the reasons he was proud.

“Wil?”

The boy looked up, looking much smaller than normal with his shoulders hunched.

“You did so so well, you handled that perfectly. Maybe it started off a little rocky, maybe there were a few bad decisions but that’s okay, nobody got hurt and you're all safe. I’ve never seen you be able to de-escalate yourself like that before and honestly I’m just at a loss for words. You’re doing so well and I can tell you were trying really hard to keep it together. I love you so so much and I promise you we aren’t going anywhere.”

Wil didn’t have a response, just a shy smile, moving to rest his forehead on Techno’s shoulder, Tonight definitely seemed like one of those nights where Techno would need to stay by his side the whole time.

“And Techno? Oh my God. You spoke to Dream? Can I hear the story?”

Techno nodded, a big grin on his face, having clearly been waiting for his turn to get praised, “Well Dream broke his mask and he was sad, I gave him my coat to try to fix it but he was still sad that I saw his face. I tried to remember what you do when we’re sad and I realised I was going to have to talk, it was really scary and I ended up doing the counting thing that me and Wilbur do! But Wil wasn’t there so I had to gesture with my hands but he caught on pretty quick. We did that for a bit and then!!” He was bouncing a bit, one hand on top of Wilbur's to make sure the other didn’t mistake his excitement for trying to get him off. “I got the words out! I told him that he didn’t need to be upset about it and that one day he’d feel better about it and he said that he thinks the same about me”

It was rare to see Techno so excited but it was also rare to have a situation as big as this, Phil didn’t even reply for the first few seconds, pulling the others into yet another hug.

Today had a lot of hugs.

“Tech’ that’s amazing. I don’t even know how to say how proud I am of you, you’re really doing so well.”

As the bigger the thing needed to be praised got, Phil found that adequate praise was harder and harder to articulate. How could he even put it into words just how proud he was?

“You’re doing so so well, This was something massive for you and you really beat it, this was such a big step in the right direction, I’m so proud of you Techno. I’m incredibly proud of all of you.”

The four of them sat together, all huddled up in a happy little pile before Phil gently moved out of it and stood up.

“I think we all deserve ice cream and a movie, who’s with me?”

Who would say no to ice cream and a movie?