Chapter Text
Technoblade doesn’t know how they got to this point.
Earlier this month, he and Wilbur had gone to the End and gotten some supplies. They’d met this weird kid, who had a purplish tint to his skin and odd floaty powers. He’d followed the brothers around while they’d been in the End.
“So Wil-I-Am, what are you doing on this old rusty ship?” Tommy asks, hanging from his legs over an Endrod as Wilbur climbs up at Techno’s side. “There isn’t much here besides a pair of nasty old wings from before I was brought into this world.” Techno rolls his eyes as Wilbur tries to climb up to Tommy’s side, scolding the younger for hanging so precariously off a delicate item such as that. “I’m perfectly fine, this Endrod would never break on me.” Tommy pats the thing like it’s a trusty steed before he stands and begins jumping on it.
If that doesn’t trigger Techno’s ‘oh crap, someone’s about to die’ instinct, he doesn’t know what would.
“Tommy! Don’t do that!” Wilbur scolds again, pushing his golden round-framed glasses a bit more upward on his nose. Techno scoffs and hoists his brother closer.
He’s not soft, he just doesn’t want his brother to try to * die* before they can get the elytra and all the loot from these chests.
“Wilbur, be careful,” Techno scolds. Tommy smirks at Techno and begins to open his mouth. “Say it, and * I’ll* come up there after you,” Tommy’s mouth clicks shut but his smirk still rests smugly on his face. His blond hair really shines against his purple-tinted skin and the purple of the purpur blocks behind him. Techno stares at it for a bit too long. He notices that Wilbur does as well. Their piglin hybrid genes come for their heads because of the repression of instincts, he knows that feeling.
So maybe that’s why he finds himself gently wrapping his arms around an odd boy and dragging him back to their campfire, with Wilbur gathering as much gold as he could from his ender chest.
Maybe that’s why Techno and Wilbur decorate the golden and purple boy in their finest gold and chuffing to the confused boy.
Techno doesn’t care about the why’s though. All he can find himself caring about right now is the present. And in the present, there’s a boy who needs gold to be in his ears and on his wrists. To decorate his neck and ankles. Adorning the golden curls with the precious metal formed into something fit for a king.
If there’s one criticism that you could never make about any piglins, hybrid or not, you can never say that they can’t tell the difference between a fine piece of gold and a * good* piece of gold. Tommy’s hair is the * best* kind of gold. Techno will often find himself combing through the boy’s hair when he’s sleeping. Of course, Wilbur teases him about it, but doesn’t say much because he knows that Techno will call him out as a hypocrite.
Techno watches Wilbur climb up beside Tommy and he can’t hear exactly what they’re saying, but that doesn’t stop his ear from twitching. He’s trying to eavesdrop without appearing to do so, but it’s not working. Techno would growl in frustration if he didn’t value his brother not knowing how hard Techno tries to overhear all of his conversations.
He’s protective of his brother. He’s not letting take Wilbur from him ever again. That weird creeper hybrid can take his other sons and kindly die. How dare he think that Wilbur and him weren’t a package deal? Of course, he’d tried to let Wilbur go, but he kept looking for his twin on the streets, sometimes not even realizing who he was looking for until he’d see curly brown hair and wish it was his brother.
Sam had picked Wilbur up off the streets while Techno had been sleeping, causing Techno to panic. Techno couldn’t find anything to see where his brother had disappeared to and Techno had thought he’d managed to let Wilbur die somehow. Sam had come by looking for Wilbur’s brother and when he’d found Techno, he’d stared, but walked away.
It would only be a few days later when Wilbur would come barreling down the street to find Techno half-starved and close to freezing to death. Techno had thought he was hallucinating his brother’s brown eyes and pink roots.
They’d always been close, but that had made them even closer, protective of each other. Possessive some would call it. Maybe they’re right, but it works for Techno and Wilbur. “Tommy, if you fall, I will laugh.” Techno finally says, hoping that will convince the two idiots to climb down. They’d really only come for the wings, but if they’re not here, they can at least take the child–
Nope. They are not doing that.
They’re not taking the child home with them.
After a long argument, which entailed several chases around the base of the floating ships, forever anchored to a single spot, and the three lying on the soft grass of a nearby forested area that Techno hadn’t ever heard of in the End, they talk about what will happen next. It was a topic Techno had been putting off, but… it was a discussion that needed to happen.
“So, after you get the wings, are you going to leave?” Tommy asks, his hand sneaking into Techno’s while they stare up at the endless void above them. Techno sighs and looks over at his twin. Wilbur is looking back at him with a look that tells Techno he’s the one calling the shots on this. Techno gives a light-hearted glare to Wilbur but looks back to Tommy with a kinder gaze.
“We’ll take you with us if you want.”
Tommy stares at Techno for a moment before Techno finds himself holding an armful of a sobbing child. “Really? You won’t leave me?” Tommy looks up at Techno with such hope, Techno can’t let himself deny the gremlin this.
Gold wasn’t taken care of. I will take care of him. Techno shakes his head mentally to clear his instincts. Not that he disagreed, he just had to deal with the sobbing child. How does he do that? By handing him off to Wilbur, of course.
“Shh, darling, it’s okay, I promise,” Wilbur comforts, whilst looking up to Techno with a sharp grin, tinted by the ever-present possessiveness of when Wilbur has a fondness for someone he loves dearly. Techno knows because he’s been the only one to receive those looks for a long time. Now, he supposes, there are two of them that will garner that look.
Not that Techno himself is any better. He wraps his brothers in a hug and lets Wilbur comfort Tommy, just being there for moral support. He’s the emotional support for Wilbur and Wilbur’s the entire emotional go-to person in their duo.
Tommy begins to make an odd echoey warble. It sounds like a bird, but… much more… Enderman-like? Techno doesn’t know how to describe it.
“Mine. My bonds,” Tommy whispers, Techno looks at Wilbur in confusion.
“Bonds?” Techno asks. Tommy’s a hybrid, but Techno has just sort of assumed that he was some weird mutation of Enderman or Endermite.
“Bond! Brother,” Tommy purrs, turning away from Wilbur (whose shirt is slightly damp from what Techno is assuming are salty tears) to press his face into the crook of Techno’s neck. “Bonds?” Tommy peeks at Wilbur from Techno’s arms and Wilbur gives Techno the same confused look.
“Bonds? What–”
Tommy warbles again and grabs Wilbur yanking the other into their impromptu cuddle pile. Techno purrs as he gently pulls his claws through Tommy’s hair, the strands are thick and have an almost crispy texture. As though they would snap if Techno pulled too hard. That thought only makes Techno all the more careful as he gently untangles the matted hair. Wilbur joins Techno’s gentle purr and adds a low chuff every now and then when Tommy tenses at a particularly nasty tangle.
Other than low warbles and prrrp sounds, Tommy is quiet. It’s odd, Techno’s used to hearing the boy constantly talking, not the every now and then that he is showing right now. Techno questions the boy’s silence with a curious snort.
Wilbur coughs and leans down to whisper in Tommy’s ear. Tommy looks up to Techno with a sleepy smile and mimics the purr, it’s more echoey, and sounds not right, but to Techno it’s more than alright. Techno’s purr magnifies and he pulls Tommy closer to his chest. Wilbur whines jealously and Techno opens one arm for his twin to snuggle close too. Wilbur happily shoves himself into his arms and they sit there for a long time, purrs, warbling, and chuffs filling the void below and above.
Tommy wakes up and feels so… warm. That’s something new, something he hasn’t had in his sixteen years of life. He thinks he likes this feeling. A weird sound rumbles out of his chest and he vaguely remembers Techno and Wilbur making the same sound.
A hand gently scratches at Tommy’s scalp, and he melts into it, a happy prrrp! coming out of him. “Techno? Wilbah?” Tommy says, trying to rub the sleep from his eyes, but finding his movement limited.
There’s a bit of shuffling, and limbs wrapped around Tommy tightening before a sleepy, “Toms?” comes from Wilbur’s mouth. Tommy rolls his eyes. For being so warm, they sleep a lot. Then again, if Tommy could be warm all the time, he’d want to sleep more, like the shulkers that hiss at him when he gets too close to the floating ships. He showed them who was boss, though. That’s why he hasn’t hurt Techno or Wilbur because of all his practice on the shulkers.
Safe-safe-bonds-mine-mine-bonds-bond-mine, his instincts scream when a clawed hand scratches again at his scalp. Tommy lets a content warble past his lips and he hears Wilbur chuckle.
“We’d better wake up Techno so we can get the elytra and go,” Wilbur says, moving around behind Tommy before a pair of arms leave his torso. “Techno, get up, we’ve got to get moving.” Techno grumbles and rolls over, taking Tommy with him. Tommy yelps and looks up at Wilbur, mouthing ‘free me’. Wilbur chuckles again, his brown eyes moving from Tommy’s blue ones to Techno’s form. “Come on,” Wilbur makes a sound that Tommy doesn’t recognize, “It’s time to get up.” Techno huffs softly before getting up, lifting Tommy at the same time. “Put the child down, Tech.”
“Yeah! Put me down!” Tommy wriggles and kicks at Techno, but the man doesn’t put him down.
“Nah, punishment for waking me up.” Techno throws Tommy over his shoulder and Tommy protests, hitting Techno on the back and shouting how big of a man he is. Techno speaks over him, “Let’s get the elytra and take our–” Techno stops and Wilbur starts laughing but says nothing.
“What? Take your what?” Tommy asks, his protests about being carried forgotten. “Tell me,” he begs.
“Nothing.” Techno starts walking again, Wilbur right behind. Tommy looks pleadingly to Wilbur and the other man leans up to Tommy’s ear.
“He’s embarrassed that we’ve adopted you and he doesn’t want to admit that he thinks of you as a–”
“Wilbur, don’t finish that sentence if you value your time on the ground,” Techno threatens and Wilbur snorts but backs off.
“No! Tell me,” Tommy pleads, “Do you think of me as strong and handsome? Able to pull all the pretty ladies?” Tommy tries to flex his muscles but when he moves to do it, he finds himself trying to fall off of Techno’s shoulder.
Bond strong, good bond, bondmates good. Tommy shakes his instincts off. They can’t bother him when he’s got to show off how awesome he is!
“Nah, the ladies will run in terror,” Techno replies.
“From you!” Tommy huffs and mimics a sound he’d heard earlier, causing Wilbur to perk up and respond with a similar noise. “You’re a nerd, a dummy, one could say.” Wilbur gapes in mock offense (or what Tommy hopes is mock) and starts to argue that he is neither nerd nor dummy.
Tommy thinks he’s both.
“Wilbur, the kid’s right, you’re a sap, ” Techno adds when Wilbur asks for his opinion. Tommy giggles when Wilbur crosses his arms and sits on the ground. “Come on, we don’t have all day.”
Wilbur remains sat on the ground, glaring up at Techno. “I can’t believe you’d say such a hurtful thing to my reputation, Technoblade.”
“Your name’s Techno blade?”
“Oh, cry about it,” Techno groans, walking toward Wilbur. “Later, let’s go.”
“No, I want an apology.” Wilbur huffs looking to Tommy and Tommy can see the playful glint in Wilbur’s eyes. He’s glad that his brother likes to-
Wait, brother? When did he adopt these two?
Is that such a bad thing?