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The life of mortals was entertaining to watch. Little people, running down below, on the Earth ground, doing their little ordinary boring things and wasting the ephemeral time of their lives building in their underdeveloped civilizations. As they should, since the way of their living was destined by gods and should not be questioned. Humans must not jump over their heads.
Technoblade couldn’t ever expect to become an opportunity of knowing the mortal civilization closer than from the unreachable heights of Godhome. He wasn’t really interested in humans as much as some of the other gods, who could spend days just watching the little people do their thing. Being the God of War does not allow one to have a peaceful and serene life. Instead it could only mean to be in a constant state of fight and fury, helping the mortals in their endless bloody battles.
Thinking that war was the only sense of a mortal being, Technoblade was more than surprised to see real human life. When forced to descend to the Earth, he was walking through the busy little villages, watching the traders sell their goods, little kids playing on the streets and workers toil in the fields. The spirit was drawing a lot of attention to himself which he ignored - people were turning around at him after he passed them, walking in heavy armour and armed thrice as much as the best equipped warrior. The god looked terrifyingly, no wonder the humans silenced whenever they saw him approach.
Not having a necessity of eating and drinking as well as having an impressive endurance, he traveled through lots of villages and cities. The god was going to continue his haltless journey, until a small single village he stumbled upon changed his decision.
A single person, to be precise.
The place looked a little different from the other ones Technoblade has been in. The main feature the eye immediately caught was the love of its habitants for pale colors. The houses, clothes, streets - everything in this small city was painted and built in light shades, reminding the spirit of Godhome. Pale was even the skin of the villagers, as well as the color of their hair. The God of War was standing out from the crowd with his long bright pink locks.
A person he met once upon a time was distinguishing himself in many ways as well. It was a thin young man with big green and red eyes, a phenomenon Technoblade has never seen a human have before. The upper left quarter of the mortal’s face was dark grey, almost black, and so was the half of his fluffy wavy hair. But even though he was looking very different from the outside, what he confused the god with was his unexpected attitude towards him.
He was a librarian, who friendly greeted Technoblade as he entered the tall building of books. The spirit stood still, silently looking into the boy’s eyes, and was stunned after not finding a smallest piece of fear or nervousness. An open, light-hearted look was examining the unusual appearance of the guest with curiosity. Politely offering help, the young man patiently waited for an answer. He was the first person Technoblade spoke to, remaining bewildered during the whole small conversation between them. The librarian asked how he was doing, pointing out he found his appearance very impressive and good-looking. Did he not understand who stood in front of him?..
They met again, running into each other on the street, and the god was even more confused when the boy said he was glad to see him again and asked if he enjoyed his stay in the village. Surprisingly enough the spirit didn’t think bad of the treatment he suddenly got. Being handled like any other person was unusual for Technoblade, but after a while he noticed that it brought not a feeling of disrespect but a relief. The god offered to help the librarian move a few stacks of books the younger was obviously not able to carry by himself, and the boy expressed such gratitude, that it made the higher being feel strange. A god of something so closely related to death had never received a thank before from anyone ever.
The young man told him he was welcomed anytime, only enhancing the god’s amazement. The timid boy was breaking every prejudice of human life and being. Technoblade stopped noticing the concerned looks of other people and came to the library every day, being gladly greeted and warmly offered a stay for as long as he wanted.
It has been a few days after the god realised he never asked the boy’s name. As it turned out, the librarian already knew his, and he affirmed to be knowing who the spirit was. Leaving that aside for that moment, Technoblade insisted on knowing his sudden friend’s name, and found out that he was called Ranboo.
One warm summer day the higher being came to visit again, unexpectedly receiving an invitation to a festival. The librarian spent some time explaining what the festival was and why humans hold them sometimes. The god didn’t fully understand the point of the event, but believed when Ranboo was convincing him it’s going to be very fun and great. Besides, he felt a strange desire to spend more time with this young man.
The festival appeared to be exceeding all of his expectations. Technoblade arrived, dressed in white as Ranboo recommended him. His clothes were still looking differently, reminding some kind of an outfit a king would wear. Yet still he managed to blend in, being less noticeable in the crowd.
The god froze when he saw the librarian approaching him. He was wearing a pastel purple half-dress half-suit, stepping with his legs in contiguous pale pants, halfly covered with a light airy fabric which extended to the long elegant train. The top of his outfit looked like his waist, chest and one shoulder were bandaged, but the tenderness and grace of the fabric made it look not poor but stunning. A simple, but magnificent outfit made the spirit realise how thin the young man really was, as he saw his long graceful arms and distinct collarbones that were usually covered with a suit. Technoblade noticed a glitter and small stars drawing on the boy’s eyes, as well as the wide silver ring on his head.
Ranboo vividly expressed his joy to see the god come and suddenly took his hand, dragging him into the center of the event. The higher being has never seen so many people dancing on the streets, moving with the quick rhythm of the music that seemed to be sounding everywhere. The houses were decorated with flowers and small flags, people were dressed in fancy clothes and the air was filled with flickering confetti that were sparkling in the sunlight. The boy explained the point of dancing the other day, so Technoblade tried to follow everyone’s lead, examining what others were doing. Most of the time however, he couldn’t help himself but watch Ranboo completely giving in to the celebration, jumping and having a lot of fun, holding the train of his dress in one hand to not accidentally step on it. So many things seemed to be going on simultaneously, it was overwhelming even for a god, who had never seen such a loud event dedicated to something good. People were there just to have a great time, and something about it was strange to the higher being.
As the sun was setting, the celebration was over. Technoblade was walking on the thin path near the forest, following Ranboo’s lead who was heading up on the small hill.
“Oh, how lovely that was! Don’t you think so?” the young man turned around, walking backwards, and looked at the god with the remaining excitement and joy.
“It was,” calmly agreed the higher being, receiving a heart-warming smile.
“And this… This is one of the most important things in our entire village!”
Approaching the top, the spirit saw a giant wide tree that was covering the entire summit of the hill with it’s big green leaves.
“It is the symbol of our well-being and happiness! Nothing can go wrong as long as this tree is here safe and sound.”
“...Isn’t it imprudent to rely your entire being on a plant?”
Ranboo chuckled.
“Maybe,” he shrugged his shoulders. “But that’s how our traditions are.”
The younger sat down, leaning his back on the trunk of the tree and, bending his legs, held his arms out to the spirit. Technoblade hesitated, but then sat as well. The boy embraced his chest and softly pulled him down, making him lie down and rest his head on the boy’s stomach.
“Is that alright?” he asked.
Being unused to such things, the god shortly nodded.
“I’m so happy you could attend the festival,” Ranboo continued and Technoblade felt a gentle soft touch of the young man who was slowly stroking his hair. He liked it. “Do you have something like that up there?”
“...No, not really.”
“That’s very unfortunate! I think everyone should have some kind of a celebration every once in a while.”
The god didn’t answer, being distracted by the tender hand in hair, and for some time they rested in silence, enjoying the warm light of the setting sun.
“I was thinking of asking you something about your face,” Technoblade suddenly uttered. “Why does it look like that?”
Ranboo smiled. The god really sounded like a being of another dimension who tried to learn how humans speak. He didn’t get offended by the question, he knew it wasn’t meant to be harmful.
“Honestly, I don’t know,” he answered. “I was just born this way. It was very difficult to live with such an appearance, but now it doesn’t bother me.”
“Why was it difficult?”
“Because I was heavily harassed in my childhood, all the time. Children are ruthless sometimes, and they convinced me my face is disgusting.”
The god glanced him in the eyes.
“Who?”
“Oh, no no no!” the boy chuckled, covering his mouth with a hand. “Don’t worry, it was ages ago, it doesn’t matter now. I am pretty much comfortable with my face now.”
“Still idiotic of them to call you ugly. You have a pretty face.”
The spirit said it so casually, he didn’t see Ranboo’s surprised face turn slightly pink.
“...Thank you,” he said shyly, looking away.
Technoblade briefly gazed at him and got confused by the changes of his look. He didn’t understand what might have caused them. Yet still, he didn’t feel a need to ask about it.
“Techno, can I ask you something too?”
“Yes.”
“...I’ve read and heard a lot that gods don’t like mortals much. We are sort of lower beings for you. So I wondered why you descended… If that’s not too much to ask about, of course.”
The god took a few seconds, thinking and looking at the orange sky.
“I don’t mind telling you, but I fear you will change your opinion about me forever, no matter which one you had before.”
Ranboo gazed at him, not noticing any changes on his face that might have given a hint on how he felt. The god never expressed emotions much.
“I’m not going to pressure you,” the boy said softly, continuing to run his fingers through the pink hair. “But something tells me I won’t change my mind much. After all, I know it would have been unwise to expect a lot, considering what god you are.”
There was a silence for a minute, until the higher being sighed.
“I was forced to descend,” he started explaining. “I have a few rivals in Godhome, whose biggest wishes are for me to suffer for the rest of my life. So… One of the most powerful goddesses… Let’s say “cursed” me. I started having hundreds of thousands of voices in my mind and they are very, very loud. And as soon as I took any weapon in my hands, they started yelling and screaming, demanding a murder, murder every person that my sight could reach. What happened once was… I killed. A lot of people. More than you can imagine one could ever.” his voice got a bit quieter as he felt Ranboo’s hand on his head stop. “I was so out of my mind that I killed three gods, I’ve lost all control over myself… This is why they sent me here. They couldn’t let me stay and I must wait until the day of my trial. Then I’ll ascend again to hear the verdict and accept the punishment.”
“...What are they going to do to you?”
“The easiest thing they could do is deprive me of god immortality and kill me, but I think that would be too boring for them. Other than that, I don’t know. Everything is possible.”
Ranboo placed his hand on the spirit’s forehead.
“How could they do this to you?..”
“There’s no justice in the Godhome.”
“Do you still hear the voices?”
“Yes. But they are not screaming all the time, not anymore.”
“...I’m so sorry to hear that.”
Technoblade looked at him. He couldn’t understand how the boy could feel sorry for him after what he told him he did.
“Aren’t you afraid?”
“Of what?”
“Of me.”
The boy gazed at him for a moment, then resumed gently stroking the god’s hair.
“Not really, no. I’ve seen you. You are kind, good-hearted and caring. I think this is just ruthless to put you in a situation like this. You probably miss your home.”
“...I regret what I did while being out of my mind, but if I could be anywhere else on Earth right now, I would choose this place. Or any other place, if you were there.”
Ranboo paused for a moment.
“Really?..”
“Yes. You showed me how different mortal life is from what I thought it was, but what matters to me the most is how you made me feel. You’ve been nothing but nice to me all this time, and I’ve never felt that comfortable next to anyone in this entire world. Ever. I don’t know how to describe it, but you have something that makes me want to come to you again and again, and if I could, I wouldn’t leave at all.”
“Then don’t.”
Technoblade gazed at him, surprised. The look on the boy’s face changed, his eyes were filled with grief as he was watching the red sunshine run through long pink hair.
Suddenly, the spirit sat up on the ground and moved closer, facing Ranboo and making him look into his eyes.
“Would you want me to?”
The young man sighed, looking away.
“The feelings that you described are familiar to me, for I have the same for you. And it grows every day, making me want to never be apart from you… It tores my heart to know what danger you are in. Forgive me my emotions, but what I’m trying to say is that I have a very deep and strong sympathy for you.”
The higher being was sitting still, not knowing what he could do or answer with and having many thoughts storm around his mind. He wanted to abdicate his divine being right this instant, wanted to take this boy far away so no god could reach them. Seeing him grieving squeezed something in his chest, and it ached.
Suddenly the younger one spoke, breaking the silence.
“Do you know what “kiss” means, Techno?”
“...No, I don’t.”
“It is an act of expressing affection and strong feelings to a person,” Ranboo explained, looking at the grass slightly swaying in the wind.
“Isn’t that what “hug” stands for?”
“Yes, that is… But kissing somebody means a little more than that. It is more intimate, and shows that the person is much more important to you than anyone else,” he turned his head and looked the spirit in the eyes. “Can I kiss you, Techno?”
The god was staring at him back. He didn’t understand exactly what the boy meant, but it didn’t matter to him as an emotional act did not require any explanations.
“Yes.”
“Close your eyes, please.”
Technoblade obeyed with no hesitation, and a moment after felt a soft Ranboo’s hand on his cheek. The boy moved his legs aside and leaned forward, gently covering the god’s lips with a careful light touch of his own. He knew he wouldn't get any response, but still went for it. As shy as he was, he couldn’t let it last long, and shortly afterwards he slowly pulled away, trying not to look at the spirit’s reaction but badly longing to know what it was.
The higher being was struggling with his own emotions. As someone who never received this much affection in his entire thousands-years life, he had mixed feelings in his mind. He wondered if it was all unreal, if that could even happen. He never felt weak as the boy was slowly stroking his cheek with his thumb, giving him the warmest look and a smile, but this weakness didn’t seem bad to feel.
Ranboo didn’t expect it when Technoblade suddenly circled his arm around his waist and pulled him forward, close enough to his chest that the spirit could feel a quiet bumping inside of it accelerate. The god placed his other hand on top of Ranboo’s and rushed forward, connecting their lips again into a longer kiss. The boy held his breath, with a warm soft feeling spilling inside of him. It sent shivers over his whole body when he felt Technoblade’s prehensile arms wrap a tighter grip around his waist, touching the uncovered part of the younger man’s back. Unexpectedly for himself he felt like taking the initiative, tenderly placing his other hand on the spirit’s neck and deepening the kiss. He started moving his lips slowly, and the move was easily mirrored by the god, who quickly got carried away. Copying the boy’s movements, he started carefully running his fingers up the younger’s open skin, making his little heart race even faster.
When the boy pulled away a bit, separating their lips, he looked into the spirit’s soft and caring eyes gazing at him like he was the only person in the entire world. While trying to suppress his intensive breathing, Ranboo wrapped his arms around Technoblade’s neck and pressed himself against him, being embraced in response and feeling the god’s steady breath on his uncovered shoulder. The young man was hugging him like he was going to be taken away any second and was never coming back. Technoblade was holding him like he was made of air, carefully yet as tightly as he thought was allowed to, and the boy wished it could last much longer than it did.
When the higher being tenderly pulled Ranboo away, he didn’t resist. Being leaned on the tree trunk again, he looked into Technoblade’s determined and confident eyes. The spirit leaned a little closer, and the younger gently cupped his face with his hands.
“Whatever happens there, I will come for you.”
The Blood God received a soft smile.
“I’ll be waiting.”