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“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Techno asks curiously as he stares up at his older brother.
Wilbur doesn’t even have to say anything because as soon as their eyes meet, Techno already knows the answer. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭.
Tommy continues to push himself further and further up into the surface. He eventually goes past the clouds and Techno’s so sure that the oxygen levels up there were depleting quick and the winds most definitely couldn’t carry him any higher than that.
So after a few minutes of their little brother dissolving beyond his strict limit, they aren’t very surprised when they see a little bright bundle tumbling down at god speed. Both Wilbur and Techno spare one last exasperated glance at each other before rushing into position.
Wilbur stretches out his abnormally large bronze with stripes of soot and white accents and sets off into the air. The wind easily surrounds him as he soars towards where Tommy is currently falling from. Techno on the other hand rushes back into the house to get some stuff because Tommy is certainly going to cranky the moment he sets foot on solid land.
So he gets out three water bottles, a few chocolate bars and another water just for safe measures. Then he hears a crash, right after that there’s multiple screams and swears.
Yeah, they’re both okay. He’ll get the bandaids and maybe extra snacks just for extra cause.
~
“Don’t you ever wanna fly Tech?” Tommy asks as he plays with the ends of Techno’s lazily done braid. Thanks to Wilbur, it immediately falls apart.
Tommy offers to fix it up and Techno lets him, “Sometimes. It looks like fun but also dangerous.”
Wilbur bumps theirs shoulders together with a chocolate piece in his mouth before gulping the thing down, “Dangerous in what way?”
Techno taps on his lap twice before lifting his arms in the air, Wilbur shuffles closer and eventually rests his head on his legs. Techno lets his arms fall back down and plays with Wilbur’s curls around his fingers, “Dangerous in the way that your wings could fold when you strain them too much and you just 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭.”
“We’ve never strained our wings!” Tommy squeaks offensively while bundling up all the straying pink strands of Techno’s hair and braids them all together.
Techno rolls his eyes, “I wouldn’t know that since I don’t have wings Tommy, I’m a piglin.”
“I know that,” Tommy starts and Techno can already tell where this conversation is going, “Mumza is literally a Wither and Will is a Phantom-“
“Tommy we’ve already discussed this-“
“And I’m a fucking avian!” Tommy interrupts him with a harder pull at his hair, “None of us are supposed to be able to fly but we can! Phil-“
“-Can’t help me.” Techno cuts him off with a snap.
Wilbur rests a hand on Techno’s shoulder, “Can you two stop arguing? You’re giving me a headache.”
Techno draws out a long sigh whilst Tommy finishes up the last of his braid with clear disappointment ringing in his silence.
“I don’t get why you can’t just agree to Phil wanting to give you wings.” The blond mutters angrily as he throws Techno’s braid over his shoulder.
“Tommy lay off.” Wilbur chides as he pulls himself up using Techno’s arm.
Tommy’s scowl only deepens, “No! Why would you allow him to just never-“
“Boys.” A booming voice interrupts the two and Techno slumps in relief.
“Phil,” Tommy shoots up from his spot and bolts toward the older blond, “Wilbur and Techno are being bitches!”
Phil sighs tiredly whilst Kristin huffs out a laugh at Tommy’s usual shenanigans. She then steps forward and allows for Tommy to melt into her hold. Phil on the other hand makes his way over and sits in between Wilbur and Techno. Wilbur instantly takes that as a chance to curl up close and annoy Phil. As he usually does.
Phil seems to already be far too tired to fight him off so he lets the blood circulation to his arm be cut off by his unreasonably clingy older son.
“What were you guys arguing about this time?” Phil asks as he rests one hand on Wilbur’s scalp and digs his talons in. Wilbur almost instantly goes limp against Phil, as suspected.
Techno shrugs as he absentmindedly stares at Phil’s open hand. Kristin and Tommy soon join in and Techno is squashed in the middle of everyone. As he usually is. Then at the same time, Phil and Kristin lift their hands to play with Techno’s hair as well.
And he, unfortunately as similar to his weak brothers, also goes limp. Something about both their talons working and scratching his scalp in all the right spots makes him feel like he’s up in the clouds.
“The same as usual,” he mutters as his eyes flutter shut, “Tommy wants me to get wings.”
“I don’t think it’s such a bad idea.” Kristin comments as she removes her hand from his head and instead reels him closer so he could use her shoulder for support.
“Me neither but I’m scared of it.” Techno responds with a lazy half shrug. He grows more tired as Kristin runs her hand through his scalp. It feels nice, they always are so nice to him.
“Why are you scared Tech?” Phil asks over the water gushing under Techno’s ears. The sunshine and their body heat making him melt further and further into the hold. He really wants to sleep- he looks over to his brothers and sees that both their eyes are shut and their breathing is evened out.
He wants that too.
So he cuddles up closer to Kristin and allows his head to rest next to Tommy’s on her lap. It’s nice being this close while all his thoughts are absent.
Everything feels so far away, he likes this feeling.
“The feeling of falling still terrifies me,” Techno starts - and he finds that he can’t stop, “The only way it can possibly end is me hitting the ground.”
“Not if I catch you.” Phil says with an easy smile.
And that, as sore as the washing thoughts of death were, Phil was so sure. Phil couldn’t and would never allow Techno to get hurt. And Techno allowed himself to believe it just this time, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩.
That was enough to convince him.
“I’ll try it out, maybe.” He whispers as he finally lets his mind go blank and his body go completely lax.
“Cool, I’ll help you along the way.”
~
“I’m starting to regret my choices.”
Tommy cackles mischievously at Techno’s side whilst Phil does his work on the wings they had been discussing about for weeks on end.
Techno wasn’t very sure what possessed him in the middle of certain nights to write up a whole list explaining what he wanted his wings to looks like and how he wanted them to attach onto his body. And he definitely wasn’t sure how Phil was able to make his stupid half asleep vision come to life.
It looked…really impressive - for lack of a better word to use. So many synonyms relating to that would get the point across anyways.
Techno made sure to take as much advantage as he could manage to making it as unrealistic as possible since he knew that he would get questioned or maybe even hunted by strangers because it would be really off-putting to see a piglin suddenly flying above your abode. Techno would certainly be left speechless if he saw that himself.
To summarise the look he was aiming for, he wanted his to be as big as Wilbur’s, as robotic looking as Kristin’s and as decorated with his own choice of colours like Tommy’s.
Phil was the only one in their family to actually have naturally dark feathered wings of his own so Techno didn’t want to take any elements of that away.
So the moment he brought all those ideas to Phil, he immediately began to work on it day and night tirelessly. Techno would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night to catch his father still sat at his desk sketching down several ideas in his little book. He would then have to call the rest of his family to get Phil to go to bed before he burns himself out.
Finally, after weeks of continuously working and late night coffees, the project was coming together nicely. Phil made sure to take everything Techno had mentioned into consideration and he couldn’t be happier with the way it looked.
But then the day came to actually try them out so Phil could find any errors- and Techno wasn’t as excited about it as everyone else was.
“Holy fuckin’ shit!” Tommy chirps happily as he rushes over to Techno and Wilbur and jumps around them both continuously.
The kid was over the moon the moment he saw the wings displayed across Phil’s desk. He was so excited that he immediately beelined to wake the whole family up at the crack of dawn and rush them outside with their breakfast in hand.
Wilbur and Kristin on the other hand were mother henning Techno like no other. Constantly asking him if he’s alright, or if he wants to go back inside and rest more, if he’s eaten enough and 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩—
Phil was grinning at him as he brought up the wings to show him how they looked. How his imagination came to be. His father made that- 𝘕𝘰, 𝘯𝘰 𝘯𝘰-
Tommy ran to him and soared himself up into the air with such palpable joy. Wilbur and Kristin were smiling at him, they were proud- Tommy and Phil were overjoyed. They were all happy, they were all waiting for this very moment and Techno-
It was all too much.
It was nice that his family cared this much but it was far too overwhelming in such a small amount of time. He dug his nails deep into his fingers as his breaths began to pick up. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺-
He didn’t want it.
“Techno!” Several voices scream behind him as he makes a deck for it back to the house.
Their footsteps and the wind whooshing around their wings was too much- it was all far too much. He can’t do- he isn’t made for such-
His breathing starts catching inside of his throat as he struggles to see past the tears approaching. His chest felt like it was cracking- Techno’s cracking.
He slams his body against several walls before making it to his room. He then immediately locks eyes with bright blues before shutting his door. He fumbles around with the key for a moment while his family were bashing outside his door.
He can’t do it.
They were so happy and he had to disappoint them with his fear. He couldn’t do it. His stomach was doing things that it most definitely wasn’t supposed to be doing and he felt like throwing up the moment his eyes caught on to Phil’s bright smile, Tommy’s ecstatic grin, Wilbur’s soft eyes and Kristin’s proud smirk.
It was sickening, why did he need to learn to fly anyways? He’s a goddamn piglin- not a bird like them. He’s nothing like them.
But they just want him to be like them. He wants to be like them but- but if he fails once then he just might perish. He doesn’t want that.
He doesn’t even understand how they can live like that. How they can just set off into the air and trust the damn 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥 to catch up to them. Techno didn’t have something special like that. He was strong, he was big. He wasn’t elegant and able to do the tricks that they could do. Techno was built like a tank, not a damn bird.
He wasn’t like them and he couldn’t be like them. No matter how much they tried.
“Techno!” A smaller voice screams from behind the door. 𝘛𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘺 - his brain quickly supplies.
He can’t face the kid, not with that white bright smile gone within seconds. All because of him.
Tommy was over the moon about this. He could finally fly with all his brothers and Techno had to go and ruin that. Of course- Techno wanted that too until it was all too much. He can’t handle anything to do with the sky.
Another bang comes in, with a different voice this time, “Tech, it’s Will- can you let me in?”
Techno doesn’t respond. His mouth can’t move, his body can’t move away from the door, his hand is still clutched onto the key, the key blocking him from his family.
He can’t do it. Phil made his wings for him and he couldn’t do it. The sky was 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 limit- the ground was 𝘩𝘪𝘴.
A few more moments pass and all Techno could hear was deafening silence.
They gave up.
As much as he wanted them to, it still stung. So he finally let go of the handle and the key altogether and stepped away from the door.
The pain inside of his chest returned tenfold and he couldn’t take it. Techno crumbled to his knees, holding his hands in tight fists to his chest. He felt like throwing up, he felt like ripping his skin off and screaming. Why did run? Why did he have to ruin things? He could’ve just told Phil that he wasn’t ready- that he didn’t want to do this just yet. He needed some sort of baby step but they didn’t give that to him.
He’s always been a ground pleb, he’s literally from the nether! He most definitely couldn’t fly into the sky there with all the flames and smoke going on. So why would they want to him to fly with them? That’s not his destiny.
“Techno?” Another knock with a different voice.
He can’t speak- he can’t do anything right now.
“”Hey Techno, it’s Kristin- your mother?”
Techno feels a bubble of laughter pop inside of his chest so he huffs it out. She was always the one to make him feel a little better. He loosens his fists slightly but he doesn’t get up from the floor, he instead shifts closer to his bed to rest his head on the edge of the mattress.
“Can I come in?”
He shakes his head before realising that she can’t see him, so he clears his throat and attempts to speak.
But of course, all that leaves is a string of chirps that Tommy and Wilbur got him used to when they were kids and Techno would suddenly go nonverbal. His hands immediately fly up to cover his mouth. Red travels quick across his face as he realises the message sent with that simple noise.
Then, the floor literally 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 as Techno assumes the whole family comes running to his door. He really wishes he didn’t pick up on Wilbur and Tommy’s stupid habits.
“Techno are you okay?” Phil hollers while banging a little harder on his door.
Techno removes his hands and tries to make different noises- some that resemble actual 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴. But he instantly fails again as the chirps come out a little louder and more of a cry.
Phil was definitely going to break his door down if Techno continued with these noises. He quickly gets up to his feet when he instantly realises that speaking isn’t going to be an option after his two failed attempts.
He stumbles over to his door and struggles with the key for a moment too long to be reasonable before finally getting it unlocked and swinging it open. His whole body begins to shiver when he locks eyes with Wilbur, then Kristin, then Phil.
𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭...
Kristin is the first to rush at him and wrap her arms and wings around him. It’s warm- overwhelmingly warm— then Wilbur joins in and the dumb bird side of his brain begs for more. For far too much- Techno isn’t touchy like this on normal days. But of course, his brain quickly supplies him with a reason.
𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘥𝘴.
“I’m so sorry Techno, I didn’t mean to stress you out.” Phil cries out before pressing himself into the hug as well.
Techno feels his heart melt into a messy puddle. He didn’t say anything but they instantly understood him. They immediately understood what upset him and they’re apologising. They’re apologising for wanting him to experience their dreams.
Techno doesn’t cry, he’s never been the type to cry anyways. But he cries anyways- and his whole family holds him tight.
Or at least, Half of his family does.
𝘛𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘺.
~
Techno realises that he hasn’t seen Tommy in a while. Three days to be exact.
“He said he was gonna go hang out with Tubbo,” one supplies.
“He’s probably with Freddy,” another says,
“-with Ranboo,”
“-with Jack,”
“-with Niki,”
There were always excuses to Tommy’s whereabouts.
So when a full week passes, Techno decides to wake up earlier than he usually does to catch his brother.
He instantly throws himself off his bed the very moment his alarm goes off and races down the hall. His eyes dart from corner to corner in a hurry in search for golden hair or ocean eyes. Nothing in the kitchen, nothing in the living room and nothing in the dining room.
So he rushes outside and scrounges around like a madman. He needs to talk to the boy or just to see him, he couldn’t figure out which one he wanted more. He just really misses his brother, nothing wrong with that.
He sprints up the hill, almost trips but catches himself- there he finds him. A bright bundle of gold, red and white preparing their wings to set off into the air. Techno catches him at the perfect time,
“Tommy!”
The boy doesn’t bother to listen but instead spares one last exhausted look at him before soaring up into the sky.
Techno watches him disappear as disappointment and dread pools inside of his gut. He drops to his knees and just stares at the spot he once saw his brother and now- nothing but a spot of air.
God fucking dammit.
~
“I don’t think this is a very smart idea Techno.”
Techno scowls at the brunette, “Our little brother is pissed at 𝘮𝘦, you would do the same thing.”
“You hold a fair point there,” Wilbur admits with red staining his cheeks, “But shouldn’t Phil know about this?”
“He would give me a three hour lecture on how I need to let Tommy breathe or whatever. I’ve waited enough and Tommy has too.”
Wilbur goes silent at the statement and Techno is glad they leave it at that.
~
“Okay so you need to spread out your arms first,” Wilbur explains as he lifts the wings attached to Techno’s back.
He does what Wilbur says, “But you don’t do this?”
“I don’t need to anymore, this is just how you’re supposed to start off.” Wilbur says calmly, “Now you need to just relax and trust the wind.”
“This is the worst part,” Techno mutters angrily under his breath. “How can I possibly do that?”
“Easily,” Wilbur says with a smug smile before standing next to Techno and mirroring him. “We’re gonna run, and you need to focus the wind around your arms.”
Techno nods, “You go first.”
Wilbur shrugs before spreading both his wings and arms out and sprinting towards the top of the hill. The moment his right foot lands on the tip, he jumps up and allows for his wings to catch him, then without any motion in the middle, he just 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘵𝘴. One flap, then two then another large swoop launches him further up. Techno watches with awe- he’s never had to analyse it so close.
He then tries to copy Wilbur and fails about three times.
"𝘊𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘶𝘯,"
"𝘗𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘫𝘶𝘮𝘱,"
"𝘉𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦!"
"𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧,"
"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘱,"
After Wilbur telling him where he went wrong, he took everything into close consideration and kept trying. The sun was approaching its peak in the sky meaning that Kristin and Phil were going to be back any time soon. He needed to speed up this dumb process.
“Okay, how about we do it together?” Wilbur suggests as he throws a water bottle at Techno.
Techno catches it and twists the lip off, then gulps down the one thing in one fell swoop, “Sure.”
So the two finish up their water bottles and leave it to the side, then they try again.
“You wanna hold hands?” Wilbur asks with that same silly smile.
“You’re gonna get hurt if we hold hands idiot.” Techno grumbles with an eye roll.
“Aw c’mon!” Wilbur reaches out his hand and smacks Techno’s arm, “I’m your big brother so I need to hold your hand just in case you get lost.”
Techno stares at Wilbur’s open hand and sighs in his disappointing birdbrain’s clinginess. “You’re the worst person ever.”
Wilbur clasps their hands together and slides his fingers between Techno’s, “Yes but you love me for it!”
Before Techno can get a word in, Wilbur begins sprinting up the hill with just as much as energy as he started with and Techno attempts to pick up the same pace.
He almost trips twice, damned the ground- but he finally finds his footing and the two run together, the wind spinning and twirling around them.
“Arms!” Wilbur shouts over the gushing wind and Techno instantly does as he says.
The two mirror each other as they reach closer and closer to the very top of the hill. The hardest part that Techno has always failed at. The stupid elegant jump.
“Put all your weight on your dominant foot!” Wilbur instructs, and Techno does- he really does try to get it right.
But then the moment of truth comes and Wilbur lets go of Techno’s hand for a moment before launching right off his tip toes. Techno tries down to do the same thing but- as per usually- the power he puts on his foot is wrong.
"𝘐 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘮𝘱!"
𝘛𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺. 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳, "𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.”
"𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘣𝘶𝘳."
"𝘐𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘪𝘳, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰?"
"𝘐… 𝘢𝘪𝘮 𝘶𝘱."
"𝘌𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺!"
The mistake was right there in his face- or in his foot the whole time. He aims forwards instead of upwards.
Wilbur is already halfway to soaring towards the clouds and Techno is stuck on the ground.
“Techno c’mon!” Wilbur yells from the air, “Fix your jump king!”
Techno draws in one deep breath before returning to lower ground. He needs to get this right and get to Tommy before Kristin and Phil get back. He can’t let them know about this because they’d tell him to lay off his brother, Tommy is the dramatic type and would want Techno to run after him- something he probably inherited from Wilbur.
He takes a peek at the sun and finds that it’s almost right in the centre of the sky, he needs to get this done now or he’s failing his little brother. It’s melodramatic and he gets it from the only person who knows how to turn misery into a well put-together theatre act.
He lets out the long breath he’s been holding and he 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘴. This is probably the fastest he’s ever ran before, he doesn’t really know where the sudden push and thunder in his steps comes from but he likes it that way.
“Boys!”
The voice spooks Techno to his very core. He’s already halfway in the process so he can’t really turn back now. Wilbur waves his arms above his head and Techno spots his teeth glinting in the sunlight.
His lips are moving, Techno has never been that excellent at lip reading but he can assume what Wilbur is saying,
“𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘵!"
He finally reaches the death tip and there he finally gets- or rather 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 it.
The wind wraps around his arms and in between each open crevice along his body. He sucks in one big breath and boosts himself in the air. Upwards this time.
“Techno!” The scream from his older brother above and his parents behind him is deafening as he finally feels his feet lift from the very ground. From the very surface that he’s been locked down onto for his entire life.
Something sweet and heavy swells inside of his chest. It’s something like pride and euphoria.
“Flap your arms!” Wilbur yells as he glides further into the sky.
Techno bites down on his bottom lip as he tries to concentrate on the wind surrounding his abdomen, then he starts to flutter his arms up and down. The wind wraps around him like a tight hug and he lets the strings around his ribcage finally come loose.
He’s actually doing it- after so many attempts, after so many fails, he’s finally doing it.
With one last hard flap, he launches himself into the air just as Wilbur both taught and demonstrated to him. He probably looks as insane as Wilbur does as the brunette comes swinging at him. The taller man stretches out his arms for Techno to catch- which he does with such a force.
“You fucking did it bro!” Wilbur cheers as he grips tightly onto Techno’s hand and squeezes hard.
Wilbur’s grin is blinding, the pride is basically radiating right off his chest and burning right into Techno’s like a hot iron. He’s happy, he’s beyond ecstatic. The surface surrounding him feels euphoric, he can’t breath quite well but he’s quite sure it’s from the pure adrenaline lacing all around his chest and etching into his very bones.
He was finally flying. He broke his own boundaries.
“Thank you Wilbur—“
“Don’t fucking thank me big man!” Wilbur cuts him off and disconnects their hands before spinning around Techno, “This was all you!”
Techno looks around in awe, he’s done it.
“Techno! Wilbur!” A voice hollers from somewhere below and his heart shoots into his throat.
𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘒𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯.
“Woah, focus Tech!” Wilbur shouts from somewhere else above, or next to him, he’s not very sure He blinks wildly, eyes darting everywhere. Phil and Kristin are right there but they seem so far away, Wilbur sounds so far away-
“Techno! 𝘖𝘩 𝘨𝘰𝘥-"
He’s losing balance, he can almost instantly tell when the shift happens but it takes far too long for him to realise the wind that was supposed to wrap around him is dissipating before he literally 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴.
It happens far too quickly, unlike in all the really irritating movies he’s watched with his family where things go in slow motion when you’re in danger or anything of the sort. It doesn’t happen for him-
The wind is still gushing rapidly at his ears and his clothes are wrapping and crinkling under the pressure. His tears leave him faster than he can possibly try to catch them. It’s all so painfully real.
There’s no moment of peace either. There’s no moment where he can catch his breath and let his eyes flutter close as his fate seals itself shut. It’s a whole ugly emotional thing. There’s fighting and screaming, there’s kicking around wildly and grasping onto the surface that doesn’t even bother to help because it’s not possible for it to help him. He’s not even supposed to up here, the ground was and is for him only - no matter how much he tried.
He curls himself in a ball and vomits all the wretched noises racking inside of his throat. He failed Wilbur and he failed Tommy and he’s failing Kristin and Phil to their faces-
Then,
A stronger gush of wind gusts past him and something solid grips onto him. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥, he thinks to himself. But of course he’s far too afraid to even try to peel his eyes open.
What if he’s already fallen slap onto the ground, what if that’s what he feels underneath him?
“Woah there big man,” a voice tells him- and his whole body lights up in flames when he realises who that voice belongs to.
𝘛𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘺.
His eyes shoot open wide and he finds greenery surrounding his lower body.
He gasps, instantly falling out of whatever or whoever was holding him and face plants straight into the floor. He groans out loudly before gripping onto his hair and yanking hard. A thousand screams erupt from his throat, 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘶𝘮𝘣!
He was so stupid to even think that he could 𝘧𝘭𝘺. The surface he’s always belonged on has always been the ground no matter what. He can’t fly, he won’t learn to fly because he’s constantly going to get it wrong- it’s quite humouring that he 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 there was chance! He’s learnt this over and over again, his brain literally begged for him to not believe in his stupid gut and-
“Techno,” A scream, then a sharp pain explodes across his face, “Jesus Christ calm the fuck down!”
Techno’s racing heart quickly takes a pause to process what had happened. Blue and gold then flood his vision, “Tech, can you hear me?”
Techno nods wordlessly, unsure of how to react or what to do. He can’t figure out why.
“Okay good, are you okay? No brain damage right?
“He didn’t hit his head Tommy.” Another voice- Wilbur, says from somewhere further away.
“Oh, okay- can you even see me?” Tommy waves his hands back and forth in front of Techno’s face.
Techno nods again, slightly gaining more awareness of where he is and what’s happening around him.
Then, almost like a string finally snapping in half, the gold and blue is ripped right away from his vision and a paler version of that replaces it.
“Are you insane?!” Phil screams whilst Kristin throws herself right at him and tugs him close to her chest.
Phil grabs Techno by the shoulders and starts to shake him back and forth, “You could’ve gotten seriously hurt Technoblade!”
That’s the first time in almost forever that Phil used his full name. That’s when the realisation creates itself another dreadful pool in his gut.
“You can’t just go flying without us on watch out!” Kristin chides angrily, but she’s not like truly angry- or at least Techno hopes she isn’t.
“I was helping him, it’s not all his fault-“
Phil shoots a glare at the oldest before striding towards him and towering over the brunette, “You allowed this to happen?”
Wilbur instantly shrinks back, “I- well he asked me to-“
“And you allowed it?” Kristin snaps while still holding Techno close.
“I tried to tell him that it was a bad idea if you guys didn’t know about it but he told me that he didn’t want you to know!” Wilbur spews out nervously, eyes darting from face to face with such fear.
They’re then blanketed into a pained silence as Phil glares at the two, Kristin finally lets go of Techno but she still remains close. Techno feels a little more than horrible- he didn’t intend for this to go this badly.
Phil sighs loudly, “Okay, next time just don’t keep it away from us Will.”
Wilbur nods quickly before rushing off towards Techno and reeling his brother into a tight hug. Before he could try and ask why Wilbur is pulling away and running back into the house.
Phil sighs again but more it sounds more forced, “Okay…Tech-“
“Just Techno.” He quickly interjects before Phil could finish. He doesn’t know why he does it and it very much does make him cringe.
“What?” Phil says with a raised brow as he turns back and walks over to the two.
Techno starts to nervously play with his hangnails before Kristin pulls his hands away and hides them in her own, “I don’t like it when you call me by my full name.”
Phil blinks at him all dumbfounded before just nodding, “Okay, sorry. I won’t do that again- I just got really upset.”
“Sorry.”
Phil sits next to him, “Why didn’t you want us to know?”
“Because you wouldn’t have approved.” Techno says with a shrug. His chest stings with something he can’t really identify.
“Kristin bumps her shoulder to his, “No we wouldn’t! We’ve always wanted you to learn or at least try flying.”
“But with us by your side and not just your brother,“ Phil quickly adds in, “You both could’ve gotten seriously hurt.”
Techno nods, “I know.”
His parents do the same thing before Kristin speaks, “Then why didn’t you tell us?”
Techno then starts to think over his reasons. They all sound pretty childish- he just wanted to get to his brother the quickest and also bond over what he’s so obsessed with. It doesn’t make much sense now that he actually thinks it over but he knows that his heart needed it in the beginning.
Techno shakes his head, “I’m not sure.”
Kristin squeezes his hand, “You’re not sure or you don’t want to say it?”
Damned Kristin and her ability to see through him like glass. Techno brings up his legs and hides his face between them as his cheeks redden with embarrassment. This is so stupid- he was being so stupid. Stupid stupid stupid birdbrain—
“Can I talk to Techno?” A voice interrupts, and Techno can’t bare to lift his head up and face them, “Alone please.”
Kristin slightly shakes Techno to get in his opinion, and Techno just can’t speak once again. He’s too stuck in his own thoughts to try and structure any sort of sentence. So instead, he just shrugs. Decision making has never been his strong suit.
“Okay, don’t stay out for too long,” Phil says as he pushes himself off the ground with a grunt before going over to Kristin and picking her up as well, “you know how Wilbur gets.”
Tommy doesn’t bother to move from his spot, “Yes I know, it won’t take long.”
Phil hums, seemingly satisfied. Their footsteps begin to fade away and Techno’s heart begins to twist and crunch while the blood in his ears sloshes about loudly. He isn’t very ready to speak to Tommy, or at least he doesn’t think he is. Not after the many days that flew by when Tommy was clearly ignoring him.
Was it out of spite or was it out of pure reasoning? Techno isn’t very sure. But what he is sure of is that he isn’t going to face Tommy at all. He can speak to him just like this- with his head tucked away in his arms and his body scrunched down enough to make himself look smaller.
“Techno,” Tommy calls out, and he’s doing that voice- the really high pitched soft one, like he’s trying to lure out an afraid animal from its hiding spot. He doesn’t like that voice at all- he hates it when Tommy talks to him like that. He only talks like that when he’s scared or he’s trying to be to calming. It only works on Wilbur with his anxiety and on Phil and Kristin with their soft parent-ness. Not Techno.
“Hi.” He mumbles, if he cuts this conversation as short as he could manage then maybe he can run off to his room and hide for the rest of his life.
Techno hears the grass move towards him- meaning that Tommy was coming to sit next to him. Or maybe beat him up, that wouldn’t be all that surprising.
But then the sounds of rustling stops right in front of him and in the peak of space between his legs, Techno can see Tommy’s dirty, slightly falling apart red shoes. He really needs to get new ones or at least try to fix those, maybe Techno can try-
“Can you look at me?” Tommy cuts his thought. He’s still speaking in that stupid tone but it doesn’t boil the same in his gut. The anger that’s supposed to sizzling against his skin is dead silent.
He doesn’t like this awkward silence between them. Tommy is always the one to start up a conversation just by saying whatever’s on his mind and Techno would participate in either bickering and or chiding him for it. He and Tommy don’t often- or even at all have talks like this.
And yet, Techno keeps his mouth shut for whatever useless reason.
Tommy brushes his hand over Techno’s arms, Techno-“
Techno flinches away. He trusts Tommy- why did he do that? He presses his body closer, deeper, he just wants his end, “What do you want Tommy?”
Tommy remains silent for a few moments and the only sound occupying them is the swooshing of wind all around and the very faint sounds of people laughing and shouting in the distance.
Then the grass starts to rustle again. This time, instead of Tommy moving towards him, the red shoes are moving away from his vision. He didn’t want it to happen like this, he’s being so petty- but he’s so afraid and too embarrassed to do something about it.
“I don’t even know why I fucking try,” Tommy snarls, the sweet soft talk from before is all gone within seconds, “You won’t even look at me!”
Techno squeezes his arms tight. What is he supposed to do? He didn’t want any of this to happen so is it really his fault? His brain personally doesn’t think so.
But his gut… Could his gut be right?
He shrugs. Unsure if he actually wants an answer.
“So you’re just not going to talk to me but you’ll talk to Wilbur?” Tommy whines, and Techno doesn’t like the territory that Tommy’s argument is heading into.
Techno shakes his head, “What do you want from me Tommy?”
“I want you to fucking look at me and talk to me like you actually want to!”
Techno doesn’t know what happens to the past shame and embarrassment from before, it’s like something about Tommy’s words triggers a sudden switch in his demeanour.
Techno shoots up from his little hiding space and scowls at the blond boy, “There! I’m looking at you, what the hell am I supposed to say here to make the little golden child happy?”
“I don’t fucking know,” he rolls his eyes in a very exaggerated manner and it pisses Techno off when he does that, “Maybe an apology would be nice to start off with?”
“An apology?” Techno growls lowly, “You’re the one who owes me an apology.”
“Me?” The boy squawks, “You’re the one who decided to just go off flying without bothering to tell anyone!”
“You’re being sensitive, it’s not that serious-“
“Yes the fuck it is!” Tommy screeches at him while jerking his finger at Techno.
Techno grinds his teeth together to bite back the very many undesirable words yearning to be let out, “I’m fine Tommy,” Techno gets up with ease and stretches his arms apart, “You can clearly see that I’m not hurt.”
Tommy stares at him furiously and Techno doesn’t get why the kid is upset. On the hand Techno has every right to be just as upset with him.
Tommy huffs and crosses his arms while looking away, “Why didn’t you tell any of us that you were going to try out flying?”
“Because it’s not that serious. I just said that not so long ago,” Techno responds with his own arms crossed.
𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘺 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦. Words he kept to himself.
“Yes it is serious and you could’ve gotten hurt!” Tommy yells again, “Phil is the only one with natural wings, Wilbur can’t help lift you,” Tommy starts to walk towards him, “Imagine what could’ve happened if his wings failed, then what would’ve happened?”
Techno…didn’t really think of it that way. He knew how fragile Wilbur’s wings were since they were the only ones out of all of them that were made out of only pure flesh and very thin bones. But he wouldn’t admit his mistake out loud to Tommy.
Techno rolls his eyes again but with lesser exaggeration than Tommy’s, “He didn’t need to lift me up, I did it by myself.”
Tommy punches his stomach once but Techno isn’t really affected, “And see where that got you, you could’ve hurt him or even worse!”
“What could be possibly worse?” Techno asks with a raised brow. Tommy then throws all his power into his arm and launches at it at Techno’s face. Techno easily manages to catch it right before it squared himself cross the cheek.
Tommy stares him down, his eyes too wide and his breathing too fast. The boy then yanks his arm out of Techno’s hold and turns away from him, “You could’ve hurt yourself.”
“Well I didn’t so there isn’t a need to panic-“
“No! You don’t fucking get it.” Tommy yanks on his hair, “Do you understand how stressful it is to come home and find your brother passed out?”
Techno gently removes the boys hands from his hair and holds them tightly in his, “I wasn’t passed out-“
Tommy glares at him before ripping their hands apart with such a force, “That’s not the fucking point Technoblade! I could’ve lost you or Wilbur or both of you altogether! Why are you so fucking selfish?”
𝘚𝘦𝘭𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘩.
“I’m the selfish one?” Techno finally snaps.
“Yes the fuck you are.”
“Okay,” Techno starts, “Let’s review. First time I got those wings, I didn’t want them at the time but I live in a family of birdbrains and none of you bothered to listen or even try to see how uncomfortable it made me.”
Tommy seems shocked by the new revelation, but Techno doesn’t stop it there.
“Then you got mad at me and started to ignore me.”
Tommy shakes his head vigorously, “I didn’t ignore-“
Techno raises his finger at the boy, “Yes you did. Every single morning I woke up, you were missing. You were ‘always out with friends’.” He says the last part with air quotes.
“I 𝘸𝘢𝘴 out with friends-“
“At five in the bloody morning?” Techno growls, “I’m not an idiot Tommy.”
Tommy then just stares at Techno. His wings twitch uncomfortably from behind him as he wraps his arms around himself, “I didn’t intend on avoiding you.”
“Sure and I didn’t want to fly. Guess we’re both unfortunate.”
“Then why did you bring those plans to Phil?” Tommy asks, and his voice had gone back to being all soft but instead of it being directed at Techno, it’s instilled in Tommy.
Techno decides to ignore the pain ringing inside of his chest, “Because he suggested it.”
“You could’ve said no.”
“Would you have still avoided me if I said no?”
Tommy doesn’t answer and Techno nods, pained but satisfied with the response.
“I didn’t avoid you Techno.”
“Then what did you do? You’re always the first one to wake up and be there for breakfast.”
I went to Tubbo’s house.” Tommy’s voice keeps progressively getting smaller and Techno isn’t sure if it’s from fear or embarrassment.
“And?”
“I stayed there, for a while.”
Suddenly, the story he believed begins to crack under the new information. Techno thought Tommy was avoiding him but rather he was staying with Tubbo for that outstanding week.
The only question hovering around was why.
“Is there a reason to why you stayed with Tubbo?”
Tommy wrings his fingers together before hanging his head, “I don’t- You seemed like you needed a break away from me.”
“A break?”
“Phil and Wilbur had a talk with me and said I should lay off.”
As expected. Techno nods wordlessly, trying to get all the information to melt through his head. So Tommy wasn’t avoiding him, Techno just didn’t know that the boy wasn’t home at all. Before that, Wilbur and Phil had a talk with him. Techno assumes it was a few hours or days after the time he ran into his room after the whole panic spiel.
Techno keeps nodding as all the information sticks together like a perfect puzzle in his head. So it’s at least settled then he guesses. He does owe the boy an apology though.
Techno blows a long breath out of his nose before turning to Tommy and looking straight into those azure eyes.
“Tommy come here,” Techno says softly with his hands stretched out. This is how their apologies often go.
Tommy stares at him like he’s grown three more heads before physically jolting his legs forwards and sitting down in front of Techno. He connects their hands together and Techno closes them.
“I’m sorry kid, I shouldn’t have assumed the worst from you.”
Tommy nods, his eyes clearly growing glossy, “Thanks. I’m sorry too, I should’ve told you first.”
Techno smiles, “And I’m sorry for not telling you that I was going to try out flying, clingy brat.”
Tommy chuckles, “Okay asshole. I’m sorry for snapping at you, I’m sure you had your reasons for it.”
The two fall into silence for a few moments and Techno can see the question swimming in his Tommy’s facial expression. He wants to know why he kept it a secret. It’s an embarrassing secret and Tommy doesn’t really have to know about it.
So Techno just breaks into a tight toothed grin and yanks his little brother towards him before enveloping him in a headlock.
Tommy shrieks and kicks around like feral bird whilst clawing at Techno’s arm. The man just laughs. He missed this a lot- he didn’t like the tension between him and his golden boy. Tommy loudly spews out a bunch of incoherent swears and shouts of declaring war on him.
Techno just slightly lets go of the boy enough to allow him to pull away. Techno thought he was going to be the first one to capture Tommy in a tight hug but the moment he lets go, Tommy launches himself at Techno, making him tumble over with his little brother resting on his chest.
“You’re a bitch.” Tommy declares with a fond smirk on his face.
Techno simply takes it. It’s Tommy, how could he not? “Okay loser.”
“I’m not a loser.”
Techno stretches out his arm out enough to set in on Tommy’s head and he starts to scratching at his scalp, “Sure kid.”
Tommy quickly goes limp- just as Techno had suspected. He smiles, he likes this.
“Fuck you.” Tommy whines with a slight slur to his words.
Techno rolls his eyes fondly, “Love you too.”
“I also wanna participate in this hug!” Wilbur shouts from a distance.
Techno sighs with exasperation as the brunette starts to lift himself off the ground and soars towards them. Phil and Kristin follow behind with stupidly soft smiles on their faces.
He simply opens his arms and allows for his older brother to slam into his side. Then his parents soon join in on either side. Techno is overwhelmingly warm, but it’s nice because it’s his family.
“So did you two make up yet?” Wilbur asks with a cheeky smile. Techno smacks the man across the back of his head with a smile on his own face.
“Yeah we did, mistake on both sides,” Tommy explains, his eyes still closed and his body completely lax.
“Can someone get the child off me?”
“Nah, he likes it there and I do too.” Wilbur argues before pressing himself deeper into Techno’s side.
Okay, he hates them so much. They’re all actually so horrible to him. (He’s lying. He just can’t admit that out loud.)
“I hate you all.” Techno simply declares because it is the truth and very factual.
Kristin and Wilbur burst out in laughter while Phil picks Tommy up from his chest and allows for Techno to actually sit up properly.
They then head to the house and Techno feels a little nicer. His chest feels intact. Wilbur laces their hands together and smiles brightly as Techno squeezes once.
Wilbur grins, "𝘞𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸? 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳."
Techno thinks it over, "𝘚𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳."