Chapter Text
“No, my Brutus; you have some sick offence within your mind, which, by the right and virtue of my place, I ought to know of: and, upon my knees, I charm you, by my once-commended beauty, by all your vows of love and that great vow which did incorporate and make us one, that you unfold to me, yourself, your half, why you are heavy, and what men to-night have had to resort to you?
…If this were true, then should I know this secret. I grant I am a woman; but withal a woman that Lord Brutus took to wife: I grant I am a woman; but withal a woman well-reputed, Cato's daughter. Think you I am no stronger than my sex, being so father'd and so husbanded? Tell me your counsels, I will not disclose 'em: I have made strong proof of my constancy, giving myself a voluntary wound here, in the thigh: can I bear that with patience. And not my husband's secrets?”
- Act 2, Scene 1.
After a while of riding with only the sound of Karl’s hooves thumping against the ground filling the air, the adrenaline that had been coursing through my veins this whole time had finally worn off and with it, I began to feel the consequences of dislocating my own thumb earlier to free myself.
I’d been trying to keep as quiet as possible for the entire journey thus far, busying myself by idly running my fingers through Karl’s mane and trying to process the events of the past few hours. It didn’t take a genius to tell you that Technoblade was exhausted. Although it didn’t seem like he was affected by having an anvil dropped on his head only a few hours ago (I still cannot wrap my head around how he survived), the quiet, yet laboured breaths that the man seated behind me let out every now and then told a different story.
“Let’s take a break for a little bit, your hand is injured,” the pinkette announced suddenly, pulling semi-harshly at Karl’s reigns so that the horse would slow down and allow us to dismount safely. We were less than an hour away from the cabin at this point, so I couldn’t really see the use of this break, but I mumbled a quiet ‘okay’ as a response anyway. Techno had, had a rough day after all: he’d had to deal with the Government coming to his house unannounced and attacking him viciously before looting him of all his belongings, dragging him back to their de-facto country, conducting a kangaroo court trial in which the ruling was execution via anvil, narrowly surviving certain death (with some unknown witchcraft), taking care of my sorry ass, fighting a deranged butcher AGAIN and now getting himself back home without any help. He deserved a break and then some.
While pondering all the hardships that my would-be friend had endured today, I’d zoned out, and ended up practically jumping out of my own skin when I felt a pair of hands gently touch my waist.
A blood-curdling scream left my mouth and my eyes shot down to find that the person holding me so tenderly was just Technoblade.
‘Of course, it was. Who else would it be?’ The prideful half of my brain scoffed.
‘It’s been a long day and we’ve seen some pretty fucked up shit, it’s only normal to be a bit skittish,’ the other, more empathetic side argued.
“Didn’t think you’d react that strongly to me touching you like that,” Techno laughed, his tired eyes warmed slightly by a hint of playful mirth. “Do you really find me that repulsive?” A sad pout appeared on his handsome face and he crossed his arms like a hurt child would after being denied his dessert.
“W…What?!” I squawked, my eyes widening and my cheeks flushed bright red. “I was just surprised, honest! I don’t find you repulsive at all! Quite the opposite really--”
“You don’t have to lie to me, Y/n,” the man said with a dramatic sniffle, wiping fake tears from his eyes. “The damage has been done. I understand how you feel now, I’ll just go find a hole to die in I guess…”
“Wait--”
“No…you’ve said enough…my heart is broken,” Techno sighed, covering his face with his hand and sitting down theatrically on a nearby boulder.
I moved to get myself down from Karl but quickly realised that my legs had cramped up over the course of the journey and now felt like two bags of cement hanging off my torso. If I tried to get down by myself, I’d likely sprain my ankle - if I didn’t break my neck first.
I glanced over at my pink-haired companion, who was still sulking a few metres away on a rock, looking like an incredibly childish rendition of ‘Facepalm’ by Henri Vidal.
“...Techno, I need help getting down…” I confessed reluctantly.
“Oh, so now I’m not too hideous for you to bear being held by?” He huffed, the sliver of his face peeking through his hand at me showing his amusement.
“My dearest Technoblade, your handsome face and chiselled muscles are like none I’ve seen before on a mortal man. Could it be perhaps that I am speaking with Kratos, the Greek god of strength, with an unmatched physique comparable only to his brethren?” I drawled in a monotonous and sarcastic voice.
Techno instantly moved his hands away from his face and strolled over to me, a wide grin on his face.
“Well, I suppose that’s good enough,” he laughed, placing his hands on my waist again.
The warmth of his skin pressed up against my sides spread through my body and made my face flush.
“If you wanted compliments that badly, you could’ve just fucking asked so I didn’t have to go through this whole song and dance while also stuck on a horse,” I mumbled under my breath, avoiding my companion’s eyes as he easily lifted me onto the ground like I was as light as a feather.
“What was that?” Techno quipped his hands lingering by my sides after he’d placed me on solid ground. “You’re so very thankful for me saving you and taking us all the way back that you want to want to give me a back massage later as a token of your gratitude?”
An impish smile spread across his cheeks while mine became even redder than they were before.
“That’s not what I said you dic--”
“I couldn’t possibly make you go to the trouble of all that for me! After all, you also helped me by picking the lock of the cage. Not to mention your thumb is - how did your thumb get like this, actually?” The pinkette suddenly became serious at the end of his spiel, realising that he had no memory of me getting such an injury. “Was it earlier when Quackity attacked you after you helped me get free? Or was it--”
“I had to dislocate it to get out of the rope the Butcher Army tied me up with at the house,” I explained quietly.
Techno froze, an emotion I couldn’t quite put my finger on flashing behind his eyes as he gingerly lifted my hand and examined the heavily bruised skin around the joint.
“I didn’t really have much of a choice - I wasn’t sure if you were even going to come back, so for all I knew I was going to freeze to death out there in the snow but I…” I trailed off and looked up into a pair of fuschia eyes, my breath catching in my throat when I witnessed the depth of emotion they held.
“I really wanted to bring you home safely myself,” I rasped, a single tear streaking down my face.
I reached my uninjured hand up to wipe away the tear, but Techno grasped that one as well and wiped it away himself. Silently, he let go of my hands and ripped a band of fabric off of the bottom of his shirt before delicately tying it around my thumb in a makeshift splint.
Moving to kneeling in the snow on one knee, the betrayed warrior slowly lifted my now bandaged hand and placed a feather-light kiss on my knuckles.
This kiss was starkly different to the one Clay had given me less than a week ago. That kiss was out of courtesy, it was half-hearted and lacked the true grace of such a gesture.
Techno’s kiss explained to me all the feelings I’d seen in his eyes. All the words he couldn’t convey to me.
My heart welled up with even more feelings I couldn’t understand, and it was over all too soon.
“Let’s put some snow on that hand for a little while and then we can finish the journey home, okay?” Techno said with a smile.
Once our break was over and we finished the rest of the journey home, Technoblade announced that he was feeling tired and wanted to rest for a bit before starting dinner. The absolute gall of this man, really. After all, he’s been through today, does he honestly think I’d just sit by idly and let him cook dinner? Not a chance.
Although what I really wanted to do was discuss everything that had happened today with Techno (like whether or not he was okay, how the fuck did he not die from that anvil, etc.), I understood that he needed his rest, so, for now, I’d settle with making his life a little easier and cooking dinner by myself.
I quickly looked through the kitchen to see what ingredients I had to work with, deciding to do something centred around salmon since Techno had caught a few yesterday that were being kept cold in an icebox we have out the back of the house. Luckily, along with what was in the kitchen and the things we had growing in the garden, I had plenty of ingredients to make the best possible comfort meal for both of our tired selves.
“What smells so good?” Techno yawned, walking into the kitchen and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. His hair was out and sticking up in some places, telling me that his nap had been a good one. He’d changed out of his old clothes and was now wearing a large white t-shirt (I know, I was shocked to see him in such casual clothes as well) and a pair of black cropped, wide-legged pants.
The pinkette raised an eyebrow at me and moved a section of his hair onto his back before leaning onto the kitchen counter.
“Well, are you going to answer me or are you just going to stand there gaping like a fish out of water?” He smirked.
I instantly clamped my mouth shut and gestured over to the oven where the salmon was finishing up being broiled.
“Salmon,” I said simply and turned on my heel to attend to the pan where I was cooking up some white beans, spinach and garlic.
The sound of footsteps coming up behind me made me stiffen up and begin stirring the mixture in front of me violently. A soft chuckle came from my right side and I could sense a warm presence peek over my shoulder into the pan.
“Sounds tasty, is there anything I can do to help?” He asked, his voice still a little bit raspy from sleep.
I was a little caught off guard seeing such a change in attitude from my teacher and housemate. Usually, he’d barge into the kitchen and take over with whatever meal I was making, ushering me out of the meal and telling me that he’d “fix it.” This was a complete 180 in sentiment compared to that.
“Umm, yeah, it’d be great if you could…” I trailed off as I turned around and saw that Techno was standing less than a foot away, his much larger form towering over me. “...Set the table…” I finished breathlessly, completely entranced by his dark eyes.
Without breaking eye contact, he reached up to the shelf behind me and took two plates down slowly.
“Anything else?” He murmured, and (it could have been my mind playing tricks on me) it seemed as though his face had moved a little closer to mine.
My mind and heart both running at the speed of light and feeling like they were about to short-circuit, I defaulted to squeaking out a quiet ‘nope,’ which made the pinkette move out of my personal bubble and allowed me to finally breathe again.
Hurriedly, I took the fish out of the oven, poured the contents of the pan over it and then brought it to the table which had now been neatly set.
Carefully, I plated up the two meals as elegantly as possible and sat down at the table. At that moment, Technoblade walked back into the room with a bottle of white wine and two wine glasses in tow. He hummed enthusiastically at the sight of the steaming food on the table and quickly popped the cork off the bottle, poured two very generous glasses of the yellow-gold liquid before taking a seat opposite to me.
“Are you trying to butter me up for a reason with this or is it just a selfless act for the sake of cordiality?” Techno asked suddenly, picking up his knife and fork and cutting a small portion off of the fillet.
Caught off guard for a moment, I took a big gulp of my wine and proceeded to cough from some of it going down the wrong way.
“You okay?” The pinkette asked with a laugh, a half-amused half-worried look on his face.
I nodded weakly and managed to finish coughing the liquid out of my lungs. I took a small, slow sip and gently cleared my throat before speaking.
“We’ve both had a long day, so I wanted to make something that would be comforting but also good for us,” I began to ramble. “Did you know that along with being rich in omega-3 fatty acids, salmon is also incredibly rich in vitamin B-12, potassium, iron and vitamin D? Of course, it’s a great source of protein - oh, and the spinach has iron too! And magnesium, vitamins B-6 and 9, vitamin E, folic acid and calcium. The white beans are great for you too and I’ve actually heard that they’re classified as a superfood because---”
“Y/n,” Techno cut in, his expression now completely serious. “You can talk to me, you know that right?”
I took a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh, feeling my hyper-energetic facade deflate along with some of my anxiety.
“But can you talk to me? ” I asked exasperatedly.
Techno’s jaw opened and closed, a blank look adorning his face as he thought of something to say in response.
“That’s what I thought,” I said bitterly, spearing a pile of spinach onto my fork and shovelling it into my mouth angrily.
“I told you that I’d try to be more open with you, but that was only this morning--”
“Then try to be more open with me now,” I stated firmly. “Talk to me about today, about the Butcher Army and the things they said - why they even wanted to hunt you down in the first place.”
The pink-haired man fell silent, his eyes cast down to his plate as he restlessly moved bits of food around with his cutlery.
“I know this is difficult for you, but what are you so scared of?” I pleaded.
“...I’m scared of being betrayed again,” he confessed almost silently.
Without hesitation, I picked up my knife from the table and stabbed it into the meat of my right thigh.
“What the fuck, Y/n?!” Techno shouted, jumping up from his seat and kneeling beside my seat to apply pressure to my now heavily bleeding thigh.
I tried to push him aside, wanting to let myself bleed as much as possible to help prove my point, but he was completely immoveable.
“Why the hell did you do that?” He demanded angrily.
Frowning, I begrudgingly took a handkerchief from Technoblade and used it to apply pressure to the wound temporarily while he went to get the first aid kit.
“Is this enough to prove that I am trustworthy and won’t betray you, or should I stab the other side as well?”
Techno paused in the doorway upon hearing my words, a look of understanding with a hint of pride overcoming his features. Slowly, he walked over and knelt down to attend to my injury with careful hands.
“Tell me your counsels, I will not disclose 'em: I have made strong proof of my constancy, giving myself a voluntary wound here, in the thigh: can I bear that with patience, and not my friend’s secrets?” I quoted impassionately.
The pinkette threw his head back and gave a bellowing laugh.
“I understand now, you’re referencing ‘Julius Caeser.’ Of course, a woman as well read as yourself would be a fan of Shakespeare,” he said, a small smile on his face.
With a featherlight touch, he lifted my leg and wrapped a bandage around my thigh, tying it neatly at the top. Now finished with treating the wound, he stood up and examined me closely for a moment.
“Although, Portia is Brutus’ wife, is she not?” Techno said with a mischievous grin on his face.
My face flushed a deep crimson and I fumbled for a response that just wouldn’t appear.
Techno laughed again, seeming to thoroughly enjoy my suffering.
“I’m just joking with you,” he chuckled.
I glared up at him and he placed his hands lightly on my shoulders, his eyes filled with a strange warmth that made my stomach feel all fuzzy.
“And by and by thy bosom shall partake the secrets of my heart. All my engagements I will construe to thee, all the charactery of my sad brows,” he promised solemnly.