Chapter Text
Techno comes back with a glass of milk, and leaves as soon as he gives it to Phil’s outstretched hands. He gets the message that this might be a long talk, and he doesn’t want to linger in the corner while Phil talks with Tommy. Instead, Technoblade closes the door behind him and goes out into the ravine to walk towards where Wilbur is, while Phil goes to wake Tommy up.
There’s far too many people in the ravine for Techno’s comfort, and he doesn’t like the feeling of eyes following him as he walks across the stone floor, his boots giving a quiet click with each step. There’s the sound of scattered conversations, burning fires, and in a way, Techno likes the noise, likes the company.
But he doesn’t like how it got here. And he doesn’t enjoy the noise for very long. It’s too much for him, too many people that were nearly considered enemies just a few days ago. Right now, they’re all under an impromptu peace treaty, the war and the fighting put on stop after the detonation of l’manburg. Or, manburg.
Techno supposes the name doesn’t really matter anymore, does it?
The point is that Techno doesn’t trust the people who are all sitting in his home, and so he quickly makes his way to Wilbur’s room, half because he wants an escape, half because he feels a quiet protective fire burn in his heart with all the possible threats around them.
Techno slips into Wilbur’s room quietly, shutting the door behind him with a barely audible click. Wilbur stays sleeping underneath his covers, and Technoblade listens to the noise of quiet snoring, steady breathing. He closes his eyes, leans back against the door with a huff.
This whole situation is so nerve wracking. First Tommy, which had been just too much-- Techno never wants to see that much blood on his little brother ever again, never again-- then Wilbur, coming in with too many burns, too much soot and ash and blood in his clothes, his hair, his skin.
Too much. Too much at once. Technoblade knows that war can be eventful, but nearly losing both his brothers in such a short amount of time, it’s just too much for his heart. He’s filled with a sudden want to be out of here already, out of these stone walls, out of this land. He wants to go back home, wants to take Wil and Tommy back home, with Phil.
It’s safer there, quieter there, and there, Techno might be able to breathe.
The air feels suffocating in his lungs, and he opens his eyes, stepping away from the door to go walk up to Wilbur’s bedside, watching over him as he rests. There’s a crease in Wilbur’s eyebrows as he sleeps, and Techno huffs, a bit amused and a bit annoyed at how even in sleep, Wilbur looks stressed.
He reaches out a hand and tries to smooth out the lines on his face, Wilbur shifting a bit in his sleep, but not fully waking up. Technoblade pulls back his hand, and sits down on the bed next to Wilbur, sighing.
“I’m never letting you leave home without me again.” Techno murmurs, Wilbur blissfully unaware of Techno’s gaze on him. “The moment I got here, you had just been…”
Stressed. Pushed too far, more snappish than usual, more distrusting than usual, more daring than usual, playing around with his life as if it wasn’t that much of a deal. Wilbur would look too tired and too angry, and Tommy would just be worried or angry in return.
Now Wilbur’s just...tired.
The anger is gone, the bitterness has finally left Wil’s shoulders, and in a way, it takes something off Techno’s shoulders as well. Wilbur just looks tired, in need of rest, in need of recovery, and Technoblade will make sure he gets it, he swears. Even if he has to drag him by the leg.
Technoblade breathes in, and breathes out, looking at the door once more, and listening just in case for any visitors. He stays undisturbed, though, and Techno stands up, walks around the bed so he can sit down again behind Wilbur’s back, where there’s more space.
He lays down on his side, scooting close to Wilbur so he won’t fall off the edge of the bed, and he stares at the back of Wilbur’s head, stares into those brown curls that had been dirty with ash, dirty with blood. Techno had washed most of it off, but some of it still stays in the strands, he knows it.
Scooting forward just a bit more, Techno rests his forehead up against Wilbur’s back, right beside his shoulders, and he sighs softly, closing his eyes.
Just a little while longer, Techno tells himself. Then Phil can give the go-ahead, and they can leave already. Then they can go home.
He’ll rest here with Wilbur, until then.
---
Tommy wakes up slowly, blinking his eyes open with the effects of the potion fading away, and consciousness coming back to him. Phil smiles a bit at the confused face Tommy pulls, and the teen raises his hands up to his eyes, scrubbing away the last bits of drowsiness.
“Mornin’, mate.” Phil greets, Tommy groaning a bit before turning his head to the side and letting his hands hover over him so he can look at Phil. His eyebrows scrunch up, a quietly grumpy expression pointed towards Phil, and Phil’s smile grows into a grin. “Sleep well?”
“I didn’t mean to sleep.” Tommy answers, yawning wide, before shaking his head.
“Techno gave you a potion so you could get the rest. Personally, I think you need it.”
“That bitch.” Tommy mutters, but it lacks heat. He sits up with a frown forming on his face, and he looks up around the room to find it empty, save for Phil sitting beside him. “Where’s everyone?”
“Outside in the ravine.” Phil tilts his head to the door. “I wanted to talk.”
“Is it about Wilbur?” Tommy asks, raising an eyebrow. Phil gives a knowing smile. “The tnt was something he set up a while ago, it was a way to sorta strike back, I think. At Schlatt. Of course, I didn’t like it, it meant we would also lose l’manburg, but I don’t think Wil cared.” Tommy almost sounds bitter with his words, and Phil’s wings shift behind his back.
“What have…” Phil trails off, thinking for a bit before continuing again. “What have you noticed about Wilbur, during this?” Phil asks, raising his hands up, gesturing to Pogtopia, their safe haven during the chaos of the war.
Tommy blinks, slowly, and he’s strangely quiet for a long moment as he doesn’t answer.
Tommy thinks of the way Wilbur quietly broke apart in this ravine, bit by bit, piece by piece. He thinks of the way he had to talk for long nights, argue for long nights, Wilbur again and again suggesting more and more riskier ways to fight back against manburg.
He thinks of the suffocating danger that was always on their backs, he thinks of the way he lost what he and Wilbur fought for, and he thinks of the way Wilbur had looked at Tommy, and his eyes just seemed so-
“Tommy.” Phil’s hand rests onto Tommy’s, warm and solid, and only does Tommy realize now that his vision has gone blurry.
“Dad.” Tommy says quietly, Phil’s hand closing around Tommy’s fingers. “Wilbur’s not okay.” He admits, and he knows it to be true. He knows something went wrong, there, he knows Wilbur got stuck in this stupid cloud of paranoia and distrust, and it just kept getting worse, and Tommy couldn’t snap him out of it. No matter how much he argued, pleaded, bickered, Wilbur just wouldn’t act like he did before, it was as if something was tearing him apart from the inside out and Tommy could only watch .
“I know.” Phil responds, leaning forward, and Tommy reaches out for a hug, already sobbing the moment Phil wraps his arms around him, wraps his wings around him. “It’s going to be fine, it’ll be alright.”
“We- After the election, we got kicked out of l’manburg. That’s why Techno came to help, that’s why we made Pogtopia, we were trying to get l’manburg back, but Wil-” Tommy’s voice wavers dangerously, and Phil rests a hand on Tommy’s back, holding him so tightly that it might’ve been suffocating if Tommy hadn’t missed a hug like this for so long.
He missed Phil. He missed that steady comfort Phil always had, that little cackle he always made when something funny happened, the way he always hugged Tommy close when things got too overwhelming.
Things are overwhelming for sure, now. Tommy had run his mouth a little too much, gotten a little too bold, maybe off impulse, maybe because he was fed up with Schlatt’s smug face and his stupid sneer. Then Tommy had nearly gotten killed, had gotten hit badly with the sharp blade of an axe, and he just remembers Wilbur-
Wilbur, finally, finally , screaming Tommy’s name in a way that wasn’t angry or bitter or desperate. Wilbur screamed in a way that felt alive, and Tommy had passed out from the pain with the crushing relief that maybe that was enough. Maybe that’ll snap Wilbur out of it.
Maybe now things will turn up. And that thought brings some comfort to Tommy, only for it to be joined with apprehension over the next few days, because how are they going to do this now? Things have gotten so very fucked up, l’manburg is in ashes, in ruins, and practically the whole server is hiding out in Pogtopia for safety.
“It’s over.” Phil says, Tommy blinking away his tears and breathing in deep, trying to calm the nervous feeling climbing up his throat. The feeling of responsibilities are already starting to weigh on his shoulders, and Tommy gets ready to plant himself like a tree and carry it. “This is over.” Phil repeats.
“Yeah.” Tommy nods, sniffling. “We- We can start rebuilding, now. From what we can. I don’t know how we’re going to start, though. And Dream-”
“Tommy.” Phil cuts him off, and his voice is serious in that way that tells Tommy he needs to listen close. “No, it’s over. Wilbur isn’t rebuilding anything. Or Techno.”
Tommy blinks over Phil’s shoulder, lets the words sink in, and Phil continues.
“I talked to them both earlier. We’re going home. No more of this, no more of the fighting, the wars, the independence. Just- Come home.” Phil says, and Tommy blinks again, but the tears have come back in full force.
“Wilbur-?” Tommy asks, voice cracking. “Wilbur isn’t…?” He’s not fighting this fight anymore? He’s not going to keep pushing, keep insisting, keep being stubborn?
It’s over.
But it can’t be, it can’t, it’s-
“He agreed with me when I offered. He’s coming back home with me, to my world, along with Techno. Do you want to come with me?” Phil asks, and Tommy leans back to look Phil in the face, trying to pick out his words from his expression. “I don’t want to leave you here.” Phil adds, and his face is honest, true, and full of worry.
“Wil and Techno are- They’re leaving?” Tommy asks, the idea settling in, the shock making everything freeze, for a moment. “They’re just leaving?”
“Do you think Wilbur should stay?” Phil asks as an answer, and Tommy falters, face scrunching up as more tears fall down his face. “All of this has become too much, Tommy.” His hands reach up to hold Tommy’s face, wiping at his tears, and Tommy just cries harder.
There’s a quiet sadness, a silent mourning that comes with realizing this whole fight for independence has quite literally gone up in flames, but it’s also washed out entirely with a crushing relief.
Waves and waves of relief wash over Tommy’s shoulders, because if it’s over, then it’s going to get better, now. If it’s over, then Wilbur can get better. Then it means there’s no chance of him ever falling back into the way his eyes just seemed empty.
And it means Tommy doesn’t need to fight anymore. While he’s stubborn, while he is often determined, he’s tired. And the thing he wants most is for his brother to just be okay.
Tommy would let l’manburg burn a thousand times over if it meant Wilbur would be okay .
“I want to go home, Dad, I wanna-” Tommy cries, Phil pulling him back into a tight hug, wings wrapped around him once more, blocking out everything else. “I want to go home, I want to go home-” Tommy repeats, and Phil shushes him, squeezes him tighter.
“Okay. Alright, it’s alright. We can go home, Tommy. We’re going home.” Phil reassures, voice gentle and yet unshakable. “It’s over. No more of this, we’re just going home.”
Tommy nods almost frantically, and he grits his teeth to try and stop the way the tears keep coming. His mind starts to work through the cloud of relief and sudden change, and certain things come back.
Tommy is going to have to leave this behind, leave not just the ruins of l’manburg, but also leave his friends. And while it’s hard to think about, and he feels a bit guilty over it, he doesn’t really mind having to leave them.
Honestly, he wants to leave it all behind. Just for a little while. Just to get things back on track, just to make sure everything gets better, everything heals alright. He just wants it to be over, and for him to be back somewhere safe. Maybe after he’s rested, and recovered, and cried a bit more, he can face the others again, and move past the way they were all wrapped up in this war.
He’ll have to leave Tubbo, Tommy thinks.
And for a moment, a single moment, Tommy very nearly considers not coming home at all, and letting Phil leave, letting Wilbur and Techno leave without him. So he can stay with Tubbo. So he can stay and keep working at what they have here.
His mind shuts it down as soon as it starts.
Here is a chance to finally have his family back together in one spot, in a place that is familiar and safe. It’s a precious chance, and Tommy takes it with open hands, and mentally says sorry and goodbye to the dead country he fought for.
But one last stubborn little problem stands in his way.
“Phil.” Tommy says, clearing his throat, wiping at his face. Phil’s hands rest on his shoulders, and Tommy can’t bring himself to look Phil in the eyes. He just looks at Phil’s shirt, instead. “I have- these disks, music disks.”
Phil tilts his head a bit. “I think Wilbur’s mentioned them before in his letters.”
“Yeah, they mean a lot to me. I really want to bring them back.” To home, Tommy doesn’t say, but they both hear it. Tommy thinks of playing those songs in the house, playing it just for himself, without a threat of someone stealing it right from his hands. He wants that, he wants that at least, as a reward of having to put up with all this shit.
“You can bring them with you.” Phil suggests.
“I don’t have them.” Tommy admits, feeling a little pathetic with his words. “I- Dream has them. He took them, a while ago…”
Phil goes still, and his hands squeeze Tommy’s shoulders for a moment, before relaxing again. “Okay.” Phil says, voice light. “I’ll go ask for them, then, alright?”
“He’s not going to give them up easily, though.” Tommy mutters, and he looks up to warn Phil, say more, but his words die in his throat with the look on Phil’s face. He still has a small smile, comforting and kind, but there’s a sharp venom behind that smile, and his expression is just a bit strained with something more.
“That’s fine. I’ll get them for you, mate.” Phil promises, and Tommy can’t find the words to say anything back. “Why don’t you rest a bit more, and I’ll go get them?”
“Right now?” Tommy stammers out, Phil nodding.
“I’ll come talk to you when I get back, and then a little bit after that, we’re leaving, okay?” Phil says, and Tommy blinks, and slowly nods.
Phil pulls him in and hugs him tight once more, and Tommy melts into it, closing his eyes and sighing with the exhaustion of all of the sudden change. Some more sleep sounds kinda good, now that he thinks about it. He needs to say goodbye to Tubbo, needs to talk with Wilbur, Techno, but maybe he can just sleep for ten minutes or so before that.
After a solid minute, Tommy pulls away, and Phil helps him lay down comfortably with a blanket pulled over him. Tommy yawns, sighs once more, and Phil snickers a bit.
“Tired?” Phil asks.
“What do you think?” Tommy narrows his eyes a bit up at Phil. Phil just hums.
“Everyone’s tired. I’m pretty sure Techno went to take a nap with Wilbur right now.”
“No he didn’t.” Tommy scoffs, before considering that again and being hit with a quiet sadness that it’s been a while since he’s shared a bed with his brothers. “He probably went to- farm potatoes, or something.” Tommy mumbles, voice having lost its energy.
Phil grins, and adjusts the blanket that’s resting over Tommy. “Maybe. That’s always been something he’s done.” Phil leans down, pressing a kiss into Tommy’s curls, and Tommy huffs. “Get some rest, Tommy.”
“Alright, dad.” Tommy says, nearly sarcastic, and Phil’s smile turns into something fragile. “Be careful.” He says, and Phil just hums.
“I think I’ll be just fine.” Phil responds, Tommy blinking up at Phil for a few moments more before nodding slowly, seeming confident in Phil’s abilities.
Phil leaves the room to let Tommy fall to sleep, and when he steps out into the ravine, he raises his eyes up at the people still scattered around, talking amongst themselves, eating food, cooking food, and just waiting.
Waiting for something. Waiting for a signal, or for action.
He looks over at the people who seem a mix of exhausted and worried, weary smiles on their faces as they talk to each other, and as Phil walks past, a few eyes flick up towards him, curiosity on their faces. All these people, wrapped up in this fight, this war, these lands. They’re all a part of the conflicts, one way or another, and they were all here.
Phil makes a bee-line straight to Wilbur’s room, and no one stops him in the way he stalks through the ravine, stepping quickly as if he has a mission in mind. Hopeful glances get spared his way, and Phil ignores them all the same. He’s not going to lead them. He’s not going to tell them what to do, how to rebuild after the destruction of l’manburg and the land around it.
They can figure that out for themselves. Maybe, Phil will give a push, but he has his own things to do now. He needs to go retrieve Tommy’s disks, then he’s taking his boys home.
At this point, Phil might just strangle anyone who tries to make them stay. After having two of his sons cry in his arms- it’s making Phil’s patience grow thin.
He goes into Wilbur’s room quietly, closing the door behind him and looking towards Wilbur’s bed, expecting to see Techno sitting beside him, keeping watch or something along those lines. Techno’s always been a bit more on guard than Tommy and Wilbur, and no doubt with this many people around, he’d be wary.
It seems like for once though, Techno’s put aside the idea of keeping watch. Instead he’s sleeping beside Wilbur, and as Phil walks closer, he can see the way Techno’s curled up, his face hidden into Wilbur’s back. His arm is thrown around Wilbur’s waist, holding onto him with his hand resting in front of Wil’s chest, and Wilbur seems to be loosely holding onto Techno’s hand in his sleep.
Phil can’t help but smile at the sight before him, and for a moment, he’s just glad to see their familiar faces. A bit battered, a bit broken, but still here, still alive and still beside each other.
He hadn’t realized how much he missed those faces, missed their company. Phil’s always been busy back in his own world, and he supposes staying busy was part of the process, trying to keep his mind off the way his children had gone off for bigger things. It’s something to be expected, but even then, Phil still missed them, and still felt a tug in his heart whenever he passed their empty rooms.
Phil huffs, rubbing the back of his hand against his eyes, and he reaches down to fix the blanket so it’s at least partially on Technoblade as well.
Techno stirs with the slight movement, and he turns his head, blinking up at Phil with a confused half-asleep expression, which turns more calm as Techno sees Phil’s face. There’s no obvious danger to be seen, so Techno doesn’t bother to wake up all the way.
“Dad?” Techno murmurs out, and Phil feels like he’s going to fall apart, eyes burning a bit as he holds back tears that are threatening to spill.
“Go back to sleep, Techno.” Phil says gently, and Techno hums, closing his eyes again and resting his head back down, holding Wilbur just a bit more closer. Phil’s hands pull at the blanket until it’s adjusted the way he wants, and then he steps back quietly, taking in a deep breath, and pressing his palms up against his face.
For just a second, Phil lets himself sob a bit, lets himself feel the sorrow and guilt of his sons having to go through this, with him being no help at all. He didn’t know. He didn’t know at all, how could he have helped? How could he have helped Wilbur, Tommy, Techno if he didn’t know, didn’t even realize that things were going so wrong over here?
Phil picks himself back up, wipes at his face, and pushes the guilt so far down that it nearly doesn’t exist. He breathes in slowly, and breathes out with a quiet fury over how everything went down.
This is over, he tells himself. And he is taking them home.
He brushes back his hair and rubs at his face again, sparing one last loving look towards Techno and Wilbur still sleeping soundly, before making his way towards the door and stepping out of the room. He closes the door behind him, and looks up carefully, taking in the glances that go his way, raised eyebrows, conversations that die in the air.
Phil steps away from the door, taking a few steps forward so he’s more in front of the general crowd of people. He stands still, looking around, and they look back, the place going silent.
“Who would you consider the leader here?” Phil asks, and there’s a beat of silence, before Eret is standing to their feet, raising a hand.
“I think I’m somewhat the closest thing to that.” Eret says hesitantly. “Or at least, I was the closest thing to it.” They were a king, once. Their castle is in ruins now, though. The tnt had been stronger than anyone expected.
No one protests against their claim, and Eret fidgets a bit under Phil’s gaze.
“Alright.” Phil nods. “I’m taking my sons home. After what happened with l’manburg, I think this has gone on long enough. Technoblade, Wilbur, and Tommy aren’t doing this anymore. We’ll be leaving within the next hour, and I’d suggest you all do the same. Find something else to pursue. Forget about rebuilding, let the crater stay there. Leave this world, go to another one.”
“What-?” Eret breathes out, eyes going wide behind his glasses.
Niki stands to her feet with a sudden rush. “They’re leaving-? So suddenly?!”
“ Yes .” Phil answers, and the tone in his voice has no room for argument. “I think this place has done more harm than good.”
Niki’s face crumples, her mouth opening and closing to protest, but nothing comes out, and she just turns her head away.
“Can I go say goodbye to Tommy?” Tubbo speaks up, still sitting down beside a warm furnace, eyes wide. He’s asking Phil, but Phil knows Tubbo would probably go to Tommy even if Phil said no.
“Go ahead, mate.” Phil answers quietly, and Tubbo jumps to his feet, running past the others to go to where Tommy is resting. Phil sighs, looking to Eret again. “I still have something I need to do before I can go. Do any of you know where Dream is? I need Tommy’s disks.”
Phil is met with apprehensive faces and hesitant glances.
“Dream’s-” Eret starts, huffing a bit. “He’s not going to give those up easily.”
“Who said I was going to ask nicely?” Phil responds, raising an eyebrow. “Any idea of where he is?”
“The ruins of l’manburg, probably.”
Phil nods, walking past the others and making his way to the steps of the ravine that lead up and out into the forest. He ignores the lingering looks that watch him go.
---
The destruction left behind is even worse now in the daylight.
Phil flies over it with a slight frown, unhappy with the way the smell of smoke fills his nose and how the ground is only made up of ash and disrupted ruins.
All of this was Wilbur’s, once. The place where the blast was the strongest, where the crater is the deepest, was Wilbur’s. Phil feels sorry he never got to see it before it went up in flames. But quietly, he hopes it forever stays in ruins, as a cheap revenge for what it did to his sons.
The land is just a grand expanse of black and grey ash, toppled over debris of past buildings. There’s a few things intact, a couple walls still standing that Phil might be able to recognize if he knew this world. But everything is new to him, and he doesn’t think he wants to stay around long enough for it to become familiar.
There’s a bright green that stands out against the craters and destroyed buildings. A small silhouette stands in the middle of it, and Phil flies down towards Dream, curling his hands into fists at his sides.
He lands carefully next to a deep crater, his wings still kept stretched out as he makes sure the ground beneath him is stable to walk on. Dream pays Phil no mind, and instead keeps taking in the remains around him, his reaction unknown behind that smiling mask.
“Dream.” Phil says, stepping towards the man, walking slowly. “I need Tommy’s disks.” He says, straight to the point, no room for argument.
Dream looks at Phil with a nonchalant air to him, and he tilts his head at seeing Phil stop in front of him. “Phil. You got here just in time for the action, huh?”
“The disks, Dream.” Phil repeats. “I’m not here for small talk.”
Dream doesn’t say anything for a moment, and he huffs a bit, waving a hand around them. “You sure? I thought you’d want to know more about l’manburg and why it blew up.”
“I think Wilbur can tell me himself.” Phil responds. He holds a hand out. “The disks.”
Dream doesn’t comply. “And what makes you think Wilbur is going to tell you the truth? He might say anything just so he can get the rebuilding back on track and have his land again.”
Phil smiles thinly. “There won’t be any rebuilding. There won’t be any more fighting for land or independence.” He can see the way Dream’s shoulders drop a bit, leaning back from the sharp glare in Phil’s eyes.
“I’m taking my sons home.” Phil says slowly, each word spoken like it’s a promise. “And I need Tommy’s disks.”
“No.” Dream breaths out, and he sounds nearly horrified, before he clears his throat and tries to steady his voice. “No, I can’t give them to you. If Tommy leaves, then- everything is going to get so boring, you know? I can’t just let him leave. You can take Wilbur, though.”
Phil lowers his hand down to his side. “Boring?” He repeats.
“Tommy stays.” Dream insists. “I’m not giving you the disks. It’s a no from me. Tommy needs to stay around a little more, we still have our fight going-”
Dream gets slammed back with the force of Phil suddenly hitting him across the face, and Phil stretches his wings out, letting them rise up towards the sky, the feathers seeming so much bigger than before. Dream falls backwards, rolls into a crater with a groan, and he pushes himself up on his knees with a frantic energy. His face partially shows, with his mask pushed to the side with the force of the punch, and Phil can see the way his eyes are wide, disbelief and fear mixed into one.
“I don’t think you understand.” Phil says, looking down towards Dream, wings splayed out, eyes burning with quiet fury. “ I wasn’t asking.”
“I-I can’t give the disks-”
“Either you give them to me or I’ll kill you right here.”
“You can’t!”
Phil grins. “Fuck around and find out.”
Dream’s face goes a bit pale, and Phil drops down into the crater with him.
---
Wilbur wakes up slowly with an arm around his middle, and the sound of quiet humming behind him. The pain of healing burns annoy him a bit, and he grimaces as he tries to shift into a more comfortable position, laying on his back with Techno’s arm resting across his chest.
Wait, what?
Wilbur jolts a bit at realizing Technoblade is just laying right beside him, eyes closed, shoulders relaxed as if he’s perfectly asleep. Both him and Wilbur are kinda squished together, with the size of the bed, and Wilbur is more than a bit confused at the fact that Techno is just- taking a nap here, of all places.
Well, he’s not asleep, really. There’s the light humming coming from Techno’s throat, his eyes still closed. He’s resting, but he’s not asleep. Just, laying beside Wilbur, then.
“...Technoblade.” Wilbur whispers, and Techno cracks open an eye, raising his eyebrows in a silent question of ‘why are you disturbing my rest’. “Uh, what are you doing?”
“Tryin’ to sleep, obviously.” Technoblade slips his eyes closed again, hand picking at the front of Wilbur’s shirt. “I didn’t want to be out in the open ravine with all the people. And I can’t go into Tommy's room, because he’s either sleeping or he’s talking with Tubbo.”
Wilbur hums, nodding slightly. “Where’s dad?”
“Not sure. Think he went to go do something.” Technoblade opens his eyes again. “That’s going to be more common, isn’t it?”
Wilbur blinks at Techno, face scrunching up a bit in confusion. “What is?”
Techno just yawns, sighing as he rests his head more against Wilbur’s arm. “It’s been a while since you’ve called Phil dad.” He explains, and Wilbur goes still. “Whenever we talked about him, it was always Phil this, Phil that. Never dad.”
“Things are different now.” Wilbur says quietly, and he feels a bad guilt curl up in his chest as thoughts start to swarm back over l’manburg, pogtopia, this whole useless fight-
“Yeah.” Techno responds, nudging a finger into Wilbur’s shoulder. “It’s a good different.”
Wilbur frowns even with the light tone in Techno’s voice, and Techno huffs, raising his hand to nudge at Wilbur’s face, right underneath his eye.
“Stop looking all upset.”
“I’m feeling upset.”
“Then stop being upset.”
Wilbur gives a light scoff. “Wow. Feeling so much better now.”
Techno hums. “You’re welcome. How are your burns?”
“Honestly?” Wilbur makes a face, Techno narrowing his eyes a bit. “Hurts like a bitch.”
Technoblade sighs, before sitting up and getting off the bed with a yawn. “I’ll get a healing potion.”
“You don’t have to-” Wilbur goes to say, scooting up in the bed so he can sit against the headboard. The pain isn’t unbearable for Wilbur, he can stand it until they get leave, he doesn’t want Technoblade to do more than he’s already done. Everything he’s done so far, for Wilbur, it’s all gone up in flames, and Wilbur feels guilty for asking more, after the shit he’s pulled.
“I am getting a healing potion, Wilbur.” Technoblade stresses, giving a glare towards Wil’s direction, as if daring him to disagree. He walks up to the chests in the room, looking through them as he continues to talk. “I really wish we can just leave already. I know Phil’s potions are better than anything we can make down here.”
“He does have more resources.” Wilbur admits. While the ravine is enough for them to survive in, it’s awfully pathetic compared to Phil’s world, and everything he has there. Back home, Phil has enough supplies to fuel a nation, and then some. In here? They’ve got an endless supply of potatoes, at least.
Techno gives a vague noise of agreement and he stands up straight with a healing potion in hand, popping the top off as he gives it to Wilbur. Wilbur takes a sip almost right away, and he can feel the way the ache on his skin fades just a bit.
There’s a sudden knocking on the door as Techno sits down beside Wilbur, and they both raise their heads to see Tommy barge in, practically beaming with a huge smile on his face. He sees Wilbur awake, and his smile becomes impossibly happier. Both Wilbur and Techno give a quiet smile at Tommy’s expression.
“Wilbur!” Tommy yells, running forward, and only now does Wil realize that Tommy’s holding two shiny disks in his hands.
Are those-?
Wilbur nearly drops his potion as Tommy runs into him, arms wrapping around him in a sudden hug as he leans over the bed.
“Careful- Tommy-” Techno laughs a little, Wilbur holding out the bottle in his hand so he can give it to Techno, and as soon as Techno takes it from him, he hugs Tommy back as hard as he can, trying to squeeze the air out of him.
“Oh, you’re killing me.” Tommy chokes out, hitting a hand at Wilbur’s back, and Wilbur grins over his shoulder, before letting go and letting Tommy lean back. Tommy gasps a bit, rubbing at his sides where Wilbur hugged him, but he quickly moves on, sitting down beside Wilbur on the bed, and holding up those disks, just underneath his nose. “Look, look what I got.” Tommy says, raising his eyebrows.
Wilbur’s face turns bewildered, and Tommy laughs at the sight of it, Wilbur reaching his hands out to touch the disks that are so cherished to Tommy.
“How did-?” Wilbur asks, Tommy’s face held in an endless grin, the joy practically radiating off him. “Didn’t Dream have these?”
“Phil got them back.” Tommy answers, and Wilbur blinks up at Tommy with a surprised look. Tommy just looks proud, almost smug, even. “They’re mine again, I’ve got them, Wil!” Tommy nods, and he practically shoves the disks in Wilbur’s face to stress his point.
“Yeah- You do, you’ve got them back.” Wilbur huffs, holding onto one of the disks to inspect it a little closer, and he rubs at a dried stain with a slight frown.
“Dream actually gave them over?” Technoblade asks, raising his eyebrows. “Just- willingly?”
“I actually hadn’t asked.” Tommy says thoughtfully, rising to his feet with a jump in his step, letting Wilbur hold one of the disks. “Phil just got back right now, and- I guess he convinced Dream? Since we’re leaving and all.”
There’s another knock at the doorway, and they all turn their heads to see Phil standing there with a grin. “You guys got everything?”
“Wait, wait, I gotta go say bye to Tubbo-!” Tommy exclaims, shoving his disk towards Techno and running past Phil, sprinting down the ravine towards his best friend. Phil wisely doesn’t point out the fact Tommy and Tubbo have been ‘saying goodbye’ for the past half hour already.
Phil watches him go with a shake of his head, before walking into the room, closing the door behind him. “Everyone’s starting to leave right now, is there anything you want to take along?”
“There’s not much to take.” Wilbur shrugs, thinking over it for a moment. He hadn’t been particularly sentimental to anything in this ravine. “We didn’t have much.”
Techno hums in agreement, looking over the disk in his hands with furrowed eyebrows. “There’s blood on these.” He says, lifting the disk up and looking at Phil with an expectant face.
Phil smiles a bit, but he doesn’t say anything, and Wilbur can’t help but fail at holding back a laugh.