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Strange sight
You stand in the light
You're wrong but you're right
My heart’s beating wildly
Strange
How I'm scared but delighted
Afraid but excited too
The first time Wilbur met Techno, both boys were at the wonderfully awkward age of eleven.
It had been a perfectly normal day. Wilbur had gone to school, went to class, hung out at lunch with Schlatt and Niki, went to theatre club after school, and gone home.
That was the end of his day being normal.
The moment Wilbur walked through his front door, he was greeted with the sight of a pink-haired boy lounging on the living room sofa. So instead of yelling, “I’m home!” to Phil, Wilbur asked the most logical question he could think of at the time.
“Who’re you?”
The boy had looked up from the book he was reading, narrowing his eyes at Wilbur. “That’s rude.”
“Well, I have no clue who you are, and you’re in my house. On my sofa. So I have the right to ask who you are.” Wilbur pointed out. “So, who’re you?”
After a moment of consideration, the boy huffed and said, “Techno Blade.”
Wilbur stared. “Techno Blade? What kind of name is that?” he asked incredulously.
“Mine, obviously.” Techno shot back. “You can like it or hate it, but it’s my name so you can’t do a thing about it either way.”
Wilbur furrowed his eyebrows togethers, tilting his head as he studied Techno for a moment. The other boy was currently eyeing Wilbur, probably expecting him to make some snide comment or something. His hair, a pastel pink shade, was cut to shoulder-length and pulled back via a gold-colored hairband. His eyes were a bright red, and Wilbur wasn’t quite sure if those were contacts or not. And as for his clothes, well, they looked like someone had stolen things out of the nearest Hot Topic store, or maybe a punk band’s dressing room. In fact, Wilbur was pretty sure that- he craned his neck a bit- yup, that was almost definitely an earring in Techno’s left ear. Either that or Techno had some other shiny object in there, but Wilbur was pretty sure it was the former.
He nodded to himself. “Sounds about right. You look like a Techno. I’m Wilbur, by the way. So why are you here?”
Techno gaped at him, not even bothering to answer Wilbur’s question “What do you mean, ‘I look like a Techno’?!” he asked incredulously.
“You just do!” Wilbur exclaimed.
“That doesn’t make sense-”
“Oh Wilbur, you’re back. I see you've met Techno.” Phil greeted just then as he came from the kitchen. “Please, no killing each other, you two.”
Wilbur sighed. “Fine. But what’s he doing here? Last I checked we weren’t expecting visitors.”
“Oh right.” Phil chuckled, running his hand through his hair. “Techno’s parents, well, they’re od friends of mine from college. He’ll be staying with us while they sort out some stuff. Didn’t get to tell you before he showed up at the door, sorry ‘bout that mate.”
“...Cool. How long?”
Techno muttered something under his breath that Wilbur didn’t catch. Phil didn’t seem to notice and answered, “As long as his parents are still going through things.”
“Hmm. Okay.” Wilbur nodded, before heading off to his room. He’d ponder the mysteries of Techno Blade’s sudden arrival later- for now, he needed to go plan out how he was going to make Techno’s stay welcome.
Or rather, his life hell. Depending on who you asked, you would probably get two very different answers.
Either way, Wilbur was quite happy to have someone else to potentially become friends with. And he’d probably find a way, too.
You have a cold heart
You're reckless and distant
But I'll be persistent
I will understand you
Strange
How I'm drawn to the danger
I'll reach out my hand to you
Techno was.....something else.
Phil wasn't sure if he liked that or not.
For starters, Techno was a bit of a troublemaker.
On the first day of school, Techno managed to beat Wilbur and Schlatt's record for "most trouble caused in a single day". Somehow, Techno had already managed to break the school dress code, argue with a teacher, pull detention, and end up in a fight. And those were the things Phil knew about.
(He was pretty sure Techno had also bullied someone at some point, but the boy wouldn’t admit it if he had.)
Phil wasn’t exactly thrilled to be called to the school office to find Techno waiting with a bloody nose, a twisted wrist, and the comment that “the other guys look worse” when questioned if he was alright.
Techno was also not a very sociable person, as Phil soon found out.
The boy would show up to dinner but often took breakfast on his own. Unlike Wilbur, he didn't seem to really have a need to have friends over every few days- in fact, when Wilbur's friend group was over, Techno would usually be found barricading himself in his room unless someone dragged him out. That someone being Wilbur, though that was to be expected- the brunet held very little regard for Techno's personal space once he figured out that unless Techno actively said no it was probably fine. But outside of Wilbur dragging him along with his friends, or the occasional mention of a "Skeppy '' (Wilbur informed Phil that the person in question was the class annoyance), Techno seemed to be a bit of a lone wolf.
Which was fine. Phil had met Techno back when the kid was around 7 or 8, and even back then he'd been more on the quiet side of things, prefering to read his books while the adults talked. And according to what Techno told him, the fights were just him defending himself from someone else.
Most of the time anyways. The one time when Techno came home with a black eye and an exasperated Wilbur following close behind, Phil didn't believe the duo's story of someone insulting Techno's hair. After all, it'd been well over a month since Techno had any serious fights and two months since Techno had first arrived. Phil highly doubted someone suddenly started bullying Techno for his choice in hairstyle.
So unluckily for Techno, Phil ended up prying the story out from them and luckily for Phil's poor heart, Techno had just punched someone for messing with Wilbur. Which still wasn't okay, but better than certain scenarios Phil had initially thought up.
And Phil, although he lightly scolded Techno for picking a fight, he was secretly quite pleased that he and Wilbur were getting along and not slitting each other’s throats in the middle of hte night.
Do you long to be left all alone?
Set apart with a heart made of stone
Let me help, let's begin
Let me learn, won't you let me in?
All the light, let it show
When summer break came around, permanent guardianship of Techno was handed over to Phil.
Phil personally didn’t mind- it meant he could finally see about getting a phone plan that would cover all three of them so that Techno wouldn’t have to keep going after Wilbur when he needed to call Phil about something.
That and also so the two boys could stop fighting over who was better at a certain game Wilbur had on his phone, but that was just an added bonus.
Techno still tended to avoid as much interaction with anyone as possible though. In fact, it seemed like he distanced himself even more after Phil became his guardian permanently, going so far as to snap back at him after Phil suggested a family movie night.
Wilbur reported similar experiences.
“Phil, Techno refused to play Monopoly with me!” the brunet complained, draping himself over Phil’s office chair.
Phil paused his typing to raise an eyebrow at Wilbur. “To be fair, mate, the two of you end up nearly killing each other every other time you play.”
“Yeah, but he never said no to Monopoly before and now he is! And he tells me to go away! It’s summer, he doesn’t even have homework! He just sits in his room all day and blasts music through his headphones!”
“Maybe he just wants to be alone-?”
“He doesn’t usually say ‘no’ this many times in a row when I ask if he wants to hang out.” Wilbur protested.
Phil eased Wilbur off the armrest of his chair. “I’ll talk with him tonight after dinner, how’s that? For now, just let him be, alright?”
Wilbur pouted, but obliged. “Finnnneeee.” He sighed, before heading out of Phil’s office. He paused at the doorway though, to ask, “Can I go to Schlatt’s?”
“Sure, just be back by dinnertime.”
“Great, thanks!” WIlbur cheered, running off. Phil just shook his head and went back to work.
You are a strange sight
Some new kind of wonder
With good hidden under
I'm sure that it's true
Strange
How your dark doesn't faze me
No, I won't give up on you
That evening, Phil stood in front of Techno’s door and knocked.
“Go away, Wilbur.” Techno’s voice drifted through.
A brief image of a certain scene from Frozen flashed through Phi’s mind. He quickly shook that strange thought away, even though it was scarily true that Wilbur would definitely try to convince Techn to ride bikes in the house.
Phil cleared his throat. “Tech, I’m not Wilbur. It’s Phil, can I come in?”
A pause. “Why?”
“Just wanted to chat. It’s been a while since we’ve done that.”
It was quiet as Phil held his breath. Finally, the door creaked open, and Phil peered into the room to see an annoyed-looking Techno pursing his lips at the fact Phil wanted in on the boy’s personal space.
Speaking of which-
“Quite the aesthetic you have going on, mate.” Phil raised an eyebrow as he sat on the edge of Techno’s bed. The curtains were closed, the lights were off, and the only light available was coming from a lava lamp on the bedside table, where several books were piled.
Phil frowned,reaching over and picking one up. “You haven’t been reading all these tiny words in the dark, have you?”
“Not dark. I got light.” Techno pointed at the lava lamp
“You know you can turn the lights on, right? That lava lamp isn’t very bright.”
“Don’t want to.” Techno made what looked like a shrug. It was hard to tell with all the shadows in the room.
Phil sighed and mentally added “convince Techno not to ruin his eyesight” to his list of things to do, before straightening himself and putting the book in his hands away. “RIght, so obviously I didn’t come in here just to tell you to turn the lights on.”
Techno made a noise of agreement. “So why’d you want in? I know it’s not just to chat, just spill the beans already. What’d I do?”
Phil really should’ve expected that, with how perceptive Techno could be.
“No, you’re not in trouble. Technically, anyways.It’s more of….well, you seemed a bit more closed off then usual. Are you doing alright, mate?”
Techno bristled. “Yeah, I’m doing amazing. Just fine, no need to worry about me. Is that all?” he snapped.
Phil quickly put his hands up. “Woah there, Techno, mate, I just want to make sure you’re alright-”
“Of course I’m alright, why wouldn’t I be?”
“I know you like your space, but I was a bit worried, with you not joining us for meals or anything-”
“You don’t need to worry about me, I can take care of myself!”
“You’re barely 12, you don’t need to.”
“Well I have to! And I’m managing!”
“You’re a kid, Techno. Cooping yourself up in your room isn’t healthy, you should be out enjoying your summer.”
“Well it’s not like anyone cares!” Techno’s voice had been steadily growing louder, and he all but screamed that final line at Phil, before suddenly curling into himself. “It’s not like anyone cares….” he muttered, looking away.
Phil’s heart shattered.
“Techno…..oh, Techno, of course people care.” Phil eased off the bed, kneeling next to Techno. “And even if they don’t, Wil and I still care about you.”
Techno kept his face hidden from Phil. “It doesn’t matter.” He whispered. “You’ll leave eventually. They all do. It never lasts.”
“I won’t do that. I’m not going anywhere. I’ve told you before, remember?” Phil gently reminded him.
Techno shook his head. “They didn’t stay. You won’t either. It never lasts.”
“I’m not leaving you. Not now, not ever.” Phil promised. “Not as long as I'm still alive and kicking.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
“I can keep this one.”
“....Why are you doing this?” Techno asked. He’d ended up curled into a ball next to Phil on the floor at some point, his long pink hair covering his face as his shoulders shook. “Why?”
“Because you’re a great kid and I love you.” Phil simply repplied.
“Are you serious?”
“One hundred percent.”
Techno lifted his head slightly to look at Phil, unshed tears in his eyes. After searching Phil’s face for a few moments, Techno let out a breath. “Okay.” He murmured. “O- okay.”
Phil watched as the boy processed things, slowly uncurling from his ball. After a few minutes, he gently asked, “Do you want a hug?”
Luckily Phil’s arms were already partially opened, or Techno would’ve slammed into them.
If you're caught in the shadow then turn around
Lost in the darkness, you will be found
If you hear my voice, follow the sound
‘Cause I'm here to guide you home
Wilbur’s cheerful laugh rang through the house as the brunet once again dragged Techno out of his room.
After the “overly emotional talk we will never discuss again or else” (Techno’s words, not Phil’s), Techno had once again started accepting invitations to play whatever game Wilbur and his impulsiveness decided on or to go out with friends. Granted, he didn’t always go (and Phil had resorted to hanging fairy lights in Techno’s room so the boy wouldn’t be in complete darkness all the time, goodness knows that wasn’t healthy), but it was an improvement from that first few weeks of summer. And for that, Phil was grateful.
Progress wasn’t linear. Everyone knew that.
But as long as Techno lived under his roof, Phil would keep at it. Every child deserved a good home and a loving family, and Phil wouldn’t stop reminding Techon (or Wilbur) that he would give the world to them if he could.
And over a decade later, Phil still vowed to keep that promise, as he watched his boys having fun jamming to a random radio station in the garage.
“Hey boys, what do you think about starting an actual band?”
Do you long to be left all alone?
Set apart with a heart made of stone
Let me help, let's begin
Let me learn, won't you let me in?
All the light, let it show
You're not alone