Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

For Tommy, admitting that he was scared something of might as well have been a death sentence.

No one in his life was exactly trust-worthy enough; Wilbur would make fun of him for whatever sensitive information he’d given him, and Dream used it against him.

So, needless to say, Technoblade was more than a bit surprised when Tommy knocked on his door. He was nearly crying, the cape he’d stolen wrapped tightly around his shoulders, and he was begging him to go outside and kill a creeper that stood at the edge of the forest, several hundred blocks from where the house stood.

“Tommy, it’s not going to come over here,” Techno said, rubbing his eyes. “You’re safe. It can’t even get in the house.”

“Fuck, I know that,” Tommy shifted on his toes, breathing way too quickly for comfort. “I just don’t want to see it anymore. I keep thinking... It’s loud. I don’t want to see it. Please go kill it.”

Techno wordlessly picked up his cross bow, aimed it out the window, and killed the creeper. Tommy still stood in the doorway, shaking violently.

“Thanks.”

He nodded, but Tommy didn’t move. He shifted again, this time less frantically. His eyes met the floor, and he opened and closed his mouth, like he was trying to say something, but he didn’t know how.

“Do you need something else, Tommy?”

“I— uh, I can’t sleep,” Tommy blurted. His face was quickly going beet red. “Not in my... I keep looking out the window. For Dream.”

Techno sighed gently. He wasn’t annoyed; rather the opposite, relieved that it wasn’t something putting them in direct danger. Tommy obviously didn’t take it that way, though, and he quickly moved to apologize.

“I’m sorry, that’s stupid. I’m sorry. I need to stop being such a bitch, I know.”

Tommy’s hands had moved down to his arms, scratching at them. Techno decided not to think about when, or why, that habit had resurfaced, and instead placed his hand over the back of Tommy’s.

He flinched, but he didn’t seem to try to pull away. His fingers stopped scratching.

“You’re fine. Do you want me to watch for you?”

He nodded furiously.

“Okay, come in then.”

Tommy shuffled awkwardly through the middle of the room, tightening the cape, and collapsed onto Techno’s freshly-made bed with an uneasy sigh. He giggled for a few seconds, but fell quiet quickly.

“You’re gonna watch for me, right?” Tommy turned his head on the pillow, so he was facing the piglin.

Techno stared at him for a moment. “Yeah. ‘Course I am.” He sat down in the armchair that sat next to the bed. “Rest, Theseus. I’ll wake you up if I need to.”

Chapter Text

Tommy had slept quietly throughout that whole night, not even the slightest change in breathing to indicate a nightmare.

However, the next few days, Tommy locked himself in his room and refused to come out when Techno was home.

He’d accidentally come downstairs when he thought Techno had left, once; unfortunately, before Techno could say anything, he’d sprinted back up and slammed the door.

Techno had left at certain times every day, just so he knew that Tommy was at least eating and drinking. There was no real way of knowing if he had, though.

After the fourth day, Techno decided he had to intervene. There was no way it was healthy for a kid to be locked up in such a small space for days on end, not taking care of himself.

He knocked on the door, and heard the squeaking of the bed’s springs as Tommy shifted.

“What do you want?”

Techno sighed at the boy’s annoyed tone. “Can you come out, please? It’s been, like, two days since I’ve seen you.”

“No.”

“I will actually break the door down, Tommy.” There was a groan, and then he heard feet padding towards the door. “Thank you.”

The door cracked open, and Tommy was still wearing the cape. His eyes were bloodshot, and he was shaking horribly, like he’d been crying. Techno decided not to say anything about that.

“Can you come downstairs? I made soup.”

Tommy’s eyes dashed around the hallway, and nodded, small and timid. Techno sent him a small, hopefully-not-awkward smile.

They made their way down the stairs, and sat down at the table. Tommy’s hand was shaking so badly, he could hardly keep the soup in the spoon.

Techno tried to ignore it, continuing to read his book. Be honest, reading Marx while in his stained plaid pajama pants sexy of him.

He heard Tommy sigh, a few times, obviously annoyed whenever he would spill soup back into the bowl. He didn’t want to say anything, just to make sure he didn’t overstep his boundaries.

Which is why Tommy made the first move.

“Can you talk to me?” Tommy blurted out, after he dropped his spoon into his bowl. “Please? It’s just... fuck, it’s scary.”

“Yeah, yeah, ‘course.” Techno put down his book and his own spoon. “What’s been going on with you?”

Tommy stared at him, tilting his head, an amused grin spreading across his face. Techno mentally facepalmed.

“Oh. Right. Uh... Have you heard the joke Phil told me the other day? It was awful.”

Techno was 90% sure he’d already told this joke to Tommy, but near the end of it, Tommy was cackling and he had eaten most of his soup. Chat enjoyed the moment, saying stuff that he probably would’ve told them to shut up about if he hadn’t been trying to distract Tommy.

Speaking of, the boy had grown more and more quiet as Techno ran out of things to say, which made Techno a little bit nervous.

His eyes were glued to his feet, and it seemed like he couldn’t sit still. “Hey, I don’t say this very often, but I...” He shifted in his seat, and took a deep breath. “I need help. I can’t sleep. Not enough, not enough to be healthy.”

“No shit, Tommy,” Techno said. “What is it you need?”

“Um...” The boy swallowed thickly, his fingers tangling in each other . “Could you watch for Dream again?”

Techno nodded, and Tommy nodded back, and they were fine.

Tommy slept better that night than he ever had before.

Chapter Text

The third time wasn’t optional.

Tommy had fallen from the top of his cobblestone tower. He’d somehow avoided any severely broken bones, but he was still in an incredible amount of pain, and Philza wouldn’t be back for another few hours.

He’d gotten Tommy into his own bed, not trusting that Tommy’s bed wouldn’t jostle him too much. (Every time he had taken a step, Tommy had bit back a cry, and, God, Techno couldn’t handle being a fucking medic. It was fine when he was the one hurting the person, when their pain had a reason, but taking care of people who didn’t deserve to be hurt?)

He sat next to him, running his hoof-like fingers through Tommy’s hair, hoping that it didn’t hurt him more. Why hadn’t he been watching? Why couldn’t Tommy tommy have used a water bucket?

‘Protect him, OMG, F, protect him,’ chat repeated, chanting phrases over each other to the point where he wasn’t sure if he could hear himself speak without yelling.

“You know you have one canon life left, right?” Techno’s voice was much harsher than he’d intended, but he made no effort to change it. “You could have died, genuinely this time. You’re...”

“Yes,” Tommy choked out. “I know. I knew that. I thought I saw Dream, out there, in the forest. I got scared, I’m sorry.”

He sighed. Of course it had something to do with Dream. That man had gotten his stupid, ugly, green fingers in every corner of Tommy’s mind. Techno couldn’t even imagine the bullshit that Tommy had gone through at the hands of Dream.

He didn’t want to.

Tommy raised his hand to Techno’s, and grabbed his wrist, letting out a short, shallow breath.

“Please make sure he’s not here. I don’t want... please.”

“Okay, Tommy.”

Chapter Text

Techno hadn’t even done anything this time. The boy had just wandered down the hall and crawled into his bed, either not thinking or not caring that Techno was already in it.

“What,” Techno said, monotone and quite obviously not a question. Tommy curled up under the covers, and it was obvious he wasn’t moving. “Uh, alright then.”

Chapter Text

Philza was home, and Tommy was crying.

Techno and him had been sitting at the table, chatting quietly, and Tommy had been up in his room. He had claimed he was “grabbing a disc” so he could play it for them, but he hadn’t been down in several minutes so they had just assumed he’d gone up because he was overwhelmed.

As soon as Phil started hearing sobbing, he immediately went into Dad Mode.

“Jesus Christ, Techno, the fuck is going on up there?” He stood up, hands still on the back of his chair, but looking like he was ready to make a mad dash up the stairs. “He’s crying.”

“I know,” Techno said, quietly. “He does that. Sometimes. When he gets paranoid, or overwhelmed. I don’t know if he’ll open the door while you’re home, though...”

“Well, you bet your ass I’m going to try,” Phil said, his voice raising slightly in concern.

He grabbed Techno’s arm and practically dragged him up the stairs, ignoring all of Techno’s protests.

‘Dadza, Dadza, Dadza,’ chat screamed.

“They’re saying Dadza,” Techno echoed to Phil, who didn’t even respond.

He knocked on the door gently, and Tommy’s breath stuttered.

“Tommy? Are you okay?” Phil knocked on the door again. “Please open the door.”

Tommy’s silent for a while, before he speaks up.

“Techno?”

“I’m here. Dadza dragged me up the stairs.”

Tommy flung open the door and pointed towards the window. “Please help.”

He walked up to the sill of the window, and peered out, expecting to see a creeper or zombie or some sort of thing that scared Tommy enough to make him cry. There was nothing.

“Tommy, there’s nothing out there.”

“Someone was flying,” Tommy whispered. “The only person I know who can fly is Dream.”

There’s a bang down the hallway, and Philza turns his head.

“Hello! I brought Friend, would you like to see him?”

Tommy looked down at his hands. “Oh. Shit.”

Techno put his hand on Tommy’s shoulder, his thumb rubbing in circles. “It’s alright.”

The boy rubbed at his eyes, sniffling. He looked exhausted, and, now that Techno thought about it, it had probably been about three days since he’d gotten any sort of significant rest.

“I’ll watch for you.”

“But, your family is here. I don’t want to keep you...”

“They’re your family, too, Tommy,” Techno said. “I know they don’t show it often enough... they won’t mind.”

Ghostbur burst into the room, holding a fully-grown blue sheep in his arms, his grin as wide as could be. Chat erupted into “aw”s, and Techno refrained from telling them off.

“Hello, Tommy! Hello, Technoblade! Would you like to see him?”

Chapter Text

Tommy was alone in the house and he didn’t feel anxious at all.

It had been a while since he’d felt this way. Without Techno here, he had no one to warn him if they saw Dream, but he didn’t care today.

After Techno left, he’d sat down at the piano and started playing some tunes off the top of his head. All of his sheet music had been destroyed with Logstedshire, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t play.

He played for hours, mindlessly. It was relaxing to be able to do something that was so familiar, so domestic, and to have some time to himself.

He should’ve known. He can’t have anything nice.

The only warning he’d gotten that Dream was coming into the house was the knock at the door. As quickly as humanly possible, he grabbed an invisibility potion, downed it, and dove into his little box, hand over his mouth.

He was hyperventilating and there was no way that there was enough air in this box for him, but it was fine. He was fine. There was literally no way for Dream to find him, and if he did, Techno would do something about it, surely.

“Techno?” He heard a voice call through the windows, and his hard dropped. Fuck, how long had it been since he’d been this close to Dream?

There was a long pause, and he guessed Dream was searching around the outside of the house. Then, he heard another voice, yelling in the distance, unintelligible from inside the house.

“Ghostbur?”

Tommy let out a small sigh, confident that Dream couldn’t hear him. Someone had come, someone would distract Dream and make up excuses.

“Hello, Dream! What are you doing here?”

“I’m looking for Technoblade. He said he had some blaze rods that I need, but it looks like he’s not home right now.”

“True.”

“Do you know where he is, Ghostbur?”

Fuck, Tommy hated that god-awful sweet voice that Dream used. Green bitch.

“No, silly, I just got here,” Ghostbur said, with a giggle. “He might have gone off to get supplies. Maybe he just forgot you were coming! Maybe you should back later.”

“Yeah, I probably will. Thanks, anyways.”

“Bye-bye!”

Tommy gripped his hair tightly, cursing under his breath. He heard the whoosh of Dream’s trident, and knew he was gone. Ghostbur followed suit, probably assuming no one was home.

He stayed in the box for a while, trying to dampen his anxiety to no avail. After what seemed like hours, he heard footsteps pound up the steps and the door flew open.

“Tommy?!” Techno yelled, and Tommy flinched in the box, hitting his arm against one side. “Tommy. You can come out of there now.”

He opened up the top of the box, and said nothing.

“Ghostbur told me that Dream was looking for me. I’m sorry I wasn’t home, Tommy. I would have been home if I had remembered— Oh.”

Tommy had flung himself at Techno, crying hard. Techno slowly raised his arms to Tommy’s back, awkwardly resting there.

“I thought he would kill me, Tech.” Tommy hiccuped. “I thought I was going to die.”

“I know, but you didn’t. You hid from him so well.”

Tommy buried his face in his brother-figure’s chest, and sighed.

“Don’t leave me alone in the house again.”

“I’ll try.”