Apples of the Earth: A Technoblade x Reader (ON HIATUS)

Chapter 11: Big Reveal

wanted an update, so have an early update. <3

The sky was covered by a solid block of dense cloud, rain consistently tumbling down in sheets. Techno crossed his arms over his chest and tucked his chin low. He couldn't care at the time that he looked like a child in a strop because they didn't get a toy; he was desperate for warmth. He hadn't anticipated that the rain would arrive so soon. For a moment, he regretted leaving his cloak with his companion, but he quickly shoved away the thought and quickened his brisk pace back home. Minutes seemed longer when paired with the rhythmic patter of rain on rooftops when Techno let out a shaky sigh, finally catching a glimpse of the broad iron gates at the end of the road: the ones which led to the castle and the promise of warmth. With that, his walk became a mad sprint, startling the guards stationed at their posts. "Who goes- it's prince Technoblade! Open the gates!"

By the time Techno had crossed onto the threshold, the guards had only just began to open the gate. Eager and impatient to get out of the rain, Techno used all of his might to push the gates, making them swing open as if they'd been assaulted with a battering ram. One guard quickly let go and was safe from the full force of the metal bars. The other was not as fortunate and was thrown a dozen feet, left sprawled on the grass. Techno stalled, immediately feeling guilty. However, he released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding when the guard wearily shouted "I'm fine, just winded.", and returned to his mad dash up the wide red brick path to the castle. The guard who was knocked down had only gotten up by the time Techno had reached the 2nd gates at the courtyard on the leftmost side of the castle which were, thankfully, open. Luckily, there would be no more casualties in Techno's entrance.

Rushing through the courtyard, Techno hastily rushed inside, down the corridors and up the stairs towards his bedroom, hoping to change into dry clothes before Phil could ask him where he had been. But of course luck wasn't on his side. The moment he opened his chamber door, he saw Phil sat on his bed, arms resting on his knees, gaze unwavering. "Care to tell me where you've been, Techno?", he asked, his friendly tone making his demeanor even scarier. "Well... I...", Techno began, but he didn't know what to say and he couldn't lie with how nervous he was under Phil's gaze. He'd always been weak to 3 things: peer pressure, the voices, and Phil. "Don't even try to make an excuse, it'd have to be one hell of a story to explain why you've been going out every day and arriving back so late. I'm giving you 5 minutes to dry off and come to the dining room. ", Phil said, and then he left.

Those were most likely the shortest five minutes of Techno's life, because he arrived almost a minute late. The dining room doors swung open as he entered, soaked in a cold sweat instead of rain. At the far end of the long dining table was Philza, leaning back in his chair and twirling a fork in his hands. Wilbur was sat to his left, and Tommy sat next to him, both boys abnormally silent. It was silent except for the echoing of Techno's boots clicking against the hardwood floor. He cringed slightly when the legs of his chair scraped the floor, but silently sat down in the chair one down from his father's right, leaving a space where the queen usually sat out of habit — She'd been feeling fatigued recently, so opted to miss dinner — his fringe casting a shadow over his face. It was eerily quiet once again. Techno almost smiled at the thought at how much Tommy must've been holding back from talking just to keep the atmosphere, but kept his face hard and neutral. "You're a minute late, mate. Why am I not surprised?", Philza rhetorically asked. Techno held his peace.

"So where were you? Where do you go when you head out every day?", Philza asked. "Yeah, and who is it you've been seeing in the woods- fuck. I mean, wherever you're... going?", Tommy cursed himself for not catching his slip-up sooner. Philza turned to Tommy, then back to Techno. "You've been meeting up with someone? Who?", he interrogated. Crumbling under the pressure from his father and youngest brother, he blurted out "A girl, okay?!". Techno swore under his breath as the last echo of his outburst faded. "Why we're you hiding this?... Wilbur, you not gonna join the discussion at all?", Philza suddenly turned to Wilbur, who was sat idly and nursing a glass of wine. "No, I don't think I will. (Ok captain America-) We've all got our secrets, things we worry others won't accept, so I'm not gonna pressure him into spilling his.", he explained. Techno looked to him with gratitude.

Suddenly, the doors at the other end of the dining room swung open, and a child followed by a maid came dashing in, giggling playfully. None of the royal family seemed to know what to do other than sit and watch the boy run around as if he hadn't just crashed the tense dinner of the rulers of the kingdom. After the initial shock, Techno seemed to pause to notice the child's appearance: orange hair, fluffy ears poking out from either side of a navy blue cap, and a thick orange tail with white fur at the end. A fox? Wilbur muttered something Techno heard as "well here comes mine I guess", before discarding his wine on the table and turning to the toddler. Techno seemed calm, eased even, to see a fellow half-animal being. He already knew he was gonna get strongly attached to the boy.

"Dada! I found you!", the boy cried out, jumping into Wilbur's awaiting arms. The maid who chased the fox-boy into the hall apologised for letting him run around, but no one paid her any mind. They were all caught on the fact that Wilbur had a child, a child. Phil leant back in his seat and held a hand over his face, in thought. "It seems Techno's not the only one who's got explaining to do.", he said, turning to Wilbur.

"Well,", Wilbur began, "you remember when I was staying in a village far East of here a few years ago?" There was murmurs of acknowledgement. "When I was there, I met someone: a beautiful woman named Sally, unlike any other maiden... in more ways than one. We hit it off instantly. We considered ourselves engaged despite never proposing, and one day, we were... intimate. I don't plan to go into detail with children here.", he laughed nervously. "That next morning, I can't fully remember what happened. The day was a blur, and the next memory I have is holding a small Fundy in my arms." Wilbur paused there to look to his child fondly. "Just by looking at him, holding him, I knew he was my child.", he finished, gesturing to the boy sat on his lap as he finished his story. It was quiet, excluding the occasional giggle from Fundy, as it all sunk in. Then Tommy burst out, "Hey, you said children, not child. Techno you're good at english, you know what I'm on about. I swear if you were talking about me I will- can I swear in front of the child? How old is he?", he asked, his previous offense quickly vanishing.

"He's recently turned four. Isn't that right Fundy?", Wilbur cooed, bouncing Fundy on his knee. The fox-boy rapidly nodded. "Yeah! I had four birthdays too! They were awesome!", Fundy cheered. Wilbur laughed, and his family could see just how happy his son made him. "Well now that we know Wilbur's big secret, it's your turn to share, mate.", Philza decided, turning to Techno. Having thought he was off the hook, Techno groaned and slumped in his seat, making both children and his older brother laugh. "I met her in the woods getting chased by some guys. She almost had them taken care off herself, I just had to scare the last one off. She passed out, so I made sure she was ok. When she woke up, we spoke for a while, and I enjoyed speaking to her. So now on most days, we go back to that spot and just chat, sometimes just sit and read together too. We didn't talk today, but I went to visit her at her place and she showed up soaked. I left my cloak with her, then I ran home. Didn't end up finding out why she was soaked, I'll have to ask her another time. Anyways, that's the end of the story.", Techno spoke blandly as if it was common knowledge, or he'd had to repeat it multiple times before.

"You can't just say 'end of story'! Techno, even we have trouble with getting you to leave your cloak in your room when there's something important happening, but you meet this girl, trust her enough to leave your cloak with her, and then say 'end of story'?", Phil questioned, seemingly astounded that such a thing was fathomable. Even with the pink pigmentation in his skin, Techno's blush was visible. He merely shrugged before explaining, "She was soaked, and crying, and I couldn't just leave her, but I couldn't stay there with her, so it was the next best thing. That's all."
"Yeah, and when I wrote a short play for Sally, it was just because she liked theatre. That's all. Techno, you don't realize, but your infatuated... Those could be lyrics actually.", Wilbur thought aloud, beginning to hum a tune. Fundy tried to hum along, but eventually gave up and instead hummed a nursery rhyme he enjoyed.

The rest of that night was filled with talk, laughter, and Kristin cooing over her grandson, much to his dismay.

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I had to add baby Fundy. Ya know, for [insert event the readers probably won't like here].
Anyways, hope you enjoyed!