we can all learn things(just maybe in different ways.)

In Which Any Hope of a Peaceful Retirement Arc is Shattered

(thank you so much to @/maxiemoo01 on Twitter for helping me title this fic! You're awesome ^^. This fic will update every Friday and Tuesday until it's complete. I'm planning on 17 chapters and seven are already written(as of 20 January 2021). I'm hoping this will be the first full fanfic I complete, but we'll see how it goes!)

Techno blinked open his eyes, hearing the distant chirping of the birds. He allowed himself a moment to relax and breathe in the cool air before he rose, pushing his blanket off of himself and taking the time to make his bed.

When you lived out of the way like he did, you had all the time in the world.

After pulling on a light cotton shirt, patched-up trousers, boots, and tying his warm blood-red cloak around himself to stifle the bitter chill of late November, he slid down the ladder to his downstairs area and walked over to his fireplace, grabbing a metal prong and stirring the still-warm ashes from last night. He then went outside, screwing his eyes at the blinding pure-white brightness of the freshly fallen snow, and brought in some sticks and fuel, setting them up in a tent formation and striking his flint and steel. In no time at all, a roaring blaze burned brightly in the small cottage and Techno warmed his hands with a content sigh.

After allowing himself to rest and relax for a couple of minutes, he rose to his feet and walked over to his desk, grabbing a comb and beginning the lengthy task of brushing his unruly hair. His pink curls hadn't been trimmed since he ran, and now they fell to the small of his back and showed no sign of stopping their growth anytime soon. Techno supposed that was how the human body functioned(though he wasn't really quite human, was he? Humans didn't have long fangs and nearly rock-hard fists like him, plus the slight pinkish tint of his skin was far from normal.). He took the time to comb all of the tangles out of his hair and carefully braid it before grabbing a small strip of leather and tying it off.

Satisfied, he pulled open the door to the chill air and drew a bucket of water from the well several paces away. After hauling it back, he poured the pristine water into the pot above the fireplace. As the water boiled, he took a rock and a wooden bowl and began to crush the cocoa beans that he had found in the jungle just an hour's walk away. When he could hear the bubbling of the water, he moved the pot to the stone floor beside the fireplace and ladled some boiling water into a tin mug, adding a spoonful of cocoa powder and some sugar and beginning to stir.

Nothing like a warm cup of hot cocoa to start of one's morning.

As the sun rose in the sky and Techno finished his breakfast, he put the mug in the basin beside the table and stood, walking over to his bookshelf. He had been putting off organizing it by genre, language, and alphabetical order for weeks now, and today seemed as good a day as any. He ran his fingers along the spines of the volumes before picking up the first set of books that he had haphazardly shoved onto the smooth handcrafted shelves months ago and starting to sort them into separate piles. Some were folktales and myths, others books on potion brewing and enchantment, more guides for fighting and self-defense techniques and even some surprisingly helpful cookbooks that Techno had leafed through more than once when in need of a new recipe. For an oldest child, Techno knew surprisingly little on cooking, and he had burnt dinner more than once before.

He looked at the monumental task before him and sighed. I'd better get to work.

An hour or so later, the corner of Techno's mouth quirked upward in satisfaction. Although the organization was far from perfect, it was ten times better then the mess from before that morning. The books were organized well, each volume slid smoothly into its place. Content with his work, he took a moment to open the small container on his desk and look at the tiny keepsakes inside, more valuable to him than all the diamonds or netherite the world had to offer. Then, he trodded outside. His potato plants weren't going to take care of themselves, were they?