Brothers? - SBI Orphanage AU

Chapter 7 - Happy Birthday!

(A/N: This probably will be the only birthday that ever happens in this book. So just so you know, other birthdays will happen as well, they'll just be during time skips because they aren't as plot relevant. Also, Techno's birthday does end up happening around the time that his actual birthday is, which wasn't done on purpose but is cool either way.)

-Phil's POV-

It was interesting timing that the whole thing with Hound happened only 2 weeks before Technoblade's birthday. He didn't tell anyone, but when I first found out Technoblade was coming, I asked the orphanage workers about his birthday because it's always nice to celebrate people's birthdays. A teacher of mine once mentioned that in their family, birthdays are heavily celebrated because everyone should have at least one full day of being celebrated and be the center of attention and to get to do whatever they want once a year. And a birthday is a convenient time to do so. I thought that was a pretty good idea, especially in a place like this when you never know if someone's birthday is the only time they get celebrated.

I'd been planning to do something for Techno's birthday anyway, but it's even better now that he's actually talking to me a fair amount because I know what kinds of things he really likes. In the end, I decide to give him a contract thing where I'll pay for half of a PC if he wants to buy one to play Minecraft, as long as he lets me use it sometimes. It will still be primarily his. I also jokingly bought him a gold crown because he wins so many of the fighting / obstacle course things that he does.

Anyway, his birthday is tomorrow, and he's turning 15. I still don't think he knows that I even know it's his birthday. Also, Techno usually goes to sleep late after reading for forever, but then wakes up 30 minutes after me. So I'll have time to put up some basic decorations tomorrow morning so he wakes up with a surprise. Tomorrow is a Saturday, but I'm taking the day off work. I can't wait! And I really hope he likes it.

The next morning, I wake up and sure enough, Techno is still fast asleep. I hang a "Happy Birthday" string thing (like the ones where all of the letters are attached to a string so you hang it like a streamer kind of? I forgot what that's called) on one wall, and momentarily step out into the hallway to blow up the balloons. After that I put them on those plastic stick things so they stay upright even though they aren't blown up with helium and put a few around the room. Once I was done, I put the contract in an envelope and put it on our desk. Then I got dressed in the bathroom. When I got back, I saw that Technoblade had already woken up.

"Surprise, and happy birthday Techno!" By the way, if you haven't noticed, we've started calling each other nicknames sometimes. I abbreviate Technoblade to Techno, and he sometimes calls me Philza. I'm not really sure why, but I don't mind the name.

Techno looks around, surprised. "How did you know it's my birthday? I barely remembered myself."

"I asked the workers when you first got here."

"Oh, wow. I wasn't expecting that, but this looks cool, I guess. My parents weren't big birthday people, so the only special thing about your birthday is you get to choose dinner and dessert for that night."

"Oh, is this too much?"

"No, no, it's great. Thanks for doing this! Wait, am I making you late for work? Don't you need to be at the bus stop soon?"

"Nope! I took the day off for your birthday!"

"Wait, really?"

"Yep! I also got you a gift. Well, it's not really a gift, but it can help you get a gift. I don't know if that makes sense."

"Haha, well I'll see what it is when I open it. Where is it?"

"It's on the desk in the envelope"

He opens the envelope and sees the card I wrote that says normal happy birthday stuff, and the contract thingy.

"Wait really?! I'll definitely take you up on this. I actually have a decent amount of money saved from those competitions I do, so... can we buy it today?!"

"Sure! Also before we leave, I forgot, there was another small gift I had for you."

"Oh, another one?"

"Well, since you've been doing so well with the competition thing, I decided to get you a winner crown." I put the plastic crown on his head.

"Hey, I like it. Now let's go!"

"Wait, you actually want to wear the crown there?"

"... Should I not?"

"No, it's great! Come on, let's buy that PC!"

We go shopping and buy a PC. Techno is choosing which one to get, and whenever he has a question about it, I talk to the sales rep and find out the answer. Then we buy the PC and we're home again! We spend the rest of the day setting up the PC and trying things out on it. Techno buys Minecraft and starts to play on it.

"Techno, today was a lot of fun, but it's getting late for me. Good night!"

"Ok. And thank you so much, this is so fun! I'll teach you how to play Minecraft tomorrow, since it's Sunday."

"That sounds fun! And I'm glad you're enjoying it."

The next day, I take down the decorations, which isn't so hard to do because there are only a few balloons and the "Happy Birthday" sign.

He then teaches me Minecraft. After I learn the controls and the basics, Technoblade talks about how he challenges himself by playing against other people in competitive games. That sounds kind of cool, but I personally found the world buildup of a standard Minecraft world really cool. For example, the ocean monuments, the cool things that come from the Nether and End, the elytras, and many things about the game design fascinate me in general. Technoblade recommends that I try this thing called Hardcore, which is the normal minecraft world but set at the hardest difficulty and once you die, the game ends. That way it's still more challenging and exciting, but I get to explore the world and build cool things with materials from all over the world. I can see why Techno likes this game so much.

Chapter word count: 1004

Total word count: 1071