Things That Need To Pass (passerine!Technoblade x OC) {COMPLETED}

Sleep...Together?!

(THIS IS NOT SMUT SO PLS DON'T GET ANY IDEAS THANKS YOUU)

Their laughter echoed through the glade, reaching even Techno, Phil and I high up on the balcony.

(Eryn POV)

For a while, the three of them just watched the two princes. Wilbur was obviously faster than Tommy, but he slowed his pace just enough for his little brother to have fun chasing his heels. "They're a handful." Philza's soft tone turned Techno and I's attention away from the princes.

 The king was almost smiling, but the hard glint in his eyes didn't disappear. "Wilbur was a quieter, before Tommy was born. A little bookworm, holed up in his room all day. But I have a feeling you didn't drop by for silly stories like that."

 Philza turned towards Techno. "So, go ahead. Let me have it." Techno probably didn't know what he was meant to feel. He didn't know what he was meant to say. For years, he'd put Philza out of his mind, determined to forget that interlude of peace. I as well. 

He'd let the memories fester like untreated wounds, and now he thought he'd rather die of the infection than acknowledge out loud that it was real, that the pain was there at all. The tension was so thick, you could cut into it.

(Techno POV)

"I didn't mean to drop by," I said eventually. "I didn't know this place was yours. I can leave, if you—" "No." Philza shook his head. "Don't leave. Truth be told, this reunion was inevitable. Or, I hoped it was."

"How long have you been here?" I asked, out of curiosity. Philza considered. "How long has this kingdom been standing?" "Phil, that's—"

"I know. People like us aren't meant to stay in one place for too long." Philza sighed and turned back towards the horizon. I saw Eryn quietly contemplating his words. He leaned his arms against the wrought-iron railings and looked out at the land beyond—the slope of the distant mountains, the kingdom that stretched on and on, unaware that their immortal king was all that stood between them and destruction. 

"I found a small town while I was traveling, made it something more. I told myself I would leave after a year, and then it became two years, three years, a decade. I did leave eventually, before they figured out why their town mayor never aged. 

But then I found out, the moment I left..." Philza's expression turned cold. "They were annihilated. I came back and everything, everyone had been burnt to the ground. It was just ashes. Everything I built... There were survivors, of course, and they blamed their leader for leaving, of course—as they should. 

So I stayed. I built it back up again, from a small, decimated town to what you see today. As far as the people know, leadership has been passed on from one king to another who looks vaguely like him. I'm sure the eldest of them have their rumors, but is it really so bad to be known?"

Phil paused for a moment. He looked back at me. I didn't realize, until Philza turned back to look at him, that he expected an answer to his question. But all I could say was, "Is this why you left me and Eryn behind?"

"Techno—" "I understand. You heard the place you loved was in trouble, so you came back, but I don't—I just—why didn't you take me and Eryn?" Here it was, at last. Catharsis, or something close to it. "I would have hunted them down with you, Philza, the people who did that to your town.

I would have given you your vengeance on a silver platter. I would have given you the world." Philza didn't look guilty. He just looked tired. "I didn't hunt them down, though." I looked at him, incredulous. Eryn had an almost exact same look.

"What?" I sputtered. "The people who burned down my town. I didn't hunt them down, as much as I wanted to. They were long gone by the time I arrived, and at that moment, my people needed a leader, not a hunter. And I didn't bring you because—"

"Because I don't know when to be either." We stood there, letting the words settle in the silence that stretched tauter and tauter like a rope around my neck. Deny it, I wanted to shout, tell me I'm wrong.

Philza did not.

(Eryn POV)

"I don't need to hear this from you," Technoblade spat. A well of old hurt and anger, once dried up, began to fill anew. "Do your sons even know what you are? Who you are? The Angel of Death, domesticated. What a farce." I froze.

Philza stiffened. "You know not of which you speak." "I once saw you tear a man apart with your bare hands, and now you're telling me about leadership? About kindness?" Techno almost yelled.

"I said nothing of kindness. If I had completely renounced my ways, my kingdom would not be what it is today. Domesticated dogs still bite." Phil said solemnly. Philza stepped towards him until they were eye-to-eye. 

Despite the accusations Techno hurled at him, despite their bloody history, Techno and I had never truly seen Philza angry. But he had a feeling that if we kept running down this road headfirst, we might find himself knowing the full extent of our old friend's wrath. 

Philza's eyes were hard as flint—one spark away from combustion.

Technoblade glanced down at the garden. Phil followed his gaze until they were both staring back at the two boys below, who'd ceased their playing to wonder at their father and the strangers.

They couldn't have heard a thing of what Philza or Techno, or I said, but Wilbur stood with his head cocked inquisitively to the side, as if he were turning over the words. I still didn't trust Wilbur, though.

"Dad!" Tommy shouted. "Are you almost finished?"

"Almost!" Philza called back. "I'll be right down, kids!"

Tommy elbowed Wilbur and said something that made the other boy throw his head back in laughter. Then the two of them took off, back to their games, back to their honeyed childhood. When Technoblade turned to Phil again, the king's expression had turned considerably softer. 

Techno and I could live another thousand years and still never understand how easily Philza could hide his fury. "I wasn't trying to... settle down," Philza said, quietly now, as if he was imploring a child to stop a tantrum. His eyes were still on his sons below. 

"I was content, for a while, to watch the kingdom grow. But these mortals and their short, fitful lives... they draw you in, Technoblade. And Eryn. I used to think they were moths drawn to flame, doomed to catch fire for the most inconsequential things. "

"We've seen their wars, you and I. We've fought them. We both know the things they do to each other." Philza took hold of the balcony railings as if it was the only thing keeping him from floating away. 

"But over the years I've also learned of the things they do for each other. Their lives will always be one year, one week, one day short, but it doesn't seem to matter much to them. They live anyway. They love anyway. Forgive an old god for wanting a piece of that for himself."

I saw Techno pause. Me too. I processed his words, and found myself opening my mouth. "I'm tired. Phil, do you have a room that we can, um, sleep in?" Phil said there was only...one room. "Might as well share, seeing how...close you 2 are." Phil finished with a smirk.

I was so pissed. "Shut up, Phil. I can sleep somewhere else." I retorted. Jeez. Why was he implying this?

a/n

bro this long bro- help-

wooooo nice-

<3

did this in school btw-

HEHEHEHE

English is shit-

okay have a good day, afternoon or night wherever you are!

byeeee mah bootyful muffins!!!