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Ranboo stares up at the floorboards from his makeshift bed on the basement floor. It’s very early into the morning, and he takes a shaky breath as he squeezes his eyes shut, willing himself to fall back asleep. He isn’t sure what woke him, taking a mental note of everything in the room to find the culprit.
Technoblade’s cow was snuffling softly in a far corner, Hubert and Moon curled up together in another. The room is warm, the blankets are soft. There’s no reason for him to be awake.
But he is, lying alone with his thoughts.
Yeah, no thanks.
Ranboo sits up, tossing the covers off himself and shivering at the cold stone floor under his feet. He wasn’t really sure where he was going, but he knew the basement was feeling far to small in that moment and he wanted out out OUT-
He pushed open the doors and fell unceremoniously out into the snow. Shocked by the cold he sat for a moment, letting the change of environment wash over him.
He was just calming down when a sharp, startled sound pierced the air to his right. He shot up and staggered away from the noise. Stumbling backward, he stepped onto a forgotten lantern, glass cracking under his weight and staining the snow a dark color.
He cried out, loudly, before slapping a hand over his mouth and curling in on himself in pain and fear.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. That was loud, that was so loud.
Ranboo looked for the source of the initial disturbance and met the gaze of large brown eyes.
Carl was looking at him from his stall, annoyed about being woken up, but also seemingly… Concerned? Could a horse be concerned?
Who cares. You woke it up. You probably woke everyone up.
Maybe no one heard? Maybe they’re heavy sleepers-
The house creaked inside, footsteps muffled through the wood but very much there-
Now you’ve done it. They’re upset with you, they’ll kick you out for this.
I didn’t mean to!
Where will you go now? There’s no more home to go to. No more home.
No, no, no, no-
The snow in front of him was bathed in golden light as the door swung open.
~
Technoblade was very awake. Sat at his desk, he carved enchantment spells into the handle of a netherite axe. Bitterly, he thought of the one he had lost that day.
I can't believe you trusted Tommy of all people, A voice mocks.
He was on our side! He betrayed us! Another cries.
Tommy is on whatever side benefits him in the moment, that selfish little sh-
Techno shakes his head hard, blinking away the dizziness that comes after. He doesn’t ever want to have to think of that boy ever again. That boy he let into his home, that he took care of. The one he had come to see as…
No, he does not want to think of that boy at all.
He sets the axe back onto the desk and stretches, bones popping. He looks over at his bed on the other side of the room, at Phil sleeping in it peacefully after the long day. Techno knew he was more upset about Tommy’s leaving than he let on. The man had far too big a soft spot for him.
So did Wil.
Sighing, he moved to diffuse the lantern and head downstairs to the couch, when he heard Carl’s startled neigh from outside, followed by a more human sound of alarm.
Frowning, he picks up the lantern and walks downstairs, sparing another glance at Phil who remained deep asleep.
Techno swings his cape over his shoulders before pushing the front door open.
He takes one look at the lanky figure of Ranboo, shivering in the snow- looking downright terrified, and curses out loud.
This was not a good decision, as the half-enderman flinches harshly. Words spill out of his mouth before Techno can say anything.
“I’m sorry- I did- I didn’t mean to be so- to-to make so much noise I-”
Suddenly, Ranboos half-and-half hair was blond. His eyes were stormy, desaturated blue and he was wearing a ragged red and white t-shirt.
“Techno- Technoblade, please, I know- I know I shouldn’t be here but I- I’m on my last life, Techno, please, please don’t kill me-”
He blinks, and Tommy is gone just as fast as he appeared. Ranboo is still talking, still cowering.
Technoblade steps quickly out into the snow, assessing the younger further. He catches the glint of glass and blood in the snow and winces. Ranboo had stopped talking when he approached, looking down at his feet.
Techno’s frown deepens as he unclips his cape, making Ranboo look up. Techno approached him slowly, the other going deadly still as he draped the warm blue fabric over his shoulders.
“Are you okay?” Techno mentally kicked himself immediately after the words left his mouth.
Look at him, does he look fucking okay!?
Help him! Protect Him!
Big brother Techno time POG
“Uh..um” Ranboo is still looking at him like a deer in headlights and he forces himself to be as non-threatening as possible. “Do you want to go inside? I can help with your foot..”
“I-I… I’m sorry for- sorry for waking you up I-” He stutters, and Techno realizes he’s yet to make it clear the other is safe with him. That he’s not upset.
“It’s okay, it’s fine… I was already awake,”
“O-Oh…” That didn’t seem to be the answer he was expecting, confused expression taking over his face. His eyes were still clouded, but Techno really needed to get him out of this cold and bandaged up.
He offers a hand out to him, hoping he was being comforting in his actions.
“Let’s come out of the cold, okay?”
“Okay… okay..” Ranboo takes his hand and let’s Techno slowly guide him up the stairs, leaning on him to stay off of his injured foot.
Techno deposited him on the couch inside and went to sift through his chests for bandages and tweezers. He caught sight of Ranboo out of the corner of his eye, knees tucked up to his chest and breathing fast and shallow. He quickly grabs what he needs and walks slowly back over, not wanting to startle him again.
“Hey… can- can I see…?” He points to the injury.
Ranboo nods, stretching his leg out towards him.
Techno pushes up his glasses and picks up the tweezers. There was only one large shard that had punctured the skin, but Techno could tell it was going to hurt to pull out.
“I’m sorry-” He says quietly before pulling out the shard in one clean movement.
Ranboo shrieks in pain, clasping his hands over his mouth and shutting his eyes tight. Techno continues, applying antiseptic and bandaging the wound.
“All done, I’m done…” He looks back up to find the other breathing too fast, hands still clasped over his mouth as tears trickled down his cheeks.
“ Shit- Hey, hey, don’t… it’s okay,” Techno frantically thinks of ways to calm the younger man down. “Ranboo. Ranboo, listen to me, listen,”
He’s surprised when that actually works, the man looking up at him and takes it as a cue to keep going.
“Can… can you lower your hands? I need you to take some deep breathes, okay? You- you can’t do that if you’re… covering your mouth,”
Ranboo doesn’t say anything, just slowly lowers his hands into his lap.
“Good- good, now just take a deep breath, okay? Slowly, like this,” Techno begins exaggerating his breaths in a steady rhythm for the other to copy. He does, shakily at first, interrupted by little hiccups of sobs before he begins to calm down.
“Okay… There we go… Better?”
Ranboo hesitates before nodding a little.
“Do… do you like tea?”
He looks up at him, confused. “Um.. ye-yeah. Yes,”
Techno nods and stands up, leaving Ranboo on the couch.
While Techno is putting a pot of water over the fire, Phil comes down into the living room, startling the pair.
“You boys alright?” Phil yawns, blinking blearily at them.
“Yeah,” Techno replies, “Yeah, I think so,”
Phil looks to Ranboo who just nods again. Phil walks over to the couch to sit beside him.
“I’m sorry I woke you…”
“It’s alright, mate, you don’t have to apologize. Can I ask what happened?”
Ranboo looks away, “Um… I couldn’t sleep. And I didn’t want to be down there- I- I mean it’s really nice! It’s really nice of you and Techno to let me stay. I just got u-upset a little, I think…”
“That’s perfectly understandable,” Ranboo blinks up at Phil who just smiles, a little sad. “A lot of shit went on today. You’re allowed to feel upset, you… you lost your home.” Phil reaches over and lays his hand on his shoulder. “...But, you’re more than welcome to make a new one here.”
Ranboo smiles shakily at him, eyes glossing over at his words.
“Thank you,”
Techno walks over to sit on Ranboo’s other side with three mugs of warm tea, cold fingers leeching off their warmth.
As he sits in between the two and reflects on the crater of his former home, he comes to a conclusion.
Home has never been just a place.