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Technoblade wakes up with a jolt as the off-key blare of a trumpet screeches in his ears.
The child behind the trumpet smiles triumphantly and pulls Techno into an upright position, “You’re finally awake! I woke up three minutes ago and what do I find when I go into your room? You’re sleeping! What good does it do when your personal guard is sleeping instead of guarding you, huh? You don’t make a very good guard Techno.”
“I see those trumpet lessons are paying off,” Techno grumbles, ignoring everything that came out of Tommy’s mouth, “This is the first time you haven’t given me a headache playing that god awful instrument. It’s almost as if you’re trying to be bad.”
In response, Tommy lifts the trumpet back up to his mouth and starts blaring a different tune, so off-key that Techno can hardly identify it.
“Stop. Stop!” He spares a glance out of the window before making a pitiful attempt to pry the instrument out of Tommy’s hands, “We still have some time before breakfast to do something fun. Do you really want to spend that time badly playing the trumpet or would you rather do something fun like playing that game we bought at the market the other day?”
Tommy huffs, offended, “I’ll have you know that I’m great at playing the trumpet Techno. The best! In fact, maybe I will play the trumpet until breakfast time to bless you with my amazing musical talents. You obviously need it if you can’t tell how great I am at playing the trumpet.”
“Don’t you dare,” Techno says, sliding his armor on and sheathing his sword, “I know you did not beg for that game for over an hour for you not to play it.”
Techno allows Tommy to drag him through the halls, listening to him ramble on about all the things he had done the previous day, although Techno was there the entire time. Rather than telling Tommy this, he was content to listen to Tommy’s exaggerated tales, glad he was listening to anything but the trumpet.
When he became the young prince’s personal guard, he more or less expected it to be similar to being the king’s personal guard. Just standing there and guarding with the occasional stabbing of assassins or attackers. Instead, he was a glorified babysitter who gets dragged into whatever trouble that Tommy gets himself into and bribed into doing school work that Tommy doesn’t want to do.
He remembers the first day on the job and he had already lost Tommy who was purposefully hiding from him. He had gone through the entire castle twice before finding Tommy hiding in the kitchen with Niki, giggling around a mouthful of cookies.
He nearly had multiple heart attacks that day.
He didn’t hate his job though, even if he wanted to at first. In fact, he quite enjoyed spending his time with Tommy.
“Techno, hurry up! You’re walking so slowly with those old man bones.”
Maybe not.
Tommy tries to push him from behind, but Techno doesn’t move an inch and instead laughs at the disgruntlement on Tommy’s face.
To Tommy’s dismay, he slows down even more with a hand ghosting over his sword as Techno can’t help the uneasiness that grows in his stomach as they approach the playroom.
Cautiously, he swings open the door to the playroom.
Nothing.
The playroom was exactly the way it had been left the day before and Tommy barges in immediately and pulls a game off of one of the many shelves and drops it onto the table. He watches carefully as Tommy squints at the instructions, squint at the board, then squint back at the instructions before shrugging and placing a piece on the board.
Even then, the uneasiness doesn’t let up.
“I don’t get it,” Tommy huffs, eyes not moving from the sheet of paper he was holding, “None of this makes sense. It’s just words and they don’t mean anything. It says to put this piece here but why does the piece even need to be there and why does it need to be here at the same time? And what do any of these cards even do? It’s like it’s written in a different language.”
“Maybe if you spent more time paying attention to your reading tutor, you would be able to understand the game.”
Tommy glares at him, shoving his hand out with the paper in it, “You read it then. Explain it to me since you’re the so smart Technoblade who can read big books with long words in different languages.”
Even after the third time explaining it to Tommy, he still didn’t understand and opted to instead make up his own game with his own rules that were even more confusing than the game that it was supposed to be.
A loud thump right outside the door interrupts their gameplay.
Techno stands up immediately while Tommy stills in his seat.
It could very well be a servant dropping their things or someone just tripping over the carpet that Tommy always complained was ugly and didn’t deserve to be decorating the hallway to his playroom.
But still, Techno’s hands were on his sword while he warily inched towards the door.
When he opens the door, he’s faced with a hooded figure standing there with a knife in his hand. Instinctively, he slams the end of his sword into the intruder’s head and shuts the door behind him. He watches as the intruder collapses onto the floor, ready to pick him up to bring him down and throw him into the dungeons before another hooded person appears next to him with a silver gleam in his hand.
A knife, his brain supplies helpfully, that is going to kill Tommy if you don’t stop him.
This assassin was quicker than the first, most likely due to not being caught off guard, but his knife was useless against Techno’s sword and it was another easy battle won.
Or so he thought because he could hear another assassin creeping behind him and he could see another coming from around the corner.
Grabbing a hold of the assassin with the knife, he swings for the assassin behind him, knocking them both out against the wall. Then he turns back around blocking another attack with his sword. The assassin brings the sword back up and tries to swing, but Techno stabs him before he can.
Where were all the guards?
Surely a guard would’ve noticed all the commotion by now or at the very least a servant hearing all the fighting and alerting the guards.
And before he can alert any of the guards himself, more assassins come his way and one of the previous ones regained consciousness, weakly lunging in Techno’s direction.
At this point, he couldn’t even keep track of how many attackers were coming at him or how many there even were because the only thing that was on his mind was to not let anyone past the playroom door, even if his life depended on it.
And so he fights.
He stabs one assassin and swings at another. Each one of them with different weapons and different attacks comes at him, wave after wave and it doesn’t stop. He keeps fighting and swinging and stabbing, but the attackers keep coming from nowhere and he can’t even comprehend how they got into the castle in the first place.
In the corner of his eyes, he sees yet another assassin running down the hall and another coming from the opposite corner.
For the first time in a long time, he felt fear.
Fear that he wasn’t strong enough to be able to protect Tommy.
Fear that he was going to fail to do the one thing he was supposed to do.
He manages to knock one of the assassins out, adding to the growing pile of them, and stab another. Turning slightly to block an attack from the assassin that was charging at him, he briefly forgets about the one that was coming from behind him and feels a sharp pain erupting from his stomach.
A short glance down tells him that he’s been stabbed.
A glance back up and he sees a gloved hand turning the handle on the door and swinging it open.
He failed.
- - - - -
Technoblade wakes up with a jolt as the off-key blare of a trumpet screeches in his ears.
He bolts upright.
Tommy’s there alive and smiling with a trumpet in his hands and Techno can’t help but feel like some god is playing a cruel trick on him.
“You’re finally awake,” says Tommy, “I woke up three minutes ago and what do I find when I go into your room? You’re sleeping! What good does it do when your personal guard is sleeping instead of guarding you, huh? You don’t make a very good guard Techno.”
Techno wanted to argue that he was sleeping and that he was the only guard that was able to actually put up with Tommy’s antics and that Tommy had multiple other guards who were assigned to him while he was sleeping so that Techno could rest as well.
But he couldn’t.
Not with nightmares from the previous night, plaguing his mind, reminding him of how he failed Tommy, even if it was just in a dream.
If it was even a dream.
It felt too real to be a dream.
Tommy plays another loud and spluttering tune when Techno doesn’t respond, “You’re acting weird Techno.”
“You-”
You died, is what he was going to say.
“You need to start paying attention to those trumpet lessons,” is what he says instead.
Surprisingly, Tommy doesn’t make a quip back or tackle him in anger. Instead, he repeats, “Are sure you’re okay, Techno? You’re acting a bit weird and insulting my amazing trumpet skills won’t distract me from it.”
“Just a bad dream,” Techno says, shrugging it off. At least he hopes that it was just a bad dream and nothing more, but the events that were playing out right then and there felt eerily similar to the events in his ‘dream’, “What do you want to do today?”
“I want to go play. Can we please go play? We still have time before breakfast,” Tommy’s eyes light up, “We can play that game that you bought for me at the market. Pretty please?”
“Okay, fine.”
And there he goes down the hallway again, Tommy dragging him by the hand while rambling on about yesterday.
Just like the dream.
Techno waves it off as another coincidence, but a familiar feeling of uneasiness digs deep into the pits of his stomach.
They make it to the playroom and Tommy barges into it, grabbing the game off the shelf and dropping it onto the table.
Just like the dream.
The events unfold in front of him, just like they had in the dream that Techno doesn’t really think is a dream anymore. Tommy staring at the instructions and trying to figure out how the game worked. Tommy making Techno explain the game to him. Tommy giving up and making up an entirely new game.
And the thump that Techno dreaded coming.
And just like before, when Techno opens the door, he’s faced with the hooded figure of an assassin.
He swings, slicing the attacker’s head off.
He knows he’s technically supposed to knock them out or slightly injure them and not actually kill them according to some “everyone has a right to a fair and equal trial” law, but Techno knew that it wasn’t going to be a fair fight and if they weren’t going to play fair he wouldn’t either.
It was a blood bath to say the least.
But even then, he only managed to protect Tommy for a little bit longer before he got caught off guard and there was a sword sticking out of his chest.
Tommy’s scream was the last thing he heard before fully passing out.
- - - - -
When Techno wakes up to a trumpet blasting in his ear for the third time, he’s convinced he’s in some time loop created by a god as some sick prank.
“You’re finally awake!” Tommy starts, lowering the trumpet from his mouth.
“You’re finally awake,” Techno mutters to himself at the same time. It’s the same thing every single time.
Tommy frowns, “Hey! How did you know what I was going to say?”
It’s different, Techno realizes. Tommy didn’t go on his whole spiel about how Techno was a bad guard and it made him feel a little bit better, both in the sense that Tommy wasn’t flat out telling him that he couldn’t do his job properly and that he could change things.
Tommy didn’t have to die.
Not if Techno had anything to do with it.
“You’re just that predictable.”
“I am not!” Tommy shouts, frustrated. He jumps up and tackles Techno back into his bed, “Predict that bitch!”
Techno ruffles Tommy’s hair, laughing. Tommy responds by punching Techno and then biting his hand. “Ow!”
“That’s what you get, motherfucker. Teaches you not to mess with my amazing hair that I spent years growing to impress all the ladies.”
“Stop swearing.”
“I’ll swear all I want!” Tommy shouts, waving around his trumpet, “You’re not the boss of me. I’m the crown prince and you’re my guard. I’m the boss of you. You have to listen to me and I say we have to go play!”
“Do you want to go to the library instead?” Techno blurts out instead.
If Techno wanted to change things, he could do it here and now. They wouldn’t have to go to Tommy’s playroom where the assassins were and where Tommy would inevitably get killed. They could just avoid it all.
Tommy’s face scrunched up in disgust, “Why would I want to go to the library? The library is boring. There’s nothing to do in the library and I want to have fun. I want to play!”
“The library isn’t boring,” Techno argues, but it’s like arguing with a wall, “There are so many cool books and interesting things to read about and you would know if you actually took the time to read.”
“I do read!” Tommy protests, “It’s always those boring books that my tutor makes me read. They have nothing fun in them and every time I read them I feel like I’m dying.”
“What if I showed you the fun books? The ones that aren’t boring but actually interesting and fun to read,” Techno offers, voice edging on desperation, “I used to love Greek Mythology as a kid and I’m sure that you would enjoy them as well.”
Tommy squints at Techno, “Is there fighting in Greek Mythology?”
“In fact there is.”
“Will you read to me?”
“Of course.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” Tommy asks, tugging at Techno’s arm, “Why aren’t we already at the library?”
Sometimes the wall agrees.
Tommy takes off, running down the hall towards the library. Techno follows not far after him, but far enough to give Tommy the impression that he was faster than Techno.
He wasn’t.
When they reach the library, Tommy’s wheezing on the floor, trying to catch his breath and Techno’s scanning the familiar shelves in search of a specific book, fingers coming to a stop right above it.
Both Techno and Tommy get situated in the library’s alcove, Tommy’s legs swung over Techno’s lap and Techno using Tommy’s legs to prop the book open so that he could read it.
They don’t make it far into the book before there’s a knock on the door.
A servant he assumes. Not an assassin he hopes.
“Tommy, I need you to hide.”
In the back of his mind, he knows it’s not enough when he’s not enough.
And just like with the playroom, there was an onslaught of assassins that came from all directions until eventually Techno couldn’t keep up with the fight and a knife plunged into his chest.
In the next loop, Techno takes Tommy to the kitchens and somehow the assassins find him there as well. Then Techno convinces Tommy to stay in Techno’s bedroom and the assassins are outside his door before he can find something to keep Tommy busy in his near empty room.
The assassins find them in an abandoned office.
And in Tommy’s schoolroom.
And in the infirmary.
And even when they hide in the hidden room that only a handful of people knew about, the assassins found them there as well.
Nothing Techno did kept Tommy alive. They always found him and Tommy no matter where they were or what room they hid in. And it was always him against the rest of the assassins, protecting the door that Tommy was always behind until Techno died one way or another and then the attackers got to Tommy.
Had he upset some greater force and now they were forcing him into a never-ending time loop where he couldn’t protect the one person he actually cared about?
He already knows that he’s not strong enough.
He knows that he needs help.
He needed help, but where was it?
Where were all the guards?
- - - - -
Technoblade wakes up with a jolt as the off-key blare of a trumpet screeches in his ears.
Before Tommy can even get a word in, Techno says, “I need to talk to your father.”
Tommy frowns, lowering his trumpet, “You’re not resigning from being my personal guard because I played the trumpet in your ear, are you? Please don’t do that. I swear I’ll never ever play the trumpet again.”
“No, of course not,” Techno gets out of bed, slipping his armor on and grabbing Tommy’s hand, “There are some adult things I need to talk to him about and quickly, so let’s get you to breakfast. Niki can make you some breakfast.”
“But I wanted to play before eating,” Tommy whines, “I don’t want to go to talk to father about boring things and shit. I already have to listen to my tutor all day talking on and on about reading and physics. I want to do something fun!”
“Don’t swear,” Techno chides softly, “And you’re going to eat breakfast with Niki and then go do your studies, which means you don’t have to listen to boring things. We can play after, I promise.”
Tommy groans, but doesn’t complain further.
After accompanying Tommy to the kitchens and leaving him with Niki, he makes his way to the grand hall where the king spent most of his time.
He knocks on the doors loudly and they swing open slowly.
“Technoblade, to what do I owe the pleasure?”
“I have reason to believe that your son is going to be assassinated. If you would provide me with guards and other means to be able to protect him, it would be most appreciated.”
The guards behind Techno shift warily.
“Do you have evidence to back this up? Papers, threats? Do you even know what kingdom is threatening the prince? How do you even know that the prince is going to be assassinated?”
Techno falters, “A gut instinct if you will, your majesty.”
The king sighs, “Technoblade, I’m sorry, but I can’t just give you guards because you think the prince is going to die based on a ‘gut instinct’. The guards are stationed where they are deliberately, as if there were an attack, they would be able to defend the castle and the people that reside in it properly.”
“What if I told you I’m in a time loop?” Techno blurts out.
The king quirks up an eyebrow, “Oh? Care to explain?”
“I have been reliving the same day over and over again where Tommy is assassinated. It’s not just a gut instinct, it’s a fact. I know that it’s going to happen because it does happen. I’ve seen it happen for ten straight days now. So if you could please-”
A knock on the door rings out loudly.
A guard walks in, leaning down to whisper something into the king’s ear. The king whispers something back before he turns back to Techno and the guard walks away.
“May I ask what that was about?”
“If you must know, it was about the party that I am hosting later in the week.”
Techno nods, “And the prince’s assassination?”
The king sighs again, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Technoblade, you do know that lying to a king is considered treason, right?”
“I’m not lying. Tommy’s going to be assassinated.”
“Guards. Please escort Technoblade to the dungeons. It’s clear he’s plotting something against our great nation, so if you would please find out that information as well, that would be grande.”
Before the guards could get close to him, Techno takes out his knife and stabs it straight through his heart.
Three loops later and the king still refuses to believe that his son is going to be assassinated.
It’s getting frustrating having to knock on the same door for three straight pseudo-days.
“Technoblade, to what do I owe the pleasure?”
“I’m stuck in a time loop and your son, the crown prince, is going to be assassinated soon,” Techno states bluntly, trying to get straight to the point.
As usual, the king quirks up an eyebrow, “Oh? Care to explain?”
“Yes, a guard is going to come in any minute now and whisper something in your ear. You’re going to whisper something back. I don’t know exactly what you guys are whispering about but you’re whispering about something. About the party you’re planning on hosting I want to guess.”
“How did you know I was hosting a-”
On cue a guard opens the door and strides to the king, dipping down and whispering something in his ear. And on cue, the king turns his head and whispers something back, before the guard walks away and the king turns his attention back to Techno.
“How did you know that was going to happen?”
Techno doesn’t answer, “And now one of your advisors is going to walk in to tell you something. She’s going to tell you that you’re making a mistake, a very bad one and that it wouldn’t be good for the kingdom’s future. She’s urgent, rushing and stumbling over her words. You don’t care though. You go along with whatever decision that is.”
As predicted, the king’s advisor comes in, stumbling and panting.
“Your majesty? If I may have a word?” The king nods, “You’re- You’re making a mistake. A very big one. If you choose to, uh, continue with your plans, the kingdom’s future will- well, it will be in grave danger. Enemies will see it as a weakness, your majesty. They may wage war.”
The king widens his eyes, staring at Techno, “I am well aware of my decision and the effects it may have, but I believe it will be better for my well-being. The kingdom’s well-being. You are dismissed.”
The advisor nods her head quickly, muttering out an apology before leaving.
“Is that proof enough for you? I need guards by my side. There’s an onslaught of assassins and the guards are never there to help. I can’t take them all on my own,” Techno says as much as it hurts to admit, “Tommy’s in the kitchens with Niki now and the assassins are probably heading there right this minute and you’re going to say no, saying that ‘a hunch is not enough proof’ but I’m telling you, I’ve experienced it many times already.”
The king stares long and hard at Techno.
“Guards, it’s clear that the prince’s personal guard has gone insane. If you would escort him to the dungeons so he doesn’t plague others with his ideas, that would be grande.”
“I’m not insane,” Techno spits out, pulling out his sword, “You are.”
He plunges the sword into his chest.
He’d try again.
And again.
And again.
But nothing that Techno did or said could convince the king that Tommy was going to be assassinated.
So the loop continued.
He didn’t know what he could do anymore. He’d given up trying to keep Tommy behind locked doors and hiding Tommy in different rooms. He’d given up trying to convince the king to get him guards that could help protect Tommy anymore. There was nothing he could do except keep fighting and memorizing the attackers’ every move and getting a little bit further every time.
But Tommy still kept dying every time.
It was the twenty-third loop Techno actually saw Tommy die with his own eyes.
In every other loop, Techno had managed to protect the door with his life. He never had to see the assassins opening the door and stab Tommy in whatever corner he was hiding in.
This time he did.
Because he messed up somehow. He got distracted, he got too focused on the fight and he forgot about Tommy, he wasn’t focused enough, he screwed up something. And suddenly he was not standing in front of the door anymore, but a ways distance fighting an assassin when another opened the door.
Techno tried to run to Tommy, but the assassin was faster.
And he was holding Tommy’s bleeding body in his arms.
Because he failed again.
The piercing pain that erupted in his chest was welcome this time around.
It wasn’t until the forty-second loop when, by sheer luck or some other force, he knocked the helmet off one of the attackers who wasn’t wearing a mask like everyone else.
Imagine his surprise when he saw Jack, one of the many guards and one of the few whom Techno actually trusted, hidden under that helmet.
He nearly drops his sword.
“Jack?”
There wasn’t even enough time to exchange words before pain bloomed in his stomach.
It didn’t even hurt anymore. Techno had become numb to the pain a long time ago.
Regret fills Jack’s eyes, “I’m so sorry. I really don’t want to but-”
Techno’s eyes flew open at the blare of a trumpet.
He doesn’t know when or why, but the time between his dying and his waking up had shortened significantly.
It still catches him by surprise at times. Him taking his last breaths, hands covered in blood, then not even a second later he’s waking up in bed with Tommy’s bright, smiling, and alive face hovering over him.
“You’re finally awake! I woke up three minutes ago and-”
“Tommy, it’s breakfast time isn’t it?” Techno interrupts, hurrying to put on his armor, “We should go to the kitchens so that we can eat. Let’s go.”
Tommy follows after Techno, stumbling, “It’s not breakfast time yet! We still have a lot of time! We can play! Please can we play?”
“I have to go talk to someone. We can play afterwards alright?”
After.
After this is all over.
“Niki is going to make pancakes and waffles. Do you want to help her?”
Tommy pouts, “Okay. I guess I can go help Niki make pancakes. But you promise that you’ll play with me after?”
After.
“I promise.”
It doesn’t take long for him to drop Tommy off with Niki then head to the guards’ quarters.
It doesn’t take him long to find Jack’s room.
“Technoblade!” Jack bolts up in surprise, “What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be with Prince Tommy?”
“I came here because I wanted to talk to you about something.”
Techno’s eyes wander to the bed where a sheet had been thrown over it haphazardly to hide something.
The assassin attire, he figures.
He flips the bedsheet over.
He’s right.
“You’re missing your mask, aren’t you? And you’re going to have to wear a helmet? Not the guards’ helmet though. Another one. I don’t know where you get it from. I didn’t recognize it.”
Jack gapes at him, “The king told you too?! But you’re the reason he got the entire force of guards to y’know. So that we can fight against you.”
“The king? He’s the one who wants to assassinate Tommy?”
“Yeah?” Jack inches away from Techno warily, “Wait, so the king didn’t threaten to kill your entire family if you didn’t help or he did? Please don’t kill me. I don’t want to kill Prince Tommy either but the king was going to have my family executed.”
Hot anger grew inside Techno.
“And why in the world would he want to kill his own son?” Techno gritted out.
“I don’t know!” Jack holds his hands up, scared, “He was saying something about how he visited a fortune teller and the fortune teller predicted he was going to die? I really don’t know. Please don’t kill me.”
“He- He’s going to kill his son, his only heir, because he’s going to die? Is he not aware of something called ‘old age’? Does he not know that Tommy’s going to be the one who takes over as king when he does die and that if Tommy dies the kingdom wouldn’t have an heir?”
Techno doesn’t think he’s ever met someone so stupid.
“Something about him dying because of Prince Tommy? That’s why the king wants to kill Prince Tommy… because he thinks that the prince is going to kill him first?
“He’s going to die because of Tommy that’s for certain,” Techno mutters to himself, before stabbing his sword into his chest.
- - - - -
Technoblade wakes up with a jolt as the off-key blare of a trumpet screeches in his ears.
He gets out of bed immediately, pushing past Tommy and painfully ignoring the look of hurt that was written all over his face.
He needed to have a chat with the king.
He could play with Tommy later.
He did promise after all and he wasn’t about to break that promise.
Sprinting down the hall, he gets his armor situated on himself properly in case anything were to go wrong.
A lot of things could go wrong.
He takes a deep breath in and knocks harshly on the doors to the Grand Hall.
The doors open and Techno walks over to where the king is sitting all high and mighty on his throne, not a care in the world that he’s having his son killed for his own selfish reasons.
Techno wants to spit in his face.
“Technoblade, to what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Do you know what I just experienced, your majesty?”
The king tilts his head, “You seem upset. Is there anything I can do to help?”
“I just watched Tommy, your son may I remind you, die over and over and over again. I could do nothing to stop it. I could keep killing all the assassins, but it was never enough. I could keep hiding Tommy in different places but that wasn’t enough. It was never enough. But do you know what?” Techno puts a hand on his sword, “I think I finally found a way where he lives.”
He unsheathed his sword, knowing very well he was committing many different forms of treason.
He couldn’t care less.
“Guards!” the king shouts, pale terror on his face, “Stop him!”
The guards don’t move.
They don’t want their prince to die either.
Maybe they don’t want to die.
“Technoblade, please reconsider!” The king babbles out desperately, “You have to understand that he was a threat to my life. He was going to kill me. The prophet said it herself. She said that he was going to be the reason I died. I had no other choice. I was only doing it for the kingdom. I swear-”
One clean swipe of his sword leads to silence.
He didn’t want to hear the king talking anymore.
Techno turned around to the other guards, nodding his head towards the king’s dead body, “I’ll talk to his advisors. Tell them about how he was planning to kill the Prince. Something like that. Got into a fight with him and accidentally killed him. They’ll believe me I’m sure. Can you guys take care of the body? And tell the other guards that they don’t need to kill Tommy anymore?”
When they give him nods, Techno takes off sprinting back to his room.
Tommy was still there, sitting on Techno’s bed and staring at his trumpet. When Techno sees him, he can’t help but rush over and scoop Tommy up into his arms, hugging him tightly.
“Techno?” Tommy asks patting Techno’s back awkwardly, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Everything’s going to be alright,” Techno reluctantly pulls away from the hug, “Do you want to go play? I did promise.”
The next morning, Techno wakes up quietly.
There isn’t a trumpet blasting in his ear or Tommy complaining about how he wasn’t awake yet.
For the first time in a while, he wakes up feeling rested and without worry, especially when he sees Tommy’s smiling face peeking through his door moments later..
Even after the time loop ended and any threat to Tommy’s life was virtually gone, Techno stayed by Tommy’s side for the majority of the day.
Call him overprotective, but he was just doing his job.
“What’s going to happen now?”
Techno looked up from where he was reading while Tommy did his schoolwork, “Mmh?”
“Now that father is dead?”
It was mildly concerning how well Tommy had taken the news when Techno told him that he had killed his father.
“He was never there for me when I scraped my knee and couldn’t stop crying. He wasn’t the one who taught me how to read or to fight with a sword. He wasn’t there for me when I turned five or ten or twelve or anything.” Tommy had said, “You were.”
If Techno said his heart hadn’t been warmed at Tommy’s words, he’d be lying.
“Y’know Aunt Puffy? Your father’s sister?” Tommy nods, eyes lighting up, “She’s gong to take over as ruler of the kingdom until you’re old enough to become king. You’re going to have to learn all about ruling a kingdom and all that but Puffy will be there to teach you. And you’ll have advisors.”
Tommy looks up at Techno, “You’ll be there to help me, right?”
“Always.”