Work Text:
The familiar sound of a gas mask buzzed steadily in Techno’s ears. He glanced around the scene before him. Blotches of lime green foliage clung to the surrounding buildings, vines interlacing throughout the cracks in the stone. The plants were beautiful, extending their reach from the roofs of the cityscape down in graceful tendrils and peeking out through the broken glass of the windows.
The growth mostly covered the ground as well. A thin path of worn concrete showed through the vivid green, although the vines were already beginning to creep back.
Techno grumbled to himself when he saw this. He’d have to re-carve the path on his way back if he wanted to avoid stepping on the vines. And he definitely didn’t want to step on the vines. They were growing faster than even Techno and Phil had suspected. They might have to move sooner than expected.
He reached for his knife to cut more of the plants as he continued his trek through the abandoned city. It had been left to its own devices for almost three years by Techno’s count. (Although he wouldn’t be surprised if it had been longer since the outbreak. He was pretty sure he’d miscalculated somewhere along the way).
Rusty cars poked out of the green. Techno almost laughed when he noticed that one of the cars still had a pair of fuzzy dice hanging behind a windshield. He sliced at a few vines and grabbed the fuzzy dice before he left. Phil would be delighted to tie them to one of the backpacks as a bit of decoration.
Techno slowly made his way down the street, swiping anything that looked useful. Unfortunately most of the city had been covered with moss so he couldn’t find much.
He finally managed to reach the city borders. The growth would be much more manageable the further he got from the city. For some reason the green always preferred the crumbling buildings.
More things to hold onto I guess, Techno thought.
His mask beeped loudly, signaling a change in the filter was needed. That gas mask was the only thing keeping Techno alive, despite the masses of green earlier.
The green vines, or as Phil had so un-affectionately named them for their weird shape, the cloverheads, (“That is the dumbest name I’ve ever heard.” “Mate, I don’t wanna hear it. Do you have any better ideas?”) just showed up one day. It was an overnight takeover.
Once the news arrived about some deadly plant infecting the world through the air, Techno had locked himself into his basement for at least a week before he deemed it safe to leave.
Armed with an old painter's mask and some arguably useless decorative swords Techno had hanging in his house, he had ventured out of his little sanctuary.
Three years later, Techno was still kicking and had a partner to help him stay alive. Together they were pretty well off, unlike the majority of the other survivors.
Techno had been traveling for a couple hours, trying to scout out the area and determine if they had to move camp. He was pretty far away from the city so the cloverheads had become more sparse.
The vines were still clutching onto trees and crawling over the rocks.
Techno heard the telltale snap of a gun cocking. He froze and turned around slowly, eyes wide and limbs tense.
A boy stood facing him, a rifle gun aimed straight at Techno’s chest. He had a red bandana wrapped tightly over his mouth, a flimsy excuse for a mask. His disgruntled blond hair clashed with the lime green of the forest behind him. He looked filthy. Frankly it was a wonder he even survived this long.
He was strangely tall but his long limbs were gangly and poorly filled out. Despite his attempts to be intimidating, his shaking arms betrayed his fear.
Techno almost snorted, but caught himself. This boy was no threat to him. Although the loaded gun pointed toward him might become a problem if he didn’t take care of it soon.
“Keep your hands up, fucker,” the boy spit.
Techno blinked, raising his hands up higher and shifted slightly so he was standing evenly on both feet.
The blond didn’t seem to notice his weight shift and took a small step forward.
“What do you want, kid?” Techno figured if he helped the kid out maybe he’d just be on his merry way and Techno wouldn’t have to hurt him.
As much as he looked like a jerk with his rather tough build and scars stretching across his face, he would never stoop so low as to hurt a child without proper cause. (Because that’s what the boy was, a child.)
His eyes narrowed and he tightened his hold on the gun, “Pass me your bag.”
Yeah no that wasn’t happening.
Techno lunged to the side so that the boy would have to swivel the gun to shoot him and swung his leg, swiping the boy’s legs out from under him.
He stumbled and landed hard on the ground, dropping the rifle.
Techno backed up a little to allow the blond to rise to his feet but made sure the gun was not within arms length.
The boy scrambled up and backed away, nearly tripping over himself and falling again.
“Listen kid, I’m not going to hurt you unless I have to,” Techno took a small step forward and watched as the child stiffened. “Although you definitely won't be getting my backpack.”
“Listen man, I just need some food,” the boy’s voice trembled. He looked terrified. Techno felt a little sorry for him.
Goddamn it he was going soft.
“Uh- well you can have some food if you want it,” Techno shifted awkwardly. Fuck, social interaction was hard. “Ya’ just had to ask.”
The boy looked reasonably confused. Survivors never offered to help each other. They were fighting for their lives and nothing would get in their way. He tugged on his shirt anxiously, “You’d do that for me?”
Techno sighed.
“Yeah, I have some to spare anyway.”
The boy’s eyes brightened and Techno saw a shy smile crept onto his face underneath his mask. When he set down his bag and began to rifle through it, Tommy shuffled forward slowly.
Techno grabbed a pack of jerky from some random wild hog he’d killed earlier and twisted around to hand it to the boy. He returned to his bag and kept searching for more food. “So, what’s your name?”
A beat of silence later.
“Tommy.”
Techno turned around and looked at him. He nodded approvingly. He looked like a Tommy.
“M’ Techno,” he grunted.
Tommy burst out laughing. Techno’s brow furrowed, “What ya’ laughing at?”
“Who the fuck names their kid Techno? What a dumb-ass name,” He giggled from behind the bandana.
Techno lips curled into a small smile before he noticed and schooled his expression into a frown. He wasn’t going to get attached. Phil would never let it go.
Tommy tore open the bag and as Techno watched with mild disgust, he promptly tore into the dried strips of pork, viciously ripping it with his teeth.
Techno felt fondness bubble up in his chest despite himself. This train-wreck of a kid was quickly wiggling his way into Techno’s heart.
Once Tommy was done he looked up at Techno. “Why is your hair pink?”
He grasped his long pink braid and flipped it over his shoulder, “Uh I don’t know. It was originally red but uh- it got all washed out after the outbreak,” he trailed off.
Tommy stared at him again.
“Why was it red?”
“I don’t know,” he shuffled, “I guess I thought it looked cool.”
Tommy waiting for a moment then snorted in amusement, “Fuck you’re awkward. What a dork.”
Techno frowned in offense, “It’s not like I’ve seen that many people now-a-days. It’s like only Phil.”
Tommy tilted his head curiously, “Who’s Phil?”
“He’s my partner. He’s back at camp, I’m supposed to be on patrol right now.”
Tommy’s grin dropped, “Oh.”
Techno’s small smile vanished as well. If he had to guess, he would say this boy didn’t have a parter like he did. He was all alone.
Tommy began fidgeting. The constant movement of his fingers made Techno’s head start to ache.
He cleared his throat awkwardly, “Would you like to come back with me? I have an extra gas mask, and we have a lot of food. Uh- better food than that jerky. That stuff is nasty. I mean- if you want to of course. I wouldn’t make you…”
He looked up from where he’d been aggressively examining the ground. Tommy was staring at him with complete shock. There were little droplets of tears in both his eyes.
An instant later the boy had rushed forward and wrapped his arms around Techno. He froze for a second and then slowly returned the hug, placing his arms stiffly around Tommy’s back.
Prime, Phil was never going to let this go.