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“If you don’t sit still,” Wilbur said, pitifully struggling to force his human crewmate back down onto the chair he was trying and failing to keep him on, “then all of your blood is going to spill out of your body, and I won’t be able to put it all in back in, and you’ll die. If you’d just quit moving already, I’ll make sure to get you closed up quickly.”
In all the time that he’d spent studying to be the best medic he could for his crew, Wilbur never thought that he’d come across a species quite like humans. They took what he knew about medicine and medical care and made it a whole lot stranger.
After all, when they were injured, they’d just keep bleeding, like their bodies weren’t able to keep the blood inside. Didn’t they have anything to quickly clot their blood and seal the wound shut? Apparently not. Their blood clotted, but so much slower than everyone else Wilbur had ever met, making it far more likely for them to bleed out after some kind of battle.
Which, unfortunately, his human crewmate always seemed to get involved in.
“It’s not that bad, you can just stitch it shut,” Technoblade said gruffly, his annoyed gaze watching each of the machines and needles that Wilbur had assembled on the table beside them. He’d always been so anxious around them, which Wilbur understood. “I don’t need any painkillers, I’ve had worse.”
As if that made him feel any better.
“If you’d stop leaking blood everywhere, I would stitch you shut. And the painkillers are here for a reason, Techno, you got stabbed,” Wilbur said, not bothering to hide the accusation in his voice. It wasn’t like they hadn’t had this conversation time and time again, despite the fact that the human had only been onboard the ship for only about three months.
With how new humans were to the universe, there was a lack of information on them, and most of it had unfortunately been gained from… less than reputable sources. That’s why Wilbur had been so shocked the first time that Techno just kept bleeding and bleeding and bleeding during one of the fights they’d been in, so much so that he should have died from those wounds.
No matter what he’d said about the painkillers, Technoblade didn’t stop Wilbur from sticking him with a needle that Wilbur knew wasn’t going to end up poisoning his crewmate. From the moment he’d become a part of their crew, Wilbur had run all sorts of tests against Techno’s DNA to figure out which medications he could or couldn’t use. With permission, of course, because after everything that so many humans had already been put through, Wilbur wasn’t going to be sampling Techno’s DNA against his will or anything.
Thankfully, the stab wound was fairly easy to fix, given that there were no organs that were hit, so it didn’t take long to get the wound patched up. It was just a lot messier than most other species.
“I know I’ve said it before, but please try not to get stabbed,” Wilbur said, patting Techno’s shoulder as a way to let him know that he was fine to leave now. He wasn’t the biggest fan of being in the medical room, Wilbur knew that and understood why, but it was nice to know that in the past three months Technoblade had come to trust him enough to put up with it.
Techno stood, inspecting his wound for only a few seconds before he nodded to Wilbur. “I’ll stop getting stabbed if we stop running into pirates, but what are the chances of that happening?”
With how accessible the universe was to so many planets and species out there, it wasn’t a surprise that quite a few crews all across the stars had taken to pirating in order to make a living. The Intergalactic Police could only keep up with so much, and Interpol often had to draw boundaries with different governments on different planets or different star systems, which could get complex and frustrating and led to a rise in piracy.
Ships choosing to deliver cargo tended to get targeted more often than others, which meant that their own ship tended to get hit often enough. Having a new crewmate on board, one who was particularly strong and skilled in fighting, had been quite a deal of help in getting them out of those kinds of situations as of late.
A frustrated trill built up in Wilbur’s throat, but ultimately, all he could do was sigh in defeat. “At least try? With the amount of fluid that’s come out of you, I’m still shocked that you haven’t passed out during more of those fights. If I lost as much blood as you have, I would have been dead long ago.”
That was probably one of the things that had frightened Wilbur the most—the amount of blood that Technoblade had lost during battles was unreal, yet he’d continued fighting as if it wasn’t a major concern. It scared Wilbur just as much as it scared the pirates who Techno had been fighting, because Wilbur was worried he’d be trying to fix a corpse soon, and the pirates seemed to believe that Techno must’ve been immortal.
Humans weren’t immortal, though, given that a month into being a part of the crew, their resident human had passed out from blood loss after a particularly nasty encounter. It wasn’t until after the fight was over, and after the human’s naturally producing adrenaline—an entirely separate concern—had worn off, but those had been a terrifying few hours as Wilbur figured out what concoction of medication could help the human’s blood replicate faster than normal. It was already on the fast side, which made sense with how much blood they could normally lose, but finding something to speed up the process had done wonders in alleviating Wilbur’s fear of losing his crewmate because he hadn’t been able to stop the bleeding fast enough.
“Guess I’m just built different,” Techno said, the corner of his mouth twitching up into a smirk as Wilbur just sighed and shook his head.
He’d never expected that getting a new crewmate could be so stressful, not when they all got along so well. Technoblade had connected so easily with each and every member of their admittedly-small crew, to the point where it didn’t feel like he’d only been there for three months, but instead like he’d been with them for years.
If he’d been with them for years, though, Wilbur would have already died from the constant shock of every crazy or stupid decision that Techno made—fighting until he passed out currently being at the top of that list, though some of the poisons he’d consumed like they weren’t actually toxic definitely made a close second—or he would have known more about humans as a species.
Wilbur could probably write a book on humans at the moment and still barely scratch the surface. There would be entire chapters on how to properly care for human injuries, and what to look out for. That was something he was still learning about, and it was fascinating.
While he was a medic, Wilbur was also a scientist. He always had been. Thankfully, that didn’t scare Techno—at least, it didn’t scare him enough not to trust him. Techno had dealt with scientists in the past, something he’d mentioned vaguely and had avoided discussing the details about.
With how much Wilbur had heard about how so many humans were treated out in space, it wasn’t a surprise that he didn’t want to discuss any details.
Still, Wilbur really needed to add to his notes on how to care for a human properly, because there just didn’t seem to be enough information out there, and as much as he wanted to just go to Techno about it, he didn’t want to cause his crewmate any trauma by digging up anything he didn’t want to talk about.
Soon enough, he’d become the leading non-human expert on caring for humans.
~*~
Not all planets were suitable for all species. There were planets that were completely filled to the brim with water, places that Philza couldn’t visit as his wings would get soaked, he would no longer be able to fly, and chances are he’d just drown if he didn’t have the proper technology. There were planets made primarily of gas, where light species—those whose body density was so much less than many other beings out there—were able to float through the skies and spaceships had nowhere to actually land.
And then there were places like Xanthara, where temperatures were outside the normal range, where the heat could be fatal to species who weren’t equipped to deal with it properly.
“I could just come along for the first part of the trip, and then go back to the ship for the rest,” Tommy insisted, following alongside the rest of the crew despite the fact that he wasn’t actually supposed to be coming this time. The Procyonian’s ears were pressed back, his fur frizzed up, and his tail kept lashing back and forth. “I promise, I’ll come right back here, I will!”
There were some lectures that Wilbur had given his crewmates time and time again, to the point where he could recite every word like he was reading a script.
He wasn’t the only one.
“Mate, you know exactly why you aren’t able to come along with us on this drop,” Philza said, and despite his exasperated chirps, there was a look of sympathy on his face for their youngest crewmate. Tommy hated having to stay on the ship all alone, especially when the rest of his horde could potentially be in danger. Procyonians were very possessive of their hordes, and anyone important enough to be considered horde should be appreciative of that.
Wilbur knew that Procyonians didn’t often horde-bond with those outside their species, but Tommy had accepted all of them so quickly, so easily, and the amount of trust that he put in all of them felt unreal. Phantoms didn’t naturally have strong instinctual connections to others, as the moment they were able to take care of themselves, they were expected to, but Wilbur knew that he probably got his “flock instincts” from Phil, given that the Elytrian had raised him. While those “flock instincts” weren’t actually real, Wilbur couldn’t imagine choosing to be completely solitary when he could instead be a part of Phil’s flock, or Tommy’s horde, or Techno’s… actually, he didn’t know the human’s word, nor was he actually sure whether the human viewed all of them the way that they saw him.
Technoblade did trust them, though. He’d proven that he trusted them time and time again, just as he’d proven himself to be trustworthy more times than Wilbur could count.
“Is there something wrong with this planet?” Techno asked. Sometimes it was hard to tell what the man was thinking or feeling, based on how monotone his voice could be and how infrequently he’d show strong emotions.
Ah, Wilbur should have checked with him to ensure that the planet wasn’t going to be dangerous for humans, too.
“The temperature of the planet is going to be around ninety to ninety-five degrees while we’re there, and given the proximity to the star, it’s going to be very bright. Procyonians’ core temperatures are lower, so this extreme heat can be extremely detrimental to them, and if Tommy was to come along for the entire time we’re making deliveries, there’s a good chance that he could pass out, fall into a coma, or die of overheating,” Wilbur explained, shooting Tommy a look that made the kid growl and bare his teeth at him. Tommy hated seeming “weak” around others, given that his species wasn’t exactly known for being strong at all, and Tommy hated hearing that he wasn’t able to do something.
Technoblade just nodded, taking in the information. “Tommy’s going to guard the ship, then, and keep an eye out for anyone trying to sneak on board.”
Normally, the kid just sulked in his room while he waited for them to come back, given that the ship’s security system would do well enough at making sure no one got on board. But hearing Technoblade think that Tommy would be acting as a guard, that they were going to be entrusting him with that position, made the boy perk up, his ears flicking as he made an excited chattering noise.
“Of course I am,” Tommy bragged, puffing up his chest. “I’m a big man, after all, no one’s gonna get past me.”
A small, fond smile spread across Techno’s face as he nodded to Tommy. “Keep me updated if anything does happen, and I’ll get back to the ship immediately. If anyone does get on the ship, I expect you to keep yourself hidden and wait for backup, got it?”
Nothing was going to get on the ship, not once they’d armed it. Techno knew that, Wilbur was certain of it, because he’d gone over all the systems with Phil when he’d insisted on taking up more of a guard role for their crew. No one questioned him after he took out an entire crew of pirates single-handedly.
“A guard should protect the ship,” Tommy argued.
Techno shook his head, looking away from the supplies that he was gathering so he could look Tommy in the eye.
“Waiting for backup is strategic. There’s no shame in being smart about handling situations instead of reckless,” Technoblade pointed out, and Wilbur had to stop himself before he could laugh at the hypocrisy of the statement. Recklessness seemed to be something Techno was good at, given how many enemies he tended to fight off all on his own, sometimes taking on several more than anyone should be fighting at once just to keep them away from the rest of the crew.
That wasn’t to say that the man wasn’t smart or calculating, because he had more than enough skills to back up that fighting.
Tommy didn’t like running away, but… he also really admired Techno. “Fine, whatever, I’ll call you first. But no one’s gonna get on the ship, ‘cause I’ll scare them all away!”
“As long as you stay on the ship,” Wilbur said, once again receiving a scathing look from Tommy. Eh, he was used to it. Wilbur turned his attention over towards his human crewmate. “How do humans fare in those temperatures?”
Techno was putting on a wide-brimmed hat and a loose, light-colored shirt. “I’ll be fine, I’m just going to keep out of the direct sunlight. Too much sun in higher temperatures can lead to overheating in humans too, but as long as I’ve got some water with me, I should be fine.”
“Should?” Phil asked, turning that concern over towards Techno.
Technoblade rolled his eyes at the tone. “If I’m ever not okay, I’ll let you guys know. I’ve got plenty of water with me, and the hat’s going to help.”
Wilbur narrowed his eyes, trying to decide if his crewmate was being honest or not. There were plenty of times that Techno had said that he was fine when he was actively bleeding, so when he said that he’d let them know, there was good reason to be skeptical of that.
Still, he did trust Techno.
“If the heat ever gets to be too much, let me know, and I’m bringing you directly back to the ship,” Wilbur said firmly. “I take my crewmates’ heath very seriously.”
“Believe me, I know,” Techno said. “I’ve been dragged to medical plenty of times. It’ll be hot, but humans live in hotter climates. Trust me, I’ll let you guys know.”
Well, Wilbur did say that he trusted Technoblade.
“Alright, let’s get going,” Phil agreed, and the Elytrian took the lead, tucking his wings close to his back to prevent sun exposure. Those dark wings could really overheat if he wasn’t careful, but the white fabric that he draped over them did wonders at keeping him cool and giving him plenty of room to be able to use his feathers to keep the heat away.
If anything, standing beside an Elytrian who was cooling himself off was extremely helpful in staying cool himself, as the air currents created by Phil’s feathers made a cooling effect in a small bubble around him, too. It wasn’t enough to keep Tommy cool, but it sure helped Wilbur when he was starting to hit his limits towards heat.
Planets like Xanthara were ones that they didn’t visit often, solely because of how hazardous they could be. None of the crew would survive on a planet like that forever. Or, at least, Wilbur didn’t think humans could, though he did say that humans lived in hotter climates, which… seemed crazy, but it wasn’t like he could argue with Techno on that. He’d never visited his homeworld, mostly because it was off-limits due to the fact that humans hadn’t actually reached the stars in the same way that the rest of the universe had, but Wilbur could admit that he didn’t really want to visit the planet all that much.
Techno had warned him that humans weren’t the most accepting of other species, mostly because the majority of humans didn’t believe that there was life anywhere beyond their own planet, so anything extraterrestrial would be seen as something to fear, and would probably end up killed or experimented on.
That didn’t sound fun. It did mean that Wilbur wasn’t able to go to the one place that would give him the most accurate information on humans, which meant he really would need to become the leading expert on them.
And an expert he was planning on becoming, as Wilbur was going to keep a close eye on his crewmate to ensure Techno’s safety, especially in any new climates they visited.
~*~
There were only two times that Wilbur had witnessed Technoblade cry. The first time had been particularly terrifying, given just how injured the man had become after a particularly brutal fight. It was when he was still new to the crew and didn’t quite trust them that much, only enough to live with them on the ship and risk his life to protect them apparently.
Before then, Wilbur had never seen anyone leaking liquid from their eyes that wasn’t blood after a battle, and when there was liquid dripping down Techno’s face, he really had assumed that the human’s eyes were damaged and there was a chance he might lose them. After all, it was a lot of liquid, and if his eyes were deflating or something, then Wilbur didn’t know how to fix that. He’d never come across something like that before.
Techno had told him to ignore that, that it was just “tears,” that it was all a reaction he couldn’t control because he was in pain. Wilbur had never heard about eyes deflating as some kind of pain response, because how much pain could someone be in to make their bodies decide to go blind?
Only… Technoblade didn’t go blind, and his eyes didn’t deflate, and Wilbur learned about the fact that humans leaked a clear fluid from their eyes when they were in pain. It didn’t always happen, because Wilbur had seen Techno in pain on other occasions, but leaking clear fluid was a sign that Wilbur made sure to look out for now because even if Techno tried to brush something off, it was something that his body did against his will to show the pain.
It was undeniable.
The second time had probably been even worse, because there were no obvious signs of injuries, and Techno wasn’t breathing properly, and Wilbur was scared that he was going to lose his crewmate from internal injuries that Wilbur hadn’t noticed apparently, and now because of his lack of care Techno was going to die. He’d accidentally scared the human, so insistent on dragging him over to medical to figure out what was wrong, but there were no injuries.
No physical ones, at least.
Despite the tears, Techno had laughed in a way that hadn’t sounded genuine. Wilbur hadn’t ever heard a laugh sound so broken before, so defeated or damaged or… or wrong.
Tears didn’t only happen because of physical injuries, Wilbur had learned. Emotional ones, too, led the human’s body to reacting as if it were in physical pain. It was terrifying to watch, because no matter how much medical training Wilbur had, there was nothing he could do to fix non-physical injuries. There was nothing he could do to take away the emotional anguish that Technoblade had been through.
While he wasn’t sure if it had helped or not, when those tears had been falling down Techno’s face as he stared out the window and watched the light of stars streak across the sky while in flight, putting a wing around his form and offering to listen to anything Techno wanted to talk about definitely seemed to help. It settled out his breathing over time, even as Techno didn’t want to talk about what he was going through beyond saying that he was “just homesick is all.” The tears had eventually stopped, and Wilbur had been happy to see that once again, leaking fluid hadn’t injured his eyes at all, which was such a relief.
But leaking fluid in general always seemed to be a negative when it came to humans. Beyond just normal biological functions when it came to consuming sustenance, the only times Wilbur had seen additional fluids come out of the human were blood that just kept flowing when injured, and tears that somehow didn’t deflate his eyes. Bright red blood, and clear liquid from the eyes.
What he hadn’t seen before was clear liquid on other parts of the human’s body.
When they finally made it back to the ship with all the supplies they’d needed to pick up after the deliveries had been made, the crew had spent around five hours out in the heat of Xanthara, and Wilbur was more than ready to go lay in a bath of cool water for a while.
With the way that Phantoms would normally pull extra moisture from the air when hot, that hadn’t exactly been an option on Xanthara, and he’d gone through all of the water that he’d brought along with him. Techno had even shared his water with Wilbur when his skin started drying out too much, despite the fact that Wilbur knew the human wouldn’t have brought water along if he didn’t need it.
Techno had insisted that it would be fine, that they were heading back to the ship anyway and he could just get more there, that Wilbur really needed it right now and if he passed out then Techno would need to drag him all the way back to the ship, so just drink the water already, Wil. So, he did.
Wilbur’s plan was to head to the bath as soon as he was certain that everything was fine and his skills weren’t needed, but almost immediately upon their arrival back to the ship, it seemed like his medical expertise was getting called upon.
“Why do you look so red?” Tommy asked as he trailed behind Technoblade like a hatchling followed its mother. His nose was twitching, scrunching up a little. “You smell salty.”
“I’ll get a shower once I get this over to the cargo hold,” Techno said, amusement clear in his voice as he kept ahold of the bags and boxes he was carrying. “And it’s fine, it’s just a little sunburn.”
The word “burn” and “salty” both caught Wilbur’s attention before he could wander off, because burns were injuries and tears were salty. Tears meant that Techno was in pain, it was a reaction that Techno wasn’t able to control, which meant if he had tears and burns, then those burns must’ve been really bad.
“Sunburn?” Wilbur asked, turning around and hurrying over to where the rest of the crew was. Techno hadn’t stopped, continuing on his way over to the cargo hold.
“Sunburn” wasn’t a word that Wilbur had heard before, as there was no way to actually get close enough to any planet’s sun and survive, unless… Were there planets where the star they were orbiting was too close for a human to be able to survive? Were they actually able to be burned by the sun due to close enough proximity?
That wasn’t something Techno had ever mentioned before! And if they were too close to the sun, why hadn’t the human said anything earlier? He could have stayed on the ship with Tommy, or they could have turned this job down.
Now that he was looking closer, and now that the large hat Technoblade had been wearing before was gone, it was easier to see his face. Without the direct sunlight, it was clear that his skin did have more of a reddish tone than it had before, particularly on his hands and forearms. His face wasn’t just a little red, though. It was wet, especially around his hairline, though Wilbur watched beads of liquid drip down his face.
It wasn’t coming from his eyes.
For a moment, Wilbur felt exactly as he had when he’d first seen blood continue to pour from the human’s wounds, or when he’d first watched tears running down his face thinking that his eyes might deflate. There was tear-like liquid that seemed to be coming out of his skin, which was a terrifying thought because did that mean humans could cry through their skin?
It wasn’t just on his face, though. It was on his neck, it was on his arms. Stars above, that was a lot of liquid. And yet he’d given his own water to Wilbur, when there was no doubt in his mind now that Technoblade had to have been in serious pain! What happened to telling him when things got too hot?
“Yeah, you don’t get sunburn?” Techno asked, like it was just some normal thing. It wasn’t just Wilbur who was concerned, though. Phil’s feathers were ruffled in a way that suggested concern and anxiety, while Tommy’s fur had frizzed up the moment he heard the word “burn.” “It’s not a big deal, I didn’t get that much sun.”
“The sun burned your skin? Why didn’t you tell me? I should have sent you back to the ship before you were hurt,” Wilbur hissed, frustrated with himself for not noticing earlier. The direct sunlight wasn’t easy on his eyes, so until they got back to the ship, he hadn’t noticed anything wrong with the human.
“I’m not hurt, I just got a little sun. I’ll get a shower and cool off, it’s no big deal. It’ll probably be gone by tomorrow or the next day. Trust me, if it was a bad sunburn, I’d let you find some kind of medicine to put on it, but this isn’t bad at all,” Techno insisted, though to Wilbur it sounded like he was speaking the same way that he did whenever he told him it’s just a little stab wound, Wilbur, there’s no need to freak out when the blood was just draining out of his body.
His skin was burned, and his body was crying from how much it must’ve hurt him, yet he was telling Wilbur that he wasn’t hurt and it wasn’t a big deal?
“Let me get you to medical,” Wilbur insisted, because there was no way he wasn’t going to take this seriously.
The word “medical,” on the other hand, got a reaction out of Technoblade.
“I’m fine. See?” He poked at his skin, and wherever he pressed at it, it changed back to his typical, pale tan skin color again for a second or two before regaining its slight redness. “It would be a lot brighter of a red if it was bad, and my skin would start peeling—”
“Peeling?” Wilbur gasped, feeling faint at the suggestion. He’d never seen someone’s skin just peel off unless… “Do humans molt? I-is that normal, for your skin to peel off?”
Techno actually laughed at that as he shook his head. “No, humans don’t molt, and our skin peeling off from sunburn is… well, normal, but not what I’d like to happen. It’s not pleasant. But this sunburn’s not bad. It’s barely anything.”
Barely anything, yet his skin was crying from the pain. It wasn’t like Wilbur wanted to call Techno out for lying, but… if his skin was in that much pain that his body’s response was to cry from it, then shouldn’t that be something Wilbur called him out on?
Only… when he’d cried before, he’d asked Wilbur not to mention it to anyone. There was a shame that humans, or maybe just Techno, seemed to feel when it came to crying. Calling him out now would just draw attention to it, and Wilbur didn’t want that, not if it would make Techno all the more uncomfortable.
The best solution was to let him have time to himself, and after he’d calmed down, maybe he could corner him and drag him to medical later. After all, Techno had expressed interest in a shower, and that should help cool his burns, so that was a good thing.
They could both go get cooled off, regain some moisture, then Wilbur could make sure he wasn’t lying about the severity of his burns. Any kind of burn sounded serious, but… even if he was the leading expert on caring for humans, Wilbur hadn’t even known that was something that happened to human skin just based on proximity to a star.
Thankfully, after a nice soak to rejuvenate his skin and replenish the amount of water in his body, Wilbur found that Techno wasn’t trying to avoid the crew to proverbially lick his wounds in isolation like he’d worried about.
Instead, the human was peacefully dozing on the couch after a hard day’s work in the hot air of a planet that was apparently not the best for a human to be on. Tommy was cuddled up at his side, no doubt having talked Techno’s ear off until the man drifted off, though the Procyonian didn’t seem to care. No, he was far more interested in snuggling with a human who used to avoid having to get too close to anyone back when he’d first joined the crew.
It had been a very long time since Techno had avoided touching them, and while he wasn’t always the biggest fan of cuddling with others, he made exceptions for them all the time.
What was even better than seeing him with the crew was seeing that his skin wasn’t nearly as red as it had been before, and all of the fluid that had been leaking out of him before was gone. If his skin was no longer crying, did that mean that he wasn’t in pain anymore, and that he really was going to be okay?
Technoblade seemed fine enough that Wilbur wasn’t going to bother waking him up while he was resting.
If anything, Wilbur had a new chapter on his book about caring for humans: check the proximity to each planet’s sun before landing on the planet, before letting his human crewmate risk burning his skin because of it.
~*~
There weren’t many species who would actively choose to hurt themselves for seemingly no reason. The biggest reason for instincts to lead someone to hurt themselves tended to be because of hopelessness, anxiety, or even boredom. Those were instincts that were present enough in lots of species, but there was always a reason for it.
Anxiety led to feather-plucking in Elytrians and other avian species, while Procyonians were prone to their fur either falling out, or picking it off themselves. Habits like that only formed in times of extreme emotion, not just overnight.
Techno wasn’t missing any hair, as far as Wilbur was aware. There weren’t any bald patches on the man’s head, though given that a human’s hair was relegated solely to their head, it was a bit harder to tell. Tommy was covered in fur, so there were plenty of places to notice patches of missing fur.
One of roles that Technoblade had taken upon himself was to be their guard. The entire crew was trained to handle a fight, given the fact that they got attacked by pirates all the time. Sure, Techno was far better than the rest of them when it came to fighting, except maybe Phil because he was extremely skilled, too. Watching the two of them spar with one another was impressive, even if it just reminded Wilbur again and again of the fact that his new crewmate could snap every bone in his body without even trying.
The role of guard suited him, and Techno took it very seriously. When he wasn’t helping out elsewhere on the ship, as he’d been getting very involved with the engineering of the ship, he was often training in their training room. If Wilbur was looking for Techno and hadn’t found him in any of the other common spots, he knew that all he needed to do was head over to the training room, and he’d find the human there.
Maybe it was strange to call it beautiful, but the way that Techno moved, the grace that he had as he trained, never failed to impress. He didn’t even need to have any weapons, but the way that he moved as if the sword in his hands was an extension of his own arms, it was incredible.
Despite the intense amount of concentration that he put into it, Techno sure had a way of making it look effortless.
There was nothing effortless about fighting, though, and when Techno finished what he was practicing, he hung the sword up and approached. When he first started on their ship, he used to go stiff the moment that he caught on to the fact that he was being watched.
Now, he didn’t even seem concerned when someone stood in the doorway and watched him train.
“Something you need, Wilbur?” Techno asked, grabbing a bottle of water and a small towel as he approached.
“I was just looking for you…” Wilbur said, voice trailing off when he noticed the fluid leaking down Techno’s face, down his arms. There were marks on his clothes from where enough liquid must’ve gathered, though with the small towel, Techno was doing his best to wipe it away.
Did he think that Wilbur wasn’t going to notice that? Did he think that he’d be able to hide the way that his skin was shedding tears? There was no way that he’d think Wilbur would just see what was going on and not say a word about it, right?
“You found me,” Techno said, his voice so casual and typical that it was like nothing was wrong.
But… something had to be wrong! If it was anything like the eye-tears, then maybe it had more to do with an emotional pain than a physical pain? But Technoblade wasn’t displaying any of the symptoms he’d been showing before—no shaking hands, no eye-tears, no trouble breathing, nothing.
Maybe it was physical.
“I, uh… Phil wanted to know… um, he had some questions about the foods you were growing,” Wilbur said. It was something that Technoblade had started doing in the past few weeks, something he’d seemed to be enjoying.
The training, the weapons, the guarding, that all made sense to Wilbur. The interest Techno had taken in gardening had taken Wilbur by surprise, but it was nice to see him finding something to do in his free time that was so productive and… unexpected.
“Oh, yeah, the plants. No problem. I figured that you’d want to go through them eventually too. I found a few from my homeworld, but most are just ones I found at a market that are close to familiar,” Techno explained, taking a long drink of water. “Just let me get cleaned up first, and I’ll meet Phil over in the greenhouse.”
While Techno strolled past Wilbur, looking super relaxed, there was no way that he was going to get out of a conversation at the very least, if not a trip over to medical.
“Techno? Is there… Are you okay?” Wilbur asked. He didn’t want to insult the human or assume that he needed any kind of help when he didn’t, but there was no way he could just let him walk away without even trying.
Unfortunately, it didn’t get the reaction he was hoping for. Techno just paused and looked back at him, raising an eyebrow. “I’m… fine?”
“You didn’t hurt yourself training? You’ve been here for a while, and you… you could have strained yourself, or pushed yourself beyond your limits,” Wilbur tried, because maybe if Techno knew that he was just concerned about him, he’d be more willing to talk about the fact that his skin had been crying.
His questions seemed to only confuse the human.
“Uh… no? I know what I’m doing with a sword, and I know my limits. I could’ve continued training for a lot longer. And anyway, if I do accidentally cut myself, I know to go to you or else I’ll get a lecture about it, plus you have that glue stuff that makes the cuts heal faster,” Techno said so very casually, like nothing was wrong in the slightest. That just didn’t make any sense!
For a moment, Wilbur just trilled happily at the fact that Techno knew to come to him if he was hurt, because he’d be able to fix it, but… wasn’t he hurt now?
“And you don’t have anything you want to talk about?” Wilbur offered. Techno hadn’t done much talking when he’d tried to comfort him before, but just being there seemed to help enough. “Or… do you want a hug?”
Now Technoblade just looked confused. Not the desired reaction at all.
“Uh… I’m good, Wil. I’m just… gonna go to the greenhouse,” Techno said, eyes narrowing as he studied Wilbur’s face like he might be able to find out what he was really asking.
Wilbur sighed, but didn’t stop the man as he left. If he wasn’t emotionally hurt right now, and there were no visible physical injuries, that meant that he had to have been straining his body and just hoping that no one was going to notice.
Well, what Techno didn’t know was that Wilbur was keeping a close eye on him. He was going to notice when his crewmate was injured and needed help, whether he liked it or not.
Unless… unless this was an anxiety or stress response, or maybe a boredom one?
Was Techno hurting his skin out of boredom, or pushing his limits because of it? They hadn’t been seeing nearly as many pirates in the past few weeks, which meant that the only times that Techno got to fight was when he was either sparring or training alone, and given that he could only even begin to use his skills when sparring with Philza, that just meant that the solo training he did was probably the closest he’d get to fighting off any pirates they came across.
Was their human not getting the physical activity he needed, and the liquid he was leaking was a response to the boredom of the stress of inactivity? Even Techno’s new hobby wasn’t particularly strenuous or active as far as Wilbur could tell, so maybe it really was some kind of boredom or stress response.
And if Techno was hurting himself because of it… well, Wilbur would just have to keep a closer eye on him, and confront him if it got any worse.
~*~
Wilbur took a lot of notes. It wasn’t just about humans, but rather about all of his crewmates. When he was growing up, it was obvious that he was different from everyone around him. Most Elytrians didn’t choose to adopt a Phantom, and so Wilbur had to learn all of the differences between Elytrians and Phantoms from a young age to understand why he was different.
Then, of course, he started studying science, with the desire to better understand himself and the universe around him. Medicine had only been because Wilbur wanted to be a part of a crew, and it had been the best way to become more a more valuable asset.
It also allowed him to help others when he used to freeze up upon seeing their injuries. Blood used to terrify him, but now the sight of it drove him to react.
When Tommy joined their crew, Wilbur had researched all he could about Procyonians. They were so different, after all, from Elytrians or Phantoms. He needed to understand how Procyonians worked, and thankfully there was an extensive amount of information available on Procyonians. They were a well-known species, which gave Wilbur everything he needed.
That didn’t mean that Tommy was exactly the same as all other Procyonians, hence the note-taking.
Learning about Procyonians was easy. Humans, on the other hand? Humans were difficult to learn about, given that much of the information out there was obtained through less-than-ethical means, and there was a good chance that a lot of it wasn’t even accurate.
Accuracy was important, as if he was wrong about anything, his crewmates would suffer for it.
So Wilbur kept notes. Detailed notes, accurate notes.
What humans could eat, the amount of sleep they needed, what their injuries looked like, how to fix those injuries, what they looked like when they were sick, how to fix that, the fact that humans kept bleeding and bleeding, the proximity that they weren’t allowed to get to certain stars…
Notes were important. Notes let him never forget important details, such as the fact that last time they were on a planet with a temperature over ninety degrees, Technoblade’s skin ended up getting burned because of it, and said skin was also crying tears of pain.
If his crewmates were going to end up injured, Wilbur wasn’t going to let them do that to themselves.
He kept Tommy on the ship when he would have otherwise been putting his health in danger, therefore it only made sense that he’d make Techno stay on the ship, too, if it meant putting his health at risk.
“Phil and I will be back once the delivery has been completed,” Wilbur said, double-checking the list of items on his holopad to make sure they had the entire delivery already packed up and ready to go. It wasn’t a large one, thankfully, because it would take him and Phil a lot longer carry it all than it would if he let Techno come along.
But this planet was even closer to its sun, and while the size of the star meant that it didn’t produce as much heat as it could have—the temperatures could have been over one hundred degrees, or even past one hundred and ten degrees, but this sun didn’t burn as hot as the one on the last planet. It did appear larger in the sky due to how close it was, and therefore the planet was far brighter than the last one.
Wilbur’s own eyes were going to really hurt, which was why he was bringing special eye-coverings along, but because the temperatures were going to be in the nineties again, there was no way to bring along Tommy or Techno.
“You and Phil,” Techno said, a frown settling on his face as he eyed the cargo. “You’re expecting me to just, what, stay here? Babysit? Tommy doesn’t need a babysitter, kid’s old enough to take care of himself. He looked after the ship just fine on his own last time.”
“Yeah, I don’t need a babysitter!” Tommy argued, looking insulted at the fact that Wilbur could possibly think that he needed someone to keep an eye on him. While the kid could get himself into all sorts of trouble, he trusted Tommy to watch the ship while they were gone.
It wasn’t about Tommy, after all, it was about Techno.
“It’s going to be in the mid-nineties again, and the sunlight will be even brighter on this planet,” Wilbur explained as he helped Phil adjust the cloth that would cover his wings. If it was put on wrong, it wouldn’t give the Elytrian easy access to his wings in case he needed to fly somewhere. Once it was situated, Phil turned to help him with his own wing-covering.
“Tommy’s the one who can’t handle those temperatures, not me,” Techno pointed out. The human stepped in front of the door, blocking their path so they wouldn’t be able to leave the ship. “Is this because I got a little bit of sunburn last time we were on a planet like this? It didn’t even hurt, and it was gone by the next day. A little sunburn isn’t dangerous. I just need to cover my arms better, and maybe wear a different hat. Or maybe we could talk about making some kind of sunscreen replacement, since I don’t know how it’s made on Earth.”
No matter what Techno said, burning his skin from the proximity to the sun wasn’t some little thing.
“Techno, I know you don’t like talking about crying at all,” Wilbur said, flinching a little when Techno’s face immediately darkened with a scowl and glare, “but I know that it’s a pain response, an involuntary one. You told me that. And after last time, I’m not letting that happen again. Not when you’ve already been hurting yourself recently. I won’t let you hurt yourself with this delivery.”
While his words initially seemed to anger Technoblade, given how his eyes narrowed and his frown deepened, that look quickly changed as his brows knit together in confusion.
“You won’t let me… what? What the hell are you talking about?” Techno asked.
For a second, Wilbur wondered if Techno was trying to confuse him, to make him think that he didn’t actually know what was going on or that he didn’t remember everything correctly. But he did—Wilbur remembered the way Techno’s skin had cried tears over the sunburn, and again when he was stressed or anxious or overworking himself. Tears were bad, tears meant that he was either physically or emotionally hurt, and Wilbur wasn’t going to let that continue.
He wasn’t going to allow Techno to continue to hurt himself, and while it probably would have been best to bring it up away from the rest of the crew, it was important that they knew about it, too.
“What are you talking about, Wilbur?” Phil asked, his tone cautious as his gaze flicked between Techno and Wilbur. If someone on the ship was in pain, Phil would want to know about it, and Wilbur had wanted to go to him about it, but… he was certain he’d be able to figure it out himself.
Tommy let out a concerned whine as he scooted closer to Techno, his tail curling tightly around the man’s leg. The thought of something being wrong with his hordemate was no doubt going to send the kid into his instincts a bit, and he’d probably be glued to Techno for the next few days, but at the very least that should help prevent further attempts at injuries.
“I don’t know if you know about what it means for a human to cry,” Wilbur said, unsure of what Techno had shared with the rest of the crew or not.
Phil nodded. “Humans cry when they’re hurt, but the tears themselves aren’t from an injury.”
“It’s been a long time since that happened,” Techno said, his voice low and threatening, sounding like the deathworlder that he was. It was instinctual for that flash of fear to rush through Wilbur, telling him to watch his words, but he knew Techno wasn’t going to hurt him regardless of what he said to the human.
“It hasn’t,” Wilbur argued right back, because there was no way Techno was going to try denying this. “It was only last week, Techno, and again when we were on a planet like this about a month ago. If you’re hurting yourself and your body is involuntarily reacting to it, you can’t tell me that you weren’t in pain. You can’t tell me that burns didn’t hurt you!”
Why was Techno trying to make him believe that it had been a long time since he’d cried? Sure, he didn’t like to talk about it, and normally Wilbur would respect that, but not if it put Techno’s health at risk. It had been a while since he’d dealt with the eye-tears and trouble breathing, which was a relief because surely that meant that he hadn’t been dealing with emotional pain as of late, or too bad of physical pain, but just because his eyes weren’t deflating didn’t mean that the skin-tears weren’t bad.
If anything, the skin-tears really freaked him out because Wilbur didn’t know if that meant the pain was worse than the eye-tears, or maybe it wasn’t as bad. There were more tears from the skin than the eyes, but there were so many factors involved that Wilbur just didn’t know yet.
“Wilbur. The sunburn wasn’t bad. If I turned bright red, then you can yell at me about it, but my skin barely changed color. It’s not the same as being burned by fire, or by those plasma guns. Those are serious, this wasn’t serious at all. And I didn’t even get any sunburn last week, so I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Techno said, and while he sounded like he was trying to stay calm, it was obvious that he was annoyed by the questioning.
If the sunburn wasn’t bad, then his skin wouldn’t be crying.
“Then why were you crying last week? I didn’t confront you about it after the sunburn, but… if there’s something going on with you, then I need you to talk to me, or to someone else, Techno. If you’re hurting yourself, we need to know so that we can help you.”
Maybe that wasn’t the best way to address the situation, because all it seemed to be doing was making Techno more and more defensive about it.
“I wasn’t crying last week, I don’t know where you got that idea from,” Techno said firmly, crossing his arms. “And I don’t have anything to say other than you’re wrong, Wilbur. You can’t bar me from my job because you think something’s bad for me when I’m telling you it’s not.”
Was Technoblade calling him crazy, was that it? He’d never acted like this before, trying to make Wilbur not believe what he’d seen with his very own eyes.
“How is it not true? Just last week, your skin was crying! And after we were on Xanthara, the same thing happened, right when you’d burned your skin. I don’t know if you were hurting yourself, or if you were overexerting yourself, or if it was some kind of stress response or what, but you haven’t come to me about it, so no, you’re not allowed to help us with this delivery if I can’t even trust that you’ll come to me about any injuries you’ve got,” Wilbur argued right back, because clearly Techno wasn’t going to be honest about this.
Out of everyone, he was the one who knew the most about humans, as a human himself. Wilbur wasn’t going to downplay that, because clearly he knew that Techno knew far more than him. It just wasn’t fair to use that lack of knowledge against him.
He really was trying his best when it came to learning about humans.
“My… what?” Any anger that had been lining Techno’s features beforehand disappeared. “Did you say that my skin was crying?”
Techno’s confusion made Wilbur lose any confidence he had in his argument.
“Yeah, you… After you got sunburned, and after I found you in the training room last week, your skin… was crying. Like the eye-tears, except… not from your eyes,” Wilbur said, like his argument was falling apart in front of him.
Was he wrong about the skin-tears?
Techno ran a hand down his face before pinching the bridge of his nose, taking a long, deep breath. “Are you talking about the fact that I was sweating?”
That wasn’t a word that Wilbur had come across before. Was that the proper term for the skin-tears? Eye-tears was crying, and skin-tears was sweating.
But what did that change?
“If eye-tears are a bad sign, then why aren’t skin-tears a bad sign?” That was logical, that made sense. Wilbur had taken so many notes, he’d made sure everything made sense. He did.
“They’re not—there’s no such thing as “skin-tears,” Wil. I know you guys don’t cry, but you seriously don’t sweat either? Not even when it’s hot out?” Now it was Techno’s turn to look baffled and confused. At least Wilbur wasn’t the only one.
“Hold on a second, mate. Are the tears coming from your skin anything like the tears that come from your eyes?” Phil asked, and Techno shook his head.
“There are no tears coming from my skin. Sweat… is similar to tears, I guess, just in composition. They’re both made of water, they’re both a bit salty, but they’ve got two completely different functions. I wasn’t sweating because I was in pain, I was sweating because I was hot. Xanthara was a really hot and sunny planet, and sometimes when I’m training, I get a bit hot. That just means I had a good workout, not that I was hurting myself,” Techno said, shaking his head. “Guys, sweat’s just there to cool my body down, not because I’m in pain. I wasn’t crying, I was just a little too warm. How do you guys regulate temperature?”
“With moisture from water bottles or from the air. A-and Phil’s got his feathers, they keep him cool,” Wilbur said. “Your body… leaks fluids, to cool you down? Not because you’re in pain? But… but humans leak blood when they’re injured, so much blood, and humans leak eye-fluid when they’re in pain. You’re sure that the skin-fluid isn’t because you’re in pain?”
That didn’t make any sense, after all. Every other sign pointed towards it being because of pain, and yet… it wasn’t like he wanted to call Techno a liar or anything. He knew more about humans than anyone else.
“Sweat doesn’t mean I’m in pain. Sometimes when humans get sick, and our temperature’s too high, we’ll be sweaty, but it’s not because of pain, it’s because of our body temperature.” Techno looked so relieved as he slowly shook his head. “I’m fine, guys, I promise. I guess humans are just… weird in that sense.”
Yeah, weird. Definitely weird. Why would humans leak fluid? Wasn’t fluid what they needed to be able to cool down properly?
“So… you’re okay, then?” Tommy asked, looking so happy to hear that.
“Yeah, kid, I’m fine,” he said, patting Tommy’s head before ruffling his fur. “Just a… a misunderstanding. I’m fine, guys. No pain. So come on, let me help with the delivery, and I’ll answer whatever questions you have about humans after. Alright? Then maybe you won’t be so freaked out about how different my body can be from yours.”
That was such a relief to hear. Here Wilbur had been worried about the fact that his crewmate might’ve intentionally been hurting himself, but instead he was just trying to keep his body cool. Wandering over, Wilbur wrapped Techno up in a hug, clinging to him, too relieved to hear what was going on.
“Uh, Wil? I really am fine,” Techno said, and Wilbur just hissed happily.
“I’m so glad to hear that,” he mumbled, curling his wings around the human even as Tommy complained. The Procyonian tried pushing him away, as his wings were making it harder to hug Techno himself, but Wilbur could care less.
It was such a relief to know that his crewmate was okay.
“That’s enough with the hugs, Wilbur,” Techno said, patting his back. “Come on, time to let go. I’m fine, there’s no need to worry. See? Everything’s fine.”
Instead of Wilbur letting go, Tommy joined in on the hug, and then Phil wrapped his wings around the whole group of them.
“Guys! I really am fine,” Techno complained, but even without seeing his face, Wilbur could hear the smile in his voice. “Are we gonna finish this delivery or what?”
~*~
“You thought humans… what?” Technoblade laughed, his voice so loud that Wilbur thought it would carry through the whole ship and draw the attention of the rest of the crew. It was a sound that Wilbur could admit he wasn’t exactly used to, given that Techno wasn’t always one to show strong emotion, and when he did, that emotion tended to be anger when pirates were raiding their ship.
Hearing such a loud, boisterous laugh coming from him was new, but it also—thankfully—wasn’t a cause for concern. Not for Techno, at least.
All of the concern should be going to himself, thank you very much, given that Wilbur was finding his entire book on humans unraveling in front of his eyes.
He felt like an idiot. “Okay, okay, laugh at my knowledge on humans a little more, why don’t you?”
Techno just shook his head, a broad smile staying on his face. “I appreciate you carin’ so much about me, Wil, but really—you don’t need to do this. And you certainly don’t need to take so many notes. The stuff about food and medicine are great, I’m glad you have those, but you don’t have to… to study humans like this.”
“It’s not studying,” Wilbur said quickly. He needed to make sure that Techno understood that. He wasn’t going to be anything like those scientists who would steal humans away and experiment on them to learn about them. “I wouldn’t study you, I wouldn’t… I wouldn’t hurt you.”
“I didn’t say hurt,” Techno said calmly. “And I think all these notes definitely counts as studying. It’s a little creepy, but… it’s fine. I know you care about me, and about the rest of the crew. But some of these notes? Some of these are ridiculous, Wil.”
The notes weren’t all ones that he’d written. Wilbur had combed through page after page of experiment notes, trying to decipher what in them could have been factual and what was just blatantly false. Apparently he didn’t do as good a job as he hoped.
“Some of these—tell me you don’t believe all of them,” Techno said, chuckling to himself as he flipped through some more pages. “Like this one! It’s talking about how prolonged eye contact can be seen as a threat, and that humans will fight them. Tell me you don’t believe this.”
Wilbur sputtered, because yeah, he believed it at first, and those first few weeks of having Techno on board had been a bit tense, but Wilbur had assumed that it was either wrong, or that Techno had just warmed up to them enough that he wasn’t going to hurt them.
“You believed it,” Techno said, another laugh bursting free from him as he threw his head back. Seeing him so carefree and relaxed was nice, and even if Wilbur was being humiliated in the process, he figured he could put up with it if it meant he’d get to listen to Techno laugh for a while longer.
At least, until he noticed the tears running down Techno’s face.
Tears meant pain, and here Techno was, in pain again. But from what?
Wilbur’s whole body went tense, his wings snapping back close to his body, his bone spikes out and on edge. Had he missed something?
“What happened?” Wilbur asked quickly, a very Elytrian-like coo escaping his throat as he moved closer, trying to brush the tears off of Techno’s face.
For whatever reason, that only seemed to make Technoblade laugh even harder. The human wrapped an arm around him, pulling him close for a rare Techno-initiated hug, one that Wilbur wasn’t going to refuse.
“Nothing happened,” he said softly, still struggling not to laugh. “I’m not hurt, Wil. There are more reasons why humans cry, other than physical or emotional pain. Sometimes it happens because our eyes are dry, or because we got something in them, or… or sometimes because we laugh so hard that we cry. Thank you, Wilbur, it’s been a long time since that’s happened.”
They could… laugh, and feel so much happiness, that it… hurt? Or, well, didn’t hurt? But they still cried?
“I’ll never understand humans,” Wilbur lamented, shaking his head, though with the pleasant sound of Techno’s laughter all around him, Wilbur found that he didn’t mind these setbacks, because he’d spend the rest of his life learning to better understand humans.
And he’d do so happily.