A Functionally Dysfunctional Family

{20} 𝔸𝕕𝕧𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖𝕤 𝕚𝕟 𝔹𝕒𝕓𝕪𝕤𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 {20}

The night was cold and quiet.

For the first time in years, he had no sort of background noise to lull him to sleep. He had no Wilbur softly playing his guitar or shushing a crying Fundy in the room next door. No Tommy or Tubbo running around or knocking things over as everyone else tried to sleep. No Phil shushing his rowdy children so he could sleep.

None of it.

He didn't like the quiet as much as he thought he would.

You would think that, as someone who doesn't get peace and quiet whatsoever, he would jump at the possibility to have one night of peace and quiet.

You'd be wrong.

He would much rather have his brothers and nephew than the quiet.

~<•>~

"I'm not the hero, no one's the hero, we have L'manburg for each other!"

"It was never meant to be."

"Surely not."

"Techno, L'manburg is my home. My unfinished symphony."

"My unfinished symphony, forever unfinished."

"As long as I can't be the next Schlatt, you can't be the next Wilbur."

"Yes you are, but so are we!"

"I know what I'm like...and that's the issue..."

"I miss him so much, I didn't think it would be so hard..."

He didn't get much sleep that night.

~<•>~

The night after the wedding was an...odd one, to say the least. For one, Techno was both simultaneously more affectionate than usual and more paranoid than usual. Not for a single moment did he relax, which concerned Wilbur, who seemed to be the only one to notice Techno's sudden change in behavior.

That night, Techno insisted on sleeping on the couch. Now, yes, there were times he fell asleep on the couch while reading or when he was too lazy to go to his room upstairs, but never did he insist on sleeping on the couch, especially without any reason. His brother was a man that always had a reason for his actions, even the smallest ones.

And what's even odder is that he seemingly dropped the topic of moving out entirely. He didn't bring it up once after the wedding, and when it was brought up, he completely disregarded it and brought up another topic.

Even with that, though, he was still his brother underneath. He still read constantly. He still played games with the teens, and while he would never admit it, have fun while doing so. He was still his antisocial self, just a lot more defensive about every little thing.

~<•>~

"Hey, Techno!" Wilbur greeted his brother as he walked downstairs the next day. "Do you mind doing me a favor?"

"Depends," Techno replied, sitting on the couch. "What favor?"

"Well, I have a job interview in a couple of hours and since Phil already left for his honeymoon and since I wouldn't trust Tommy or Tubbo by themselves for two hours, let alone let them watch a toddler, I was wondering if you'd babysit Fundy for a couple of hours," Wilbur explained. "Now, since he's four, he can do quite a bit himself now. You still have to get his lunch ready and take him to the bathroom, but other than that just make sure he doesn't die."