The Year We Had (MCYT AU)

16: Coping Skills

"So it's true?" Tubbo asked, crossing his legs and picking at stray bits of grass.

Wilbur heaved a big, long sigh, adjusted his beanie over his head and reluctantly nodded. "Yeah, it's true."

"Wow." Tubbo breathed, looking at the three Watson brothers with bewilderment.

"Well I mean you certainly sorted out the rumors." Dream offered with an indifferent shrug, taking a bite of his sandwich and chewing it thoughtfully.

"See, that's what I was hoping would happen." Techno agreed. He was wearing a short sleeved shirt for what had to be the first time since arriving at the school. It wasn't that he was self conscious about the burns and scars on his arms, but it drew a lot of attention, and he was hoping to avoid the swirling rumors. But now that the cat was out of the bag, it didn't really matter.

The group was sitting on the lawn by the front of the school. It was a beautiful Saturday morning, and they had a lot to talk about, as Techno had so elegantly put it. Wilbur wasn't exactly thrilled. Thankfully, he wasn't hanging around for long. He and Sally had already planned to meet up in town, and he was just waiting for the supervising teachers to be ready to go.

"Thats...that's a lot." Niki said quietly, her head dipping slightly. "I'm sorry."

"It's not like you blew the fuckin' place up." Tommy shrugged, laying back on the soft green grass and basking in the warm rays of morning sun.

"So are you going to correct the rumors? Or...?" George asked glancing around as though someone might be listening in. It made Wilbur angry. He didn't want to admit it, but here he was feeling that ugly emotion.

The rumors had tripled since Techno decided to spill the beans, but now they were looking at the events and drawing their own conclusions. It was almost worse than some of the theories that he had been overhearing in the past few weeks.

Before anyone could answer George's question, Wilbur spotted Mr Williams and leapt to his feet. "That's me. See you lot later." He gave them a wave, and everyone murmured their goodbyes as he turned and headed for the school's minibus.

"Well, you put Wil in a great mood for the rest of the year. Thanks Techno." Tommy muttered, rolling his eyes dramatically.

"It was gonna come out sooner or later." Techno yawned, stretching his arms out in front of him. "Better to get it over with before exams."

"Makes sense." Dream agreed quietly.

There was a lull in the conversation, and everyone watched as the minibus pulled out of the parking lot and disappeared down the road.

"Does..." Tubbo began timidly, looking at the painful stretch of deformed skin on the back of Techno's upper arm. "Does it hurt?"

Techno shook his head, holding his arm out to show him. "Not anymore."

"Did it?" Sapnap asked, uncharacteristically quiet.

Techno raised his eyebrows, his voice laced with sarcasm. "Did it hurt to be burnt and stabbed by a thousand tiny knives? Hm. Tough question."

Tommy rolled his eyes again. "It's called glass, Techno. God, you are so dramatic."

"When you get horribly injured and disfigured come talk to me, nerd." Techno shot back.

Tommy sat up immediately, scowling at his brother. "You think you're so cool don't you? Oh, my name's Technoblade, I got exploded last year and now I have pink hair and a tragic backstory! You ain't shit, bitch!"

Techno rolled his eyes so hard that he was almost worried that he would strain them. Everyone seemed a little less on edge after that. The conversation faded back to what they usually talked about-- stupid things like the bets that Tommy had against Wilbur, big projects on their undercover Minecraft server and complaining about school work.