Retired and Can't Get a Break

The Wrong or Right

Techno didn't realize how long he had been there for, just alone with his thoughts. A picture of a certain ram infested his mind, he looked good with the flowers, he should give him some more often. He was pacing over the checkered tile that littered the floor. Why was he listening to the voices again, there was no way that they shared a common goal here, no, no way. But if they did he totally wouldn't be planning on extending the flower bed or stopping by Niki and Puffy's flower shop. No, that would be insane. Maybe he was planning that, so what, it's not like he- Techno stopped mid pace. He began mumbling to himself, arguing with his own mind.

"No, no, no, there's no way I-" There was a knock on the door. "-Uh, One second." He looked at himself in the mirror, he ran his fingers through his hair, splashed water on his face, trying to fix the disheveled look of his appearance. He let out a breath and reached out for the door handle. It twisted slowly in his hand, black feathers met his vision. "Oh, hi Phil."

"Hey bud, are you alright?" Techno stiffened, his grip on the brass handle tightened.

"I- I think so?" Phil's mouth became a line, a look of concern was painted all over his face as he watched Techno try to stammer out a response. "He's just been making my life more difficult, I can't focus, I couldn't sleep, and I couldn't even relax without checking up on him." A hand rested on his shoulder.

"I think I may have a hypothesis, I don't think you'll like this one though."

"Phil, I don't care, lay it on me." Philza sighed.

"Techno, You're probably-"

"Hold that thought, I figured it out." Philza raised his eyebrow, but stayed quiet. "Phil, I've gotten soft."

"Techno I don't think that's-"

"No need to worry Philza, I've got it covered now, I just need to focus more on our plans." Said man was not impressed with that answer, Phil sighed, but didn't push his son farther.

"Alright, if you say so. You might want to check up on Schlatt though. I wouldn't want him to be alone for long." Techno tensed a bit, but nodded his head quickly. Phil smiled and patted him on the shoulder. He walked away going into the direction of his own room. Techno was alone once more. He groaned, why must he stay with the source of pretty much all of his problems at the moment. He hesitantly made his way out of the bathroom, a weight somehow attached itself to each of his shoulders making it hard to walk. A pit made its way to its gut, the voices were starting back up again.

Sometimes he wonders if they really were just his subconscious and not just some random entity sharing his brain. They were mad at him, he didn't understand, they were mumbling, "wrong, Techno wrong, not problem." He just brushed them off, he wasn't wrong on anything, he just ignored them and continued walking to the living room. Low and behold, the source of half his problems, lounging on the couch, book in hand. He gazed to the coffee table, there was a half eaten cheese platter, and what seemed to be an empty bowl of raspberries. It seemed that Schlatt hadn't noticed him walk in, so instead of announcing his presence, he just sat down next to the ram and looked straight at him. He had successfully making himself known without uttering a work, as a bonus the other almost jumped out of his skin. It seemed apparent that he was expecting Philza to be back by then, it was pretty late at night.

"Techno, what the fuck man-" Techno raised a brow.

"What? I just sat down?" Schlatt placed his book down onto the table and looked right back at him.

"You do realize that you should have warned me first, I almost died from a second heart attack-" Techno tensed, "-I'm kidding, but next time just warn me." The piglin visibly relaxed, he looked around the room a bit more and noticed a vase of very familiar flowers resting on the floor near his foot.

"You, you put the flowers I gave you into a vase?" He picked it up and inspected it, he didn't even know he owned a vase.

"Oh- yeah, didn't want those fuckers to die too quickly now do I? I'm putting them in the room I'm in once I feel like going up there." Almost on que Schlatt yawned, "Seems like that's now." He got up and grabbed the platter and bowl and walked to the kitchen, Techno following almost like a lost dog. Surprisingly, Schlatt wasn't as much of a slob type as he previously considered. He put the cheese away, cleaned the bowl, hell even went the extra mile to clean the rest of the dishes that were sitting there. Every now and then Schlatt would ask Techno where things would go, seeming that he didn't mind the man over his shoulder almost 24/7. In reality, he was just too tired to care at the moment.

Once he was finished he began to slowly sway side to side as he walked to his bed room, almost falling over a few times. Even if he were to fall over Techno was confident that he wouldn't let him hit the ground. He had never seen someone how used to be so prideful, become so, soft. It's not like he hated it, it was just new to him, the sleep induced smile he gave to him as he helped him to his room. The droopy eyes, the pouty lips, the sweater that was still a bit too big for him, it all festered in his mind to the point where he was thinking they weren't his own thoughts.

He couldn't leave, not while he was in this delicate state. Schlatt was fast asleep and Techno found himself in the same stool, again, for the second night keeping watch of him. He really needed his mind to get off of him.