Sleepy Bois Turnabout?

You Don't Even Care

Technoblade frowned, pinching his finger behind his back as he waited in front of the office. He should feel better by now, shouldn't he? He'd found Tommy. He had something to work on. Phil was going to get this case, he didn't have any doubt of that, even without his pull and pick Phil could get anything he wanted when he was this determined. They would get it and they would win, they were going to fix this. They were going to fix this. So why was he still so... bad inside? He shook his head, frowning deeper. He just needed to get to work. But he couldn't, he couldn't do anything until Phil came out and they officially had a case. So he frowned and pinched his fingers and waited.

He stared vacantly around the waiting room he was in, the same one he'd sat in so many times throughout his life. He glanced over the same worn bookcase sat with the same style of scattered books across its shelves, some newer and some older, some for a younger audience but most introductory law books to aid newer clients in preparing before they spoke. There were new chairs, they were green now when they used to be blue and these ones were more bench-like. It hadn't crossed his mind to sit in one. He was too prepared for action. The same paintings that had always been there hanging on either side of the walls. Technoblade had always liked the one of the T with three skulls placed across it, he recognized it has an interpretation of The Wither, a famous mythological mural. It was Tommy's favorite too but probably just because it looked cool.

God, Tommy. Techno tried not to shudder as he recalled the pathetic state he'd found him in. How he was so weak, so clearly in pain, how it seemed as though there was nothing that could be done to make it better. Technoblade did not like feeling helpless.

Even with how awful it was he couldn't help but feel grateful it had gone down as it did. He didn't know what he'd expected as Ranboo lead him up the trail but he was in the (very useful) habit of expecting the worst. An ambush? A villain, waiting to fight? A feral animal? Or worse, nothing. No clues, no Tommy, nothing but the empty truth that he couldn't do anything. All possibilities had crossed his mind but the one he'd sullenly resigned himself to was... a corpse. He'd just forced himself to accept the fact he'd failed and the worst of the worst was true, that he hadn't thought about either of them and they were both dead without him sparing them a glance. He'd mashed the idea into his head in some attempt to desensitize himself by the time reality hit him. Wilbur caught him off guard. He wouldn't let that happen again.

But that reality never came. Instead, he cleared the bend to find a pleasant little playground with the ever-so-famous bench on the hill. (He'd never actually been there before but it was well known as 'Tommy's spot' in their household.) And on that bench laid Tommy, blanched and shivering with Tubbo's coat draped unceremoniously over him. It was better than what he'd childishly tried to convince himself would be but, still, the scene was terrifying.

Tubbo was there hovering over Tommy but backed away as Techno approached, more than a little afraid at his dark demeanor. Technoblade knew he was scary. At that moment he really didn't care but found himself thinking a dark 'good, you'd better' as the teenager stepped back. He crouched down and placed his hands on his brother, wrinkling his nose but ignoring the stench of vomit beside the bench. He began calling Tommy by his name, but Tommy only groaned and shrugged him off. Ranboo stood behind him with hesitant curiosity radiating but kept quiet. When it became clear Tommy wouldn't be responding nor waking, Techno gently scooped him up into his arms; despite his height, he felt so light and easy to hold, snuggling into what was probably welcome warmth in the cold. Although, at that point, Technoblade could have carried him through a war zone if he had to, without a second thought.

When he'd turned to walk back down without even an address his spell over Ranboo and Tubbo broke. They shared a glance and ran to keep with him, scrabbling for answers he didn't have.