Things That Need To Pass (passerine!Technoblade x OC) {COMPLETED}

War Times (5)

(3rd person POV)

Tommy opened his mouth to reply, but found he could only nod in agreement. The girl gave him a small, sad smile, as if she could understand his silence even more than if he had spoken, and went back to her work. 

Tommy pried his feet from the ground and begun walking towards the heart of the camp, but the girl's words followed close on his heels. That was the true tragedy, wasn't it? More than the flowers that only bloomed for a day, the bitterest devastation was in the what-ifs. 

Tommy didn't understand why, but he found himself lingering one scenario: a different life where he had met that person that he reminded the girl of, where neither of them were young soldiers. You'd make good friends, she'd said, but that wasn't right. 

Tommy felt, inexplicably, down to his bones, that if he'd met that boy, they would be brothers.It was only until the royal tent was in view that Tommy realized he didn't even ask the girl for the boy's name.

"—if we move this battalion here, they could provide cover. But we would also run the risk of—Tommy?"

Tommy looked up. He hadn't even realized he'd entered the tent. He found Wilbur standing at the large desk that took up the most room, leaning over a map littered with small carved pieces that represented various troop positions. 

Beside him, his hair unbound, was Technoblade. Both were staring at Tommy with concern. "What?" he demanded. "You're—You're crying, Tommy," Wilbur said softly.

Tommy touched his free hand to his cheek, and was surprised to find it come away wet. He rubbed furiously at his eyes until they were clear of tears. This was not the time. This was not the fucking time.

He strode deeper into the tent, ignoring the worried look Wilbur threw Techno, and Techno's answering shrug. Tommy stopped at one corner of the map and pointed to a cluster of carved archers clustered on what would be the hill they were currently on. Eryn listened carefully.

(Eryn POV)

"We don't need that many," he said determinedly. "Just one. Just you, Wilbur." I smirked. "A little too reliant on Wil, aren't you, Toms?" I said.

Wilbur seemed frustrated by the change of topic, but had no choice other than to follow his little brother's lead. "You're overestimating my aim, Tommy."

Tommy drifted away from the map, throwing himself on a spare chair in the corner. He gestured Techno over, and the general silently complied.

"You always pull through when it matters," Tommy said as Techno took a seat on the ground in front of him, his back to Tommy. As Tommy gathered Technoblade's hair into his lap, he added, "Except the many, many times you lost a duel with Techno."

Normally, this would warrant a chuckle or, at the very least, an indignant eyeroll, but Wilbur simply leaned over the map again, his expression shuttered once more.

Techno turned to Tommy and whispered, "We must not break his intense, beast-like focus." "Yeah." I mimicked Wil.

Tommy snorted. "The only beast-like thing about him is that tangled lion's mane he calls hair." "Heh. Nice one." I snickered.

Wilbur's head snapped up to glare at us. "I heard that."

"Of course you did," Techno said, turning back away. "Lions have an unparalleled sense of hearing."

Tommy laughed quietly to himself as he began braiding Techno's hair, his fingers making knots with the ease that came with years of practice. This had been their routine for the past week: Wilbur would pore over the battle plans with wild-eyed obsession that got more and more frenzied by the day, Techno would call out every flaw in Wilbur's proposed changes until they encountered one that seemed to be actually useful, and Tommy would braid.