The Grim Reaper || Technoblade (Old)

17: Tea and Masks

That night held a lot of twisting and turning. It being a couch I slept on, I almost fell off multiple times. It was a stressful night, knowing that at that very moment, the President could be assembling an army to go after Technoblade.

He said he'd take care of it, but would that cause more blood to be shed? The two fought on the same side of a war right? How could they do this? Plan to attack or even kill each other?

Then again, if they did kill someone, then maybe that person could help Wilbur.

Wilbur.

In all of the commotion I forgot about him. How was he? How much time had passed in the never ending train?

Why did I even want to help him again? Oh yeah, be a better person, to help Phil. Gosh he seemed so stressed. A person like him wasn't supposed to be cooped up in a city, he was supposed to fly and explore and be free, in the endless world with so many adventures.

But no, he had come here, and lost the ability to fly, and all of this was making him start to grow bags under his eyes and collect stress lines. He really needed a break, he was doing too much.

I couldn't help the anxiety provoking thoughts that entered my mind. So instead of laying there, I decided to make a cup of tea, hopefully that would calm me down. I flipped the blanket off of me, and climbed down the ladder.

I walked to the kitchen, with the moon casting a soft glow through the window. I didn't even have to light a torch or lantern. As I prepared a cup of tea. The events of the day weighed heavily on my mind, filling me with an unsettling mix of anticipation and unease. The impending conflict loomed like a dark cloud on the horizon, threatening to unleash chaos upon our lives.

As I reached for the kettle, and turned on the furnace, the sound of footsteps echoed from the ladder. Technoblade emerged from the shadows, his eyes meeting mine with a mix of curiosity and concern. He must've just gotten up, his hair was messy and his eyes weren't fully awake yet.

Had he heard me? I guess I wasn't thinking about being quiet. He even held a sword, ready to fight off whatever he thought he had heard. He rubbed his eyes tiredly and rested against the wall.

"Heh? Thanatos," Technoblade's voice cut through the silence, breaking the stillness of the night. "Why're you awake? I thought you went to bed hours ago, I thought you were an intruder."

I turned back to the furnace, making sure that it wouldn't get too hot, before turning back to the red eyed man, "Hey Techno, sorry for waking you up, I couldn't sleep so I decided to make some tea, want some?"

I offered a small smile he couldn't see and he made a hum of approval, I turned back to the boiling kettle and the aroma of tea filled the room as I poured a cup for Technoblade, adding the tea packet and handing it to him.

He accepted it with a nod of appreciation, the steam rising due to the sheer amount of heat. He sipped the tea a bit before asking, "Where did you get this? I don't remember buying tea."

I looked up from my cup, setting it on the furnace and fixed my lifted mask to cover my face, "I bought some from a nearby village a couple weeks back, I have to say that I'm a sucker for different flavours of tea."

I grabbed my mug again and lifted my beaked mask just enough for my mouth to show, so I could blow the hot liquid and take a couple of sips. I had noticed something about Technoblade's mask, he didn't wear it constantly. Sure he'd put it on before leaving the cabin, but the skull would sit in his room or on a hook in day to day life.

It also let part of his face be seen, unlike my mask which covered my whole face, his covered only the upper portion, so that his tusked mouth could still be seen. I would guess that he didn't need to keep up the menacing attire in his own house, yet I was there, did he trust me over the outside? Or was it just a habit that he had gotten used to.

Unlike him, I tried to keep my mask on as much as I could. It was symbolic, doctors of the plague who at the time had to deal with so much death. Doctors who tallied bodies or distributed wills. The doctors with these masks were associated with death, and so was I, everything from my name to my attire to my job.

I figure, if it's my job, why not look the part?

Technoblade, put his cup down from his lips and opened his mouth, "Are you over analyzing me? Or do you just like staring at people?"

I almost spit out my tea and took a moment to swallow before coughing, "No no! Sorry I'm just thinking about things,"

Gosh I must not have noticed how long my brain had wandered off, I opened my mouth to speak again but just ended up inhaling a bunch of air, which led me to coughing my lungs out. My cup lay forgotten on the furnace as I leaned over, heaving for breathe as I kept coughing.

Techno quickly moved over and started patting my back, helping me regain my breath. I raised my hand and pointed a finger, signaling for him to give me a moment, I was alright.

Once I was ok, I leaned back up, wishing I could have wiped the tears in my eyes, gods I was such an embarrassment to my kind.

The cups laid forgotten as I mentioned the time and how we should probably get to sleep, a quick topic change to relieve the tension in the air.

Technoblade let out a 'Heh?!' And a 'I thought you were dying' but eventually he followed me upstairs. As we bid each other goodnight, he retreated to his room, I still slept on that random couch. I figured I might want to construct a house soon, try to get out of Technoblade's hands.

The shadows crept on the walls as I moved to lay on the couch, staring up at the ceiling as I thought about the Piglin hybrid in the other room. He was kind, giving me a place to stay, I'd have to repay him someday.

In the darkness, as I finally drifted off to sleep, I thought of things I could do to thank him, there we so many options, I'd have to decide something in the morning.