Busyhead | Technoblade

Thirty-Eight | Trouble in Paradise

[ a/n : happy 2026! ]

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BY THE TIME TEAGAN WAS STEPPING OFF THE TRAIN, SHE WAS MENTALLY EXHAUSTED. Text conversations with Techno and Kalea had managed to save her from fully spiraling during the ride, but she hadn't been able to ease the weight that seemed to be dragging her down. She sent her boyfriend a quick "just arrived" text before moving through the station like a zombie. She hardly registered the "already here" message that she got in response, but it didn't really matter. The second she stepped through the station doors, Techno was there, and she was in his arms.

The contact nearly instantly reignited her tears, a sensation she tried to fight by squeezing her eyes shut and sniffling. Techno, for his part, rubbed soothing circles on her back, murmuring a quiet "You're gonna be okay," into the top of her head. Every part of her wanted to believe him. She just wasn't there yet.

After an emotionally charged moment, Techno loosened his embrace, instead dropping his hands to hold hers. Teagan, who was afraid she'd start sobbing if she met his gaze, fixated her line of sight squarely on her shoes. She felt him run her knuckles with the pad of his thumb, a silent reiteration of what he had said on the phone; he wasn't going anywhere.

With a small tug on her hand, and a gentle, "C'mon," Techno led her to his car, making sure to open and close the passenger door for her. Inside the four doors of his warm, familiar car, Teagan felt breathing steady for the first time all day. Once her boyfriend slid into the driver's seat on her left, the erratic hammering of her chest lulled. Just being there with him put an ease to her anxiety that she'd never experience before.

That ease disappeared when they got back to his apartment, and he said, "Alright love, where do you want to start?" One question, and all her nerves came rushing back in.

Where did she want to start? With Mina, and all the comparisons and pressures? Or with missed illustrator meetings and looming deadlines she was nowhere near meeting? Or the elephant in the room with a three-letter name and media speculation? Just thinking about it all drove her to the brink of another downward spiral.

She tried to take a couple breaths and a moment to keep her composure, but the moment she looked up at him, his worried gaze clashing with hers, she felt the dam break. Somehow, as overwhelmed with everything as she was, the only clear thought in her mind was that she couldn't lose him.

He dropped everything for her. He would drive to her, or let her come to him, for anything, any time, no matter how insignificant. Nobody had ever cared for her so deeply, and even if they had, she didn't think anyone else was capable of taking care of her heart the way he did. Maybe they hadn't said it out loud, but Teagan knew she loved him, and she wasn't sure she could handle losing that.

She felt a thumb gently scrub at her cheek, taking a trail of tears with it as it swept down the curve of her face. "Teagan," Techno said softly, with just enough urgency to pull her from her spiral of thoughts. When she steadied her quivering gaze to his, she was met with a handsome face full of genuine empathy. He gave her a half-cocked smile as he held her, quietly insisting, "you're only making it worse in your mind. Please talk to me."

There were a million thoughts running through Teagan's mind, and she knew she wore it on her face. She knew that anything she said, any problem she presented, he'd listen to every detail. He'd give her advice. They'd work it out together, two rational heads finding rational solutions. Throughout the entirety of their knowing each other, Techno had always been there to lend an ear and a shoulder when she'd weighed him down with her baseless anxiety and over-explaining.