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It was tedious to get home.
His instincts screamed at him every time the runt shifted ever so slightly in his arms. Forming a headache as they screamed that the runt needed to be in the den, safe, protected, fed, warm and comfortable .
He tried to keep himself from being pulled back under, for his own good and for the rest of the people’s well being.
He moved through the alleyways and the shadows, not wanting anyone to see the small child in his arms. A grown adult piglin covered in blood walking mindlessly in the streets would certainly catch the attention of the heroes, and a confrontation was the last thing he wanted right now.
He huffed as he made his way to one of the empty buildings his family owned.
“Wilbur” he pressed his communicator once inside.
“...”
“Wil I know you can hear me”
“No”
Techno snorted.
“You just answered me”
“I didn’t, you must be hallucinating” he heard his brother huff.
“I need you to send a ride for me”
“Oh, so now you want me to help you”
“Yes”
“Well, now I don’t want to help you”
Techno huffed, looking down at the little bundle in his arms, completely passed out, a golden necklace tightly held in his tiny hands. A sight Wilbur surely would envy.
“If I have to walk all the way back home, I won’t let you meet him”
“Wha-? Meet who?”
“Your nephew”
There was silence in the line for a few seconds. Techno could practically hear the engines turning in his brother’s head. Then a click.
“Wait wha- but you don’t have children…”
“Do I get a ride?”
“Wait! Explain yourself!”
“Do I get a ride, yes or no?”
“What nephew?! Like now- or ?!”
“One,”
“Techno you have to tell me! I-”
“Two,”
“You can’t just simply say tha-!”
“Thre-”
“OKAY! Okay! You get a ride” his brother sighed “Tell me where you are”
He smirked.
…
About twenty minutes later a limousine parked in front of the building, he got in.
He lifted his cape a bit, looking at the small child in his chest, so tiny and precious. He cleaned an already dried tear from his cheeks, brushing the locks off his face.
He hummed, taking in their greasy and dirty state, close to being matted.
“They didn’t treat you well, huh treasure?” he asked, not waiting for an answer “You’ll take a bath as soon as we get home”
The runt let out a breathy and stuttering purr, unconsciously leaning towards his hand.
“So adorable, don’t worry runt, me and my family will pamper you with anything you need, you won’t ever have to want for anything”
He brought the child closer, pressing a kiss to his forehead.
“Hmm… you need a name” he chuckled “If I don’t give you one now Wilbur will make sure to name you, we can’t have that, you deserve only the best of names”
He looked out the window, trying to recall all the names he knew. Mythology was what he knew best, he tried thinking of a good name from the stories.
“You don’t look like a Hermes to me … maybe an Apollo” he frowned “No, that doesn’t sound right …”
Techno cupped his small face, lifting it up just a bit, so he could admire it. The runt nuzzled in his palm. He cooed.
“Theseus, that seems like a fine name. And, we can match like that” He chuffed “I count that as a great name”
He purred.
Soon enough they arrived at their mansion, in the outskirts of the city.
Wilbur was pacing back and forth in the entrance until he spotted the vehicle. Going down the stairs to greet him.
He carefully got out and Wilbur’s face morphed at seeing his dirty clothes.
“What the fuck happened to you?! You look like they threw a bucket of blood on you!”
He shrugged.
“You- wait, is that a bullet wound?! YOU GOT SHOT?! YOU DIDN’T THINK TO TELL ME ABOUT THAT?!”
“Oh- I hadn’t noticed that”
“You hadn’t notic-?!” He took a deep breath. “Goddess what will I do with you?!” he sighed.
The boy whined in his chest, pulling the cape tighter around him.
“Keep your voice down, you’ll wake him up”
“Wha-? Wake who up? Who’s him?! C’mon let me see!”
“Once we’re inside”
He walked past his brother, directly to the door.
“Wait! Techno!”
He ignored him, fully entering the house, pausing just at the first step of the stairs to look back at his brother locking the door.
"Is that my nephew?! You have to explain things to me!!"
He stopped in front of his room.
"Techno-"
"Alright" the word seemed to stop whatever rambling his brother was about to get into "This is Theseus, my son."
He lowered the cape just enough so that his brother could see the little head peeking out, the boy whimpered, hiding his face in Techno’s chest.
There was a pause in which his brother took in the kid in his arms, seeing his dirty and bloody state, the blood wouldn’t be a surprise seeing as he was bathed in the liquid.
"Your son?"
Techno nodded.
"But … you don't have any children"
"I do, you're staring right at him"
Wilbur huffed.
"No, I mean- you didn't have any children … did you?"
He hummed.
"No"
"Then where did you get him from?"
"I'd like to give him a bath first, before answering your questions"
"Oh c'mon! Now I'm all curious!"
"Sucks to be you, I guess"
Wilbur huffed.
"Fine, I'll go get the medkit, I know you won't treat that bullet wound on your own" he huffed, puffing his wings as he turned to go back down.
Techno frowned.
“Bring something for him to eat too!” He yelled before his brother disappeared from his sight.
He huffed, entering his room, holding the runt carefully with one arm as he went through his dresser, looking for something that his runt could use.
He then went towards the bathroom, carefully placing the boy on the counter.
Protector?-Safe?-Protector-Stay the boy whined as he slowly woke up, noticing he was no longer in Techno's arms.
“Hullo treasure” he chuffed, cupping his face “Had a nice nap?”
The runt tried to press closer to his hand, Techno chuckled.
“I’m going to give you a bath, no offense runt, but you could really use one” he huffed.
The boy didn’t pay any mind to the comment, only nuzzling closer to Techno.
“How did such a lovely runt like you end up with people like the heroes? They didn't deserve you, they never did” he pressed a kiss on his brow.
He left the boy inside the sink, playing with the necklace he had given him as he took a quick shower. Putting on light clothes since he knew his brother would want to look at his wound. He then took the runt to the tub that he filled with warm water, watching him melt into it.
“You like warm things huh? Runs in the genes”
He delicately scrubbed the kid’s hair, making sure to be gentle while untangling it with his claws. The runt tried to purr as best as he could, reaching back his head to get more of Techno’s soft scratches.
Techno chuckled.
“You like me messing with your hair? That’s good, means you’ll stay still for the braids”
As the dirt and grime faded from the boy’s skin Techno noticed something, multiple purple splotches along the boy’s limbs, bruises, fairly recent ones too. He barely suppressed the growl that wanted to come out at the thought of someone hurting his treasure.
“Whoever did this to you has their days counted” he murmured, scratching behind the boy’s ears.
The boy giggled as he messed with the water, and once he was clean enough the older piglin wrapped him up in a fluffy towel.
He then changed him up into his clothes, they were big, but they would have to do until he could get him something better to wear, when he got out of the bathroom his brother was already waiting for him sitting on the den, a medkit in hand and a tray with cookies and milk was placed in his desk nearby.
Wilbur huffed, puffing his wings behind him.
“Explain yourself”
Techno sighed.
The runt hid himself in his arms at the sight of his brother, whining.
Protector-Protector-Intruder-Danger .
Techno chuffed, patting his hair.
“It’s alright treasure, it’s just my brother, he’s sounder”
The boy whimpered, peeking his face from his chest.
Wilbur cooed.
Sounder?-Safe?-Protector-Safe-Trust?
“Yeah, he’s sounder, he’s alright. A bit of an asshole sometimes but he’s okay”
“Hey! I’m right here!”
“Oh I know”
His brother huffed.
Slowly and making sure the runt was comfortable with it, he approached his brother until he was able to climb up the den, sitting next to his brother.
Wilbur stared at the kid in his arms, tilting his head, and letting a few clicks.
“So… Are you going to explain what happened?”
Techno hummed.
“You disappeared so suddenly, dad almost got a heart attack when he got Niki’s call” he huffed.
“You called them already I suppose?”
“They would have my head otherwise, said they’ll be here as soon as possible … I give them thirty minutes top”
Techno snorted.
“Sure”
“Laugh all you want bastard, I’m sure you won’t be able to leave their sights in the next three months” he snarled, with no real heat behind it.
Techno looked at the kid in his arms, already falling asleep again, struggling to keep his eyes open yet still curious about Wilbur, holding a pout in his face as he watched the avian’s every move.
And he found out that he wouldn’t mind staying in the house longer than that, content to care and provide for the runt..
“So…?”
“So I got captured”
“You? The mighty Blood God, the all powerful piglin that feasts on the peasants' deaths, captured by the puny heroes?” He snorted.
“Believe it or not there’s only so much I can do against a hundred sleeping darts”
His brother frowned.
“And what did they do to you?”
“Oh you know, tied me up, roughen me up a bit, tried to get me to spill our secrets, failing miserably”
“Is that why you have a bruise on your cheek?” he poked his face, making him flinch back as he hissed.
The runt whined, letting out angry snorts, not liking having his protector messed up with, swating at Wilbur’s hand.
“Shh runt”
He pinned the child’s hands to his chest, chuffing and patting at his back.
“Feisty one … so where did you get him?”
Techno frowned, holding the kid tighter.
“They wanted to use him to make me talk”
“Wha.. they wanted to use a child?”
He nodded, brushing his fingers along the kid’s neck, showing his brother the faint scar that was still healing.
“He’s fine, already gave him the healing potion” he huffed
His brother was in shock, frowning and looking at the small child.
“They hurt him?! Aren’t they supposed to be the good guys?!”
“‘ Whatever keeps the city safe’ they said” he brushed the kid’s hair back “They hurt him and I snapped, now they’re dead”
“Why would they use a child?!”
“Something about instincts … guess it backfired on them”
“And they deserve it” he huffed “If you didn’t get them I’m sure mom would’ve, she’s gonna kill the entire hero organization once she sees that bruise in your face”
“Yeah…”
“So… you’ve just decided to keep him?”
“Pretty much, he already sees me as sounder so it’s also too late to back out”
His brother hummed.
He nudged the kid’s head with his shoulder.
“Don’t you want to eat something before taking a nap runt?”
As if on cue the boy’s stomach rumbled, making the kid whine, tugging on Techno’s shirt.
“I’ll bring the tray, and I can treat that wound of yours while he eats”
His brother handed him the food, and he put it in the kid’s lap.
“Eat up treasure”
The runt didn’t hesitate to start munching on the cookies and gulping down the milk. Wilbur in the meanwhile treated the wound on his shoulder, using tweezers to carefully get the bullet out of the skin in the first place, Techno winced as he felt a pinching pain, his brother was quick to clean the injury, bandaging it next.
“There you go, as good as new”
“Thanks”
“Of course, what would you do without me?” he huffed.
Techno rested his chin on top of the kid’s golden curls, running a hand through them, listening to the soft whispers of gold-runt-safe-small in his mind.
Once he finished eating Wilbur took the tray away and Techno scooped the kid up in his arms once more, holding him tightly to his chest.
“So I guess I’m now an uncle”
He snorted.
“Yeah”
“Congrats on fatherhood I guess”
He hummed, cupping the boy’s cheek who nuzzled closer.
“Do you know what this means?”
“What?”
“Dad is now officially a grandpa” he smirked, fluttering his wings.
Techno snorted, his brother soon to snicker with him.
The boy nuzzled closer to his hand, whining.
“Huh? What is it runt?”
Shyly, the boy turned to look at him, and he could notice how his pupils weren’t dilated anymore. He purred, knowing that the boy finally felt safe enough to come out of his instincts.
“Hello” he chuffed.
“Um… hi?” he whispered with an unsure voice.
They both stared at the boy, who fidgeted with Techno’s shirt.
“Where … where am I?”
He brushed the boy’s cheek with the thumb as his hand still cupped his face.
“You’re home” he answered easily “Back in the den”
“But … I don’t have a home” he pouted “And I’m not allowed to have a den”
Wilbur frowned, as he contained his growl.
“Why not?” his brother asked instead.
“‘Cuz I don’t deserve one?” he asked, unsure, as if he was never given a reason.
Techno was beyond angry, but most of the people that treated his runt like that were already dead … he would take his sweet time when he found the rest.
“Treasure” he started, making the kid look at him confused “You don’t only deserve a den, you need one”
The boy frowned, pouting then.
“This is now your den” Wilbur supplied “Yours and Techno’s”
He looked around, and they could both see how his little tail swished in contentment while the boy still held a pout.
“But- I’m not allowed to have one … they’ll take it away” he whined, widening his eyes and clasping his mouth at the sound “Sorry” he muttered quickly.
“Sorry for what runt?”
“I … I didn’t mean to make that sound…”
Wilbur turned to look at him, a preoccupied expression on his face.
“It’s- that’s a natural sound kid, it’s alright to make it”
The boy shook his head.
“I’ll get punished” he whispered.
Techno frowned, reminding himself of the many bruises on the child’s body. He swore that if he found the people who did this to his runt, he would make them wish they were dead.
He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.
“No you won’t treasure” he chuffed “Never again, you’re safe” he pressed his forehead against the boy’s.
The boy shook his head, getting away from Techno’s weak grasp.
“Runt?”
“M’head feels fuzzy”
“Fuzzy?”
“Is saying things it’s not supposed to” he whined again “I don’t wanna get punished” he whispered as tears filled his eyes.
“You won’t get punished sunshine” his brother tried, cooing.
But the kid just shook his head again, grasping weakly to Techno’s shirt.
“‘m sorry”
Techno chuffed, to then start purring softly.
Letting out a few Runt-Safe-Protected-Safe . The boy’s eyes grew wide, looking then at Techno, inspecting him, noticing now his pointy ears and the tusks poking out of his lips.
“Wha..”
“You’re safe” he chuffed “Nothing is going to hurt you here”
The boy whined again.
A Confused-Scared-Help?-Safe? escaping past his lips.
“I don’t know what’s happening” the boy whimpered.
“Oh? Are you new with instincts sunsprite?” his brother warbled.
“Instincts are bad” he murmured
“No, they’re not” he stated, letting out a chuff “Whoever told you that was lying, instincts are natural on hybrids”
“B-but I don’t know what they mean”
He held the boy tighter, adjusting him on his lap.
“Well, what are they telling you?”
They boy hid his face.
“I-is … something about sounder? A-and safety … about a protector?”
“Oh runt”
His brother leaned against his shoulder, trying to get the boy to look at him.
“Sunshine, do you know what a sounder is?”
The kid shook his head.
“Is family”
The boy looked even more confused than before.
“But I don’t have a family…”
Techno scooped him up, ignoring the squeal he let out in favor of pressing his forehead against the kid’s.
“You do now, we are your family” he pressed a kiss on his brow.
Immediately, tears sprung in the boy’s eyes, rapidly falling from his cheeks, but before any of the adults could worry about it he launched himself to Techno’s chest, pressing himself tightly, weeping loudly but chuffing, small little content sounds coming out of him between sobs.
The piglin was fast to hold him tight, securely, letting out chuffs and purrs of his own.
After a few moments the kid had calmed down enough, only letting out a few sniffles as he clung to Technoblade like a lifeline.
“I’ve never had a family before…” he confessed in a hushed whisper.
He rubbed circles in his back, kissing his head.
“Now you do treasure, we’ll be your family”
“For how long?”
“For how long?” The boy nodded and he hummed for a second before squeezing him gently in his arms “Forever”
The boy chuffed, pressing himself closer to Techno.
Techno started to play with his hair, softly untangling with his claws.
“How old are you sunsprite?” Wilbur asked as he leaned his hand in to pat at Tommy’s hair.
“Um .. this many?” He lifted up his hand, splaying four of his fingers.
“Four? Wow, you’re a big boy aren’t you?”
The runt nodded fiercely.
“Do you have a name runt?”
“But I thought you-” he nudged his brother.
“... no” he murmured “I never got one”
Techno hummed, brushing his thumb against the boy’s cheek.
“Well, what do you think about … Theseus?”
He watched as the boy’s eyes lit up in surprise, as he had never expected to have a name of his own.
“Is that my name?” he asked, hopeful.
“If you want it to be”
“Yes! Yes please!” he basically pleaded, not wanting the option to be taken away before he could take it.
Techno chuckled, pressing his forehead against his.
“Alright, then Theseus, welcome to the family”
The boy smiled in relief, before wrapping his arms around Techno.
“Hey! I want a hug too!” His brother whined “It’s so unfair, you're hogging him just because he’s your son!”
The runt head snapped back at Techno at that last declaration, as if asking if that was true.
Runt-Sounder-Mine he chuffed, and the answer seemed to be enough for the kid, who teared up again as he pressed his face to his chest, chuffing and purring as his tail swished.
Then the runt launched into Wilbur’s arms, startling him as he let out a squawk, once he caught on to what was happening he brought his arms and wings around the boy.
“You’re so precious sunshine, I’m glad Techno found you” he warbled.
Techno snorted.
“Now you’re hogging him”
“Shut up! Let me have a moment with my nephew” he closed the wings tighter around them.
“Hey!” He chuckled.
After a few moments Wilbur let him back in his arms, seeming as he was falling asleep again, tired from all the big emotions he had. The runt curled close to Techno's chest.
“Y’know... he’s missing something” his brother cooed as he threaded his talons in the runt’s hair.
The runt whined with a sense of panic. Wanting to be everything they wanted him to be so they would keep him.
Techno hummed, also threading his claws along the boy’s hair.
“Some braids would look good on you, don’t you think treasure?”
“Braids?” he whispered.
“Oh! I’ll get mom’s gold threads!” And his brother was out before either of them could mutter a word.
He huffed at his brother's antics, before returning his attention to the boy in his arms. He held a small pout.
“What’s wrong runt?” he chuffed.
“I- … will- will braids hurt?” he mumbled.
“No,” he pressed a kiss to his temple “They’re not supposed to hurt, but if I tug your hair a little too hard you can always tell me and I’ll stop”
The runt seemed to be a bit curious after that, patiently waiting for Wilbur to return.
Once his brother came back he brought the golden threads and a brush with him.
The runt seemed entranced by both objects and Wilbur let him hold onto the golden threads for a moment, before he turned his head to the brush.
“What is that?”
“What? This?” the boy nodded “It’s a brush, haven’t you seen one before?”
Theseus pouted, shaking his head.
His brother handed him the brush and he gave it to the boy, who gasped and inspected it as if it was a toy.
“What does it do?”
“You brush your hair with it”
The boy gasped, holding the brush out to his hair … upside down. Wilbur chuckled.
“It’s supposed to go the other way treasure” he gently pried it from the kid’s hand, brushing a bit of his hair “Like that-”
He was going to return the brush back to the runt, but he whined, his hands keeping his with the brush pressed to his hair.
Techno chuckled.
“Do you like having your hair brushed?”
The boy nodded, letting out a little chuff.
He hummed, continuing brushing the kid’s hair, being gentle at brushing out any tangles, until the boy was left with fluffy and smooth hair.
Then he started threading the boy's hair with the gold threads, turning them into small and beautiful braids all over the kid's hair, thankfully his hair was long enough to make multiple of them.
Once he was finished he grabbed two of them joining them behind his head with a small blue ribbon.
At the same time the door to his room was knocked open. The runt let a high squeal, pressing close to Techno's chest as the worried glance of his parents fell on him.
His mother being quick to climb over the den to cup his face, at the same time that his father came close.
"Who did this to you?!" His mother demanded at seeing the bruise on his cheek "Was it the heroes?" She growled.
The runt whined again, stealing all of their attention.
"Who-… who is this?" His father asked.
Danger-Protector-Intruder-Help the boy squealed.
His mother was the one to whine this time, feeling blatantly taken aback by the childish declaration that the boy was making towards her to her own child.
Techno just realized the tight grip he had the runt on, relaxing his muscles after taking a deep breath. There was no intruder, it was just his parents.
“Techno?”
He huffed.
“This is Theseus,” he adjusted to runt in his lap, making sure to chuff “my son”
His parents' eyes grew wide.
“Y-your son?”
He nodded.
“Runt, these are my parents, they’re sounder”
The boy peeked his face from his chest, looking at both his parents.
“Mine … mine too?” he asked softly as he looked back with big blue eyes.
“Of course treasure”
His mother leaned in, cupping the child’s face even when that got out a little hiccup from him. She chuffed, petting the boy’s hair.
“Hello, I’m Kristin” she purred.
“So you’re the surprise Wilbur was talking about” his father chuckled, joining his mother in doting affection to the runt.
“I have a grandson” his mom gasped suddenly, looking back at him “You have plenty of explaining to do”
“Plus you’re grounded”
Wilbur snorted.
“Heh?!”
“That’s for scaring us like that and not calling us immediately”
“Wha- I called Wilbur?!”
His mother turned to look at his brother, who looked away.
“Wilbur..”
“I forgot, okay?! Techno just talked to me for like fifteen seconds and then hung up! I was overwhelmed”
“Grounded, both of you”
“WHAT?!”
The runt giggled, yawning then.
All of them cooed as the boy pressed closer to Techno. He held the boy tighter, purring as he patted his hair.
“Tired?”
The runt nodded, hiding his face again against Techno, who chuckled, pressing a kiss to his head.
“Goodnight treasure” he chuffed.
Within seconds the runt fell asleep, cuddling close to his protector.
“Aw~” his mother whispered “Look at him! He’s so adorable”
His father let a few clicks as he took on the sight of Theseus. And Techno sighed, looking at the kid in his arms, listening to the whispers of small-runt-safe-den-protected-gold .
He hated the government, his corrupt systems and faulty laws. He hated the heroes and their allies … but they did get him such a beautiful son, his own treasure, his runt . He wasn’t saying he hated them any less, but he did get a kid because of them.
He pressed his chin against the golden curls, bringing the boy close as he purred. The runt let a stuttering purr back.
His runt, his son, his perfect treasure.
“Is it a bad time to say that dad is old now- ack!”