Phil jumped up from his nap on the couch, startled into shouting, then looking around the room for what could have done it.

Techno rushed over and looked around for something to fight off, finding nothing. Techno glanced at Phil, “you okay, old man?” He joked.

Phil whined and covered his face, then nodded. Techno sat next to him, “you- uh- Wanna talk about it?”

Phil shook his head, curled up in a ball.

Techno scooted over, “hey..” he offered a hand, “do you want a hug?”

Phil crawled into Techno’s arms and buried his face into Techno’s shoulder.

“Hey.” Techno called softly, then tucked Phil in closer to himself.

Phil spread out his wings, rubbing the tears out of his eyes.

Techno ran his hands over the base of them, “see? You’re fine. Small, but fine.”

Phil whimpered at his own wings, how much they hurt, and his nightmare.

Techno placed his head on Phil’s, then pulled out the basket from under the couch, setting it on the table next to them. He got the paci out from there and gently offered it.

Phil bit the rubber part and stuffed his face into Techno again.

Techno pulled Phil closer, admiring the half amputated wings. “Do- wanna get Ranboo here? He can make like ho-“

Phil shook his head hard and clung tighter.

“Hey- hey- it’s okay.” Techno tried, then looked around, “how about... you take a nap again and I sit here?” Phil looked up and ran his hands over Techno’s red robe, specifically on the soft white parts.

Techno nodded and took it off, then put it on Phil. Phil smiled shyly and nestled into it, leaning on the pillows behind him.

Techno sat on the end of the couch and patted Phil’s leg, “story time?”

Phil shook his head and closed his eyes for a few minutes, then sat up and whined louder to Techno.

Techno hummed and nodded, “alright, alright, how about we play games then?”

Phil nodded and bounced some.

Techno laughed and got up to go find some, much to Phil’s misfortune.

Techno came back with a bead maze that one of them made. Honestly he couldn’t remember which, but *one* of them made it and it was not level, meaning it was either him or Ranboo. Techno set it in front of Phil, then helped him get down to the floor in front of it.

Phil immediately went to the little blocks that spinned and made them all go to the purple face, then clapped his hands, looking up at Techno for approval.

Techno smiled and nodded, then pet Phil’s hair, “doing good.”

Phil hummed against his paci then moved to the little bead maze, making little “vooosh” noises as he did.

Techno rubbed at his eyes as Phil continued, trying to keep himself awake by rubbing Phil’s back. It wasn’t really working much.

Phil giggled as he head Techno yawn, then stood up and pulled on the Piglin’s arm, bouncing.

Techno snorted, “alright, come on. I need some beautiful sleep.”

Phil made grabby hands until Techno picked him up and carried him to bed. Techno tucked Phil in, “you gonna be okay sleeping here tonight?”

Phil shrugged.

“Do you wanna sleep somewhere else?”

Phil shook his head.

Techno nodded, “I’ll be in my house if you need me.”

Phil curled up and tried to sleep.

Techno finally left the room and went to sleep on the couch, knowing Phil would need him there at some point.

Techno managed about an hour before Phil knocked on the door before coming in.

Techno glanced up, “close the door.”

Phil nodded and did so, then crawled over to sleep on the other side of the couch.

Techno looked at Phil, then hummed and offered a hug.

Phil lit up and plopped on top of Techno. Techno let out a fake grunt and pet Phil’s wings again, “night.”

Phil mumbled something as he slowly fell asleep.

Kinoko Kingdom. It was their worst dealing with a country yet. Ranboo wanted to keep it more impartial, but Karl already admitted to using his power against his citizens, to be fair in trivial ways, but still being used. That went against what the syndicate stood for and thus, Ranboo was set against his own beliefs once again. He hardly knew anyone in Kinoko Kingdom, all he knew was that they were a monarchy and living on top of Niki.

They somehow managed to settle it peacefully. Without Ranboo there.

Instead of staying for debate, he stepped out like he had been offered to before and stayed in Niki’s house, sitting by the nether portal.

He just couldn’t do it. He knew he didn’t have any room to advocate for them, but he also didn’t have the attachment to put himself on the line for.

So, he sat by the portal, waiting, until Niki came by and smiled, saying they came to an agreement. Ranboo was far too stressed to understand the terms, just nodding along while Technoblade explained, Niki humming along in agreement. Niki seemed happy, and so did Techno, so Ranboo should have felt better, but he got himself so wound up that they might trust him less after this and of the possibility of him having to fight against his wants again, that he couldn’t sit still. He said his goodbyes to Niki, then followed Techno through the portal, holding a grass block he got from just outside Niki’s base, tucking it against himself. Technoblade managed to carry the conversation, explaining everything that had happened, joking about being disappointed that he didn’t get to use his withers again.

Ranboo walked through the portal and started walking home. Techno yelped and jumped to the side, just in time for Ranboo to turn around and see a creeper, throwing the dirt block at it as it blew up, tossing him to the ground in the snow. Techno snorted since Ranboo clearly wouldn’t be hurt, he was in netherite afterall, and walked over to help him up, “yeah, that block sure showed hi-”

Ranboo was clearly crying, but he tried to keep his head down when he took Technoblade’s hand, standing. Ranboo was way too tall for Technoblade to not see his face, though.

Techno made a nervous noise, then tried to get Ranboo into the gated area, “hey, hey, it’s fine. You know, we got plenty of pots. Ranboo, hey-” Ranboo shook his head and rubbed the tears away with his sleeve, still whimpering.

He rubbed Ranboo’s shoulder, then paused, “wait- do- do your tears have water?”

Ranboo gave a little nod, following Techno inside.

“Bruh, you rolled like the worst genetics possible.”

Ranboo gave a little tired laugh and took Techno’s hand off of him, then whined at the tears, sitting down on the couch, trying to dry them off without getting some other part of him wet. Technoblade used some tissues to wipe it up, then looked at the tracks under Ranboo’s eyes, “wow. Really got that main character mark.”

Ranboo hummed and looked down.

Techno got up and grabbed some healing pots, “you okay though? Like really?”

Ranboo messed with his gloves and shook his head.

Techno looked Ranboo over, “do you not have protection on there or something?”

Ranboo looked confused then pointed at his own armor and nodded to say that it did have protection on it.

“Then what's wrong?”

Ranboo pulled up his communicator and typed out, ‘Im little.’

Techno sighed, looking at it on his after he heard the beep, “Yeah, I know that, but like- come on, you’ve been off all day, and the creeper was the thing to make you drop?”

Ranboo stared at Techno with big eyes, but Techno didn’t look back until he sat down. “Let’s get some healing pots on there. I’ll try not to look.”

Ranboo nodded and leaned forward into the rag with the healing potion on it, letting Technoblade put it over the scar.

Techno finished and stood up, “alright, I’ll get enderchest for you and the block, you stay here.” Technoblade pulled a blanket from under the couch and put it on top of Ranboo, then left.

Ranboo never told Technoblade that he regressed but somehow Techno knew it. Maybe he was just that easy to read. But this blanket smelled like Ranboo’s laundry despite the fact he’d never seen it before. It was a quilt made probably by Techno, seeing as he knew Phil didn’t sew, but it was still weird to him.

But it was smooth and thick so Ranboo didn’t care, just curling up and getting comfortable in the blanket.

Techno came back and placed enderchest on Ranboo’s legs, then plopped a block of green wool on Ranboo’s chest.

Ranboo let out a little vwoop for the first time around Techno, then immediately stuffed his face into the block in embarrassment.

Enderchest crawled up onto Ranboo’s stomach and leaned against the block Ranboo was squeezing.

Techno sat on what little was left of the couch, grabbing a book from the same place the blanket came from. He flipped to somewhere near the middle, then started to read, adding his own commentary along with it. It was a book of fairy tales.

Ranboo looked up as Techno began describing a cruel kingdom, making Ranboo whimper and sit up some.

Techno looked over, then set the book down, “okay, something’s up.”

Ranboo looked down and hugged the block some more, shaking his head.

“You know you don’t have to be part of the syndicate, Ranboo.”

Ranboo let out a whine at that.

“Man, come on, just- okay, what’ll get you to sleep today?”

Ranboo shrugged and looked around the room, then stared at the little record played to the side left over from Tommy.

Techno hummed, “sorry, kid, I don’t have a disk.”

Ranboo ran his hands over the wool, then took in a little breath, “I do.”

Techno frowned softly, then nodded, “okay, in your house, right?”

Ranboo nodded, then smiled a bit when Enderchest nuzzled his hand.

Techno left again, going for the disks.

Ranboo talked softly in ender to his cat, laughing every once in a while. Enderchest seemed very happy with that, purring against him.

Techno finally came back and decided to go with chirp, placing it into the player.