I do not own this this story is by orphan_account
on ao3 I merely copy and pasted it for my convenience
Niki downed her fifth drink, feeling like her whole body was on fire. She wasn't sure if it was alcohol or the rage that was keeping her warm, but it was probably mixture of both of them, plus some other emotions that were fighting inside her.
It was nice to spend time with her friends, not caring wheter they were on Pogtopia's or Manburg's side, just to enjoy nice evening drinking and dancing, pretending like there was no war in between them. When Schlatt decided to leave for "business trip", they all decided to party in one of Manburg's little pubs, bringing in food and alcohol that got consumed in matter of minutes.
She watched everyone with another empty glass in her hand, trying to forget about the fact her seemingly perfect boyfriend with cute british accent that she fell in love with, was cheating on her with tyrant that was suffocating her land. Fucking little hypocrite was making his obnoxious speeches on festivals about blowing Schlatt's nation up, cursing him out and telling everyone what a piece of shit he was. But then, when he visited her, she obviously immediately spotted the marks on his skin that he tried so hard to cover, she smelled Schlatt's perfume and smoke from his expensive cigars on his clothes. And it broke her heart every single time.
She asked him, but he jut got mad and defensive, telling her that she's accusing him of something so ridiculous that it was laughable and straight up offensive. He was right, it made absolutely no sense. So why was he still coming back to him? What was he offering that she could give to him?
She poured herself another glass of wine and tried to calm herself down as she watched him talking to his friends, laughing like nothing was happening. They were playing stupid drinking games and threw darts, celebrating every good shot with vodka, which made them so drunk that they forgot their own names, falling to the ground as they lost their balance.
Niki was getting paranoid, if he was fucking Schlatt, was he cheating on her with someone else? He could do it with basically anyone else, he was very well aware of the fact that he was pretty guy and he could pull off any gender, regardless of their sexuality. And he probably didn't even care wheter they were friends or strangers that met just a few minutes ago. Was he fucking Eret too? Quackity? Fundy? Or maybe even his closest friend..?
Said man was sitting just a few feet away from her, sipping on some unknow drink for last a few hours. Technoblade was known for not really being a party animal and he was obviously here just to not look antisocial and maybe just have a background noise for his internal thoughts. It was bizzare sight, seeing this scary, burly man just sitting there, resting and enjoying a drink, it was like he was reducing himself and his power.
Nihachu started thinking about wheter he would do something like fucking his best friend, who was known for being in happy, public relationship. It wasn't really Techno thing to do, considering that this man was really keen on keeping his honor and having strong moral compass, doing only what he was feeling like doing, not succumbing himself to being likeable by others. That was something Will lacked, as he was unstable person that tried his hardest to look dominant and be a leader, but always did the thing that would make everyone like him more. It was like these two men, even though they were best friends, were the exact opposites of each other.
He noticed that she was staring at him in dream like state, making him look a little bit flustered as he didn't know how to react. So he tried to smile at her, inviting her to his table as he knew that this was probably a thing that should naturally happen when socializing.
"Hey Techno." she spoke to him, sitting down next to him. "How is it going?"
"Obviously not very good," he sounded tired. "Wilbur told me that I should come. that it's going to be fun, but all I am seeing is bunch of drunk idiots making animal noises."
Niki laughed, maybe a little bit louder than she should have, which made her blush. What the hell was she doing?
"Yeah, I am feeling the same way." she looked at Wilbur, who was currently running around and occasionally getitng way too touchy with guys around him. She sighed and poured herself another glass of wine.
"I don't wanna come off as rude," Techno cleared his throat, his voice sounding way deeper than usual. "But I noticed that you are getting blackout drunk and you are constantly staring at your boyfriend with that long, depressed face on. Is there something happening between you two?"
Niki sighed again, downing her glass as she made an eye contact with her friend. Now she finally had a chance to actually see his face up close, noticing the way his pale, manly face contrasted with soft pink hair of his. She noticed the scars he earned in combat, unlike Will who tried his best to just keep his hands nice and clean, not getting in any conflict as he was a pussy who couldn't even fight for his girlfriend. She gulped, wandering what that powerful body of a man in front of her could do.
"It's.. it's nothing, really.." she tried her best to compose herself, feeling her cheeks heat up as she studied Technoblade's face and body like it was her final exam.
"Well it sure does look like something that bothers you. I think you need to let it out." he tried to smile at her again, trying to make her feel safe and comfortable as he knew that he had the power to make people terrified of him. "No pressure, I am just offering you a shoulder to cry on.. if you feel like you need some."
She actually started to think about it. It would sure be nice to pour her heart our to someone who looks like he could be a good listener and actually would give her an advice instead of brushing her off like everyone else. Besides.. the thought of getting comforted by his big, strong arms wrapped around her in tight hug was something that made her feel many various emotions.
"...we can discuss it outside, I don't really wanna talk about it here. And I want to go home anyway, do you think you would be kind enough to escort me to my house? It's dark outside and there are still some mobs out there."
Pinkette that sat next to her just nodded with smile on his face, leaving his drink and friends behind just like she did, seeing that Wilbur didn't even notice that his girlfriend was leaving with someone else. On the other hand, she was just being accompanied by his best friend. What could happen?
They stepped out of the pub, hearing their friends sing and laugh inside as the noises dissapeared when they headed to Niki's house. It was on the other side of Manburg and the path looked rather scary, so Techno took this as his duty to protect the fragile girl next to him, taking out his sword and shield to be read to attack anything that got in their way.
Niki watched in awe as his muscular arms had no problem with carrying heavy weapons, feeling like for the first time in a long time, she was in presence of a real man, not just someone who was pretending to be someone like that. The way Technoblade could fight and protect, but also listen to her and treat her like a gentleman was something she never saw in him before. The image of bloodthirsty warrior who covered his face with pig mask was very narrowed down imagery of real Technoblade and she would lie to herself if she said that the man next to her wasn't getting more and more attractive with every second spent talking to him.
"Wilbur is a hypocrite," he shook his head, looking actually dissapointed in his friend after listening to Niki's point of view. "And he's also an idiot."
"Yeah. I just don't understand why would he fuck his enemy-"
"No, I am not talking about that." he cut her off as she noticed a little bit of anger in his voice. "Why would he go after old, messed up greasy guy like Schlatt when he has a literal angel back home? I just don't understand."
Blonde next to him went silent, feeling her cheeks heat up. "You.. you think I am pretty..?"
Techno just laughed. "Of course I do. And I think that he's missing out if he's spending his time at Schlatt's place instead of being home with you. He's lucky guy, but sadly very, very stupid."
There was a silence between them for a few second as they stared in each other's eyes. They were all alone in the dark, far away from another human beings. The night was cold and hostile and Niki's house was warm and empty.
"Would you... would you like to go inside?" she stuttered, noticing the way Technoblade towered over her like the giant he was. "It's really cold outside and I can make you tea before you come back home..."