Prompt: touch starved

There were a lot of things happening lately Technoblade wasn't very pleased with.

Long ago when he was in the diplomat's care, Techno had given up on the illusion of control. In the river it was attainable, perhaps even in the outside pond shaded by trees. Most else he had come to accept as situations he was simply at the mercy of. The surface world was vast and dangerous, and probably not made for him to thrive independently.

Well, the surface world had another thing coming.

He did not like the man or his two sons. One was freakishly tall and gangly even by human standards. He had brown curls and wore glasses which he kept needing to push up his nose because they were prone to slipping off. His name was Wilbur, or that's what Phil kept calling him.

Wilbur came home last night while Techno was busy puking his guts out because he'd foolishly let his hunger get the better of him and he'd eaten what had been dropped into the bowl without a second thought, and Wilbur had been the one who directed Phil on what to do to solve the problem. Since then he'd only been given things he could actually digest, pieces of raw fish and smoked salty meat. Techno preferred the fish, but he supposed meat came a little more naturally to humans who lived further from the sea (fishing in streams was notoriously more difficult and less profitable) so he would not complain. It was better than starving.

The other son who arrived in the morning was a bit younger. He looked more like Phil in physical appearance with his blond hair and blue eyes, but couldn't be more different in temperament. He was loud and lively and never sat still. His name was Tommy. He laughed a lot and talked a lot. Techno wasn't too fond of that.

Tommy helped Phil build and then fill a big glass box. They brought the water in by the bucket, leaving it to heat in front of the fire first before carrying it over to Phil's desk. The box was so big there was no room left for Phil's books or papers, which Techno thought was a strange decision. The diplomat's desk was twice the size of this one and Techno's aquarium had barely taken up a corner. That way, the man could still work while showing him off. Phil would not be able to use his desk like this.

When they were done filling it, Phil carefully carried his bowl over. He had his sleeves bunched up to his elbows. Techno squinted at him from beneath his leaf.

"Don't bite me again, okay?" Phil asked. He dipped his hands into the water, cupping them together.

Techno pushed the leaf off and swam up to meet him. This was going to happen either way, there was no use being difficult about it.

"There you are," Phil said with a smile when he came out from his cover.

"Holy shit," Tommy muttered from beside him. Techno realized this was probably the first time the teen had properly seen him since he'd been hiding as much as he could. He was absolutely sick of being gawked at, honestly.

"I know. Took me a minute to believe it too." Slowly Phil started lifting his hands. Techno automatically grabbed one of his thumbs to make sure he wouldn't fall. It moved to press slightly into his chest and the touch made Techno flinch instinctively, expecting pain. But it only stayed there to help steady him.

Techno had forgotten how warm human skin was.

"It's kind of cute," Tommy said.

Techno frowned. If only Tommy were the one who was holding him, he'd have shown the kid a thing or two about cuteness. With his teeth.

Then he was lowered into the new box. The water's temperature was a lot more agreeable this time. It even felt better somehow, which Techno realized must be because of the little fans. Three of them were lowered into the water on one side of the aquarium, spinning slow circles that created artificial currents and helped move oxygen around.

The bottom had also been covered in pebbles and while there were no more convenient flat leaves, other plants that actually looked like they belonged underwater were sticking up from those pebbles towards the box's opening, tall algae surrounded by rocks covered in moss decorated the corners.

Techno wasn't really sure how to react to such luxury. It wasn't the pond, but it came pretty darn close to actually being pleasant to live in, bar the fact he had no place to sleep anymore. Since he'd been able to eat and rest some, he didn't feel like death warmed over anymore so he swam around to explore while the humans continued talking.

"Did you name it yet?" Tommy was asking.

Phil crossed his arms. "Should we? Name it, I mean. You know we're not keeping it. I don't want you to get attached."

Techno cringed. Oh right, lest he forgot this was all some ploy to fatten him up and eat him later. That's what he got for being complacent.

"I don't know, we can't keep calling it 'the mermaid' forever. Maybe it has a name already? Like a fish name." Tommy turned towards the box.

"If it does, it hasn't shared. I'm not even sure it can talk," Phil said, sounding doubtful.

"We could give it a temporary stand-in name. Like Dave!"

Having heard enough, Technoblade darted up to the surface again. He'd kept his tongue so far since he wasn't much in the mood for conversation. And most of his previous owners hadn't been too keen on him talking - or maybe they just didn't like what he had to say. But he refused to end up with some lame human name, like Dave.

He beat his tail on the water to get their attention. And if it did end up accidentally spraying Tommy a bit, then that was just a happy accident. Techno grinned as the teen leaped back with a curse to avoid getting wet.

"I can talk, actually. And I do have a name."

Both humans stared at him as if he'd grown a second head. It was downright hilarious.

"Why didn't you fucking say something when I-" Phil cut himself off, changing tactics midway into the sentence. "Why didn't you say anything at any point when that could have been helpful actually?!" His voice had gotten all high-pitched with disbelief.

Technoblade didn't answer, diving back under. Why was he doing this? Why bother talking to the humans who were planning to kill him? Then Tommy's hands came to hold the edges of the aquarium. "Wait, come back! Tell us your fish name!"

Annoyed, Techno rolled his eyes as he surfaced again. "My name is Technoblade. Or just Techno. Either is fine."

"Sorry for grabbing your tail," Phil said. Techno turned to stare at him, surprised. "I'm assuming that was a bad idea." He held up his injured finger.

"Uh, yeah. It hurts pretty bad when you do that." Techno felt awkward suddenly. Humans generally didn't apologize to him, like... Ever. How was he supposed to react to this? He shrugged. "But if you didn't do it on purpose I suppose I'm sorry for biting you."

"How should I pick you up then?" Phil asked. "Just in case we need to move you again."

Techno answered without thinking, thoroughly confused. "What you did earlier works. Just keep away from the fins and you're fine."

Phil nodded at himself, pleased. "Okay, good."

"How can you breathe right now?" Tommy asked. Ever relentless in the questioning.

"I have lungs."

"Yeah but then how can you breathe underwater?"

With one hand, Techno pushed his hair over his shoulder and tilted his head, showing the side of his neck. "Gills."

"That's so cool!" Tommy leaned over the tank, towering above him and casting a shadow. It wasn't great on Techno's anxiety when he did that, but he was used to worse. "Do all mermaids have pink hair?"

"I don't know, I haven't asked. I'll be sure to do so if I ever meet every mermaid ever."

Phil laughed. It was a warm, gentle sound. Techno looked away, face heating up.

"How did that happen?"

He froze. It was impossible not to know what Tommy was talking about. The scar ran down his back, perpendicular to his spine, and wrapped over his side towards his lower ribs. One big knot where he'd tried to tear loose and the many more small lacerations of ropes digging into flesh. Wounds that hadn't been allowed to heal properly and became ugly, jagged marks.

"Fishing net," Techno said bitterly. "From when I was caught."

The smile fell from Tommy's face then. "Sorry," he mumbled, clearly feeling guilty for asking. As if it wasn't their kind who had done this to him in the first place.

"We could give you something for that," Phil said, effectively breaking the tension that hung heavy in the room. "I have some oils."

"I don't see how that's-" but before Techno could finish Phil was already heading for a shelf. There was a lot of interesting-looking stuff on display there, Phil must be a collector of some sort. He immediately picked out the little jar he was searching for, bringing it back to the aquarium.

"Even if it's an old wound that doesn't need to heal anymore, lavender oil can help reduce scarring and keep away chronic pains and aches." Phil pulled out the cork.

Techno didn't move, disliking that he'd been figured out that quickly. "How did you know?"

"You favored your left side when you were swimming," Phil said.

Crap, he hated how that actually made sense. Techno just thought he was able to hide better that he was in pain. Not a single human had ever noticed or commented on the stiff way he had to move to prevent aggravating the permanent injury.

Lifting the jar a bit, Phil still had that stupid smile on his face that Techno was quickly learning to loathe. "So, would you mind?"

He turned around. "Do whatever you want." The words were muttered under his breath, uncaring. When had it ever mattered what Techno wanted, when had it ever mattered if he minded what was happening? He just wanted to have this interaction over with.

Phil's touch was gentle again, soft. Using one finger, he smeared the oil where it was needed along Techno's shoulder and back, massaging it into the scarred tissue. His skin was warm and Techno tried not to shiver. In the past years - for as long as active memory served him - he'd only been in contact with another person briefly and always when they were grabbing or squeezing or pinching him. The tenderness behind this touch felt weird though, as if this was what set his nerves ablaze and not the painful ones.

As soon as Phil pulled away even an inch, Techno dove under again.

Maybe he should thank Phil for trying to help but he didn't know how. What was even the point of this, trying to fade over an old scar? Unless they cared for the aesthetics of their food? Why fix this non-issue, what did it matter to them if he was hurting? Techno didn't know that either.

But he did know the water suddenly felt cold enough in comparison to Phil's touch that it could chill him to his core.