Prompt: dislocation


Cradled between the pondweeds swaying gently in his new home's artificial current, Techno stared holes into Phil's back.

The other man didn't notice, but the gears in Technoblade's head were definitely turning.

Phil didn't want to sell him, big deal? Unlike his previous owners blinded by money, Phil knew about the legends surrounding mermaid flesh and its supposed ability to grant immortality to those that consumed it. He wasn't planning to sell Technoblade, only because he was going to freaking eat him. Probably cut him up into three pieces too so Tommy and Wilbur could have a bite.

Technoblade had never heard the fairy tales humans spread about those who had become immortal after eating a mermaid. His bedtime stories were ones of his kind being hunted to extinction because of a lie.

Yet despite all that, it was hard to wrap his mind around Phil. His actions should be straightforward, but they weren't. Why bother with the big aquarium when the bowl would probably have worked just as well in helping Techno get healthy enough to use as a meal? Why bother going out to get fish when there was meat in the house, just because Techno hadn't been hiding how much he preferred it? Why was Phil still trying to help him with his limp when he was going to kill Techno afterward? It didn't make any sense.

And Techno should probably ask him about it. But how would he even start that conversation… Just going "oh hey Phil, I'm just checking up on those plans you had to serve me for dinner soon? Any idea when I'll be on the menu?" did not sound like a good idea.

So Techno only watched as Phil chased away the man with the gaudy golden tooth (really, Techno had heard some humans liked gold too much but that was just tacky) and they didn't talk about it afterward. Phil went to the market, Techno got his shrimp, and they sat in silence as they ate.

He couldn't make sense of it.

"Aren't you bored in there?" Tommy asked him after having his own breakfast. He usually woke up a few hours after Phil. These humans went through their routines like clockwork. It was almost impressive.

Techno shrugged evasively. But Tommy wasn't looking at him, already hurrying to put his shoes on. Which meant Techno had to swim to the surface so he could answer. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, aren't you bored in there," Tommy repeated, saying the word differently as if that somehow magically would change the meaning. "What do you do all day?"

"Swim," Techno deadpanned. Tommy squinted at him. He was really bad at telling when Technoblade was being sarcastic. "There isn't much room for anything else," he added after a second to show it was a sincere answer.

"Okay, what would you do if you had more room? Like, what kind of shit did you get up in 'the wild' or whatever." Tommy added air quotes around the wild like Techno was at all supposed to know what that indicated.

"Hunt," he said. Tommy opened his mouth but Techno wasn't done. "Collect treasures from the riverbed. Explore the area. Farm potato vines."

"Potatoes?!"

"Potatoes," Techno confirmed.

"How the fuck were you farming potatoes underwater?!"

"Sweet potato vines grow underwater."

"Did you eat them?" Tommy asked, sounding more incredulous by the second.

Techno shook his head. "Carnivore, remember." He opened his mouth and pointed at his teeth. "It was just fun."

"Who would spend their time growing potatoes just for fun?"

"I would," Techno told him with a smirk.

"Yeah, and you're totally weird for it." He looked around the room, eyes lighting up suddenly. "How about you read a book instead? You seem like the kind of person who would enjoy something lame like reading. Here." Tommy walked over to one of Phil's many bookcases, bringing back a small, leatherbound journal. He shuffled some jars and old teacups on Phil's desk around so he could prop the book up against them, keeping it open. "If you need somebody to turn the page you can just call for one of us!"

Tommy was so excited about his brilliant suggestion, Techno didn't want to burst his bubble and so he just nodded dumbly. The boy left not long after. Techno went back to swimming circles.

He knew it was noon when Wilbur came downstairs too.

"Where are Phil and Tommy?" he asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Techno didn't realize Wilbur was talking to him at first.

"Outside," he said after popping up. "Phil went to get rocks for a project. No clue where Tommy went."

Wilbur hummed absently, walking into the kitchen to get food. He came back with a piece of fruit in hand, glancing down at Tommy's improvised setup. "What's this?"

"A book Tommy gave me to read."

Techno swam down again, continuing his circles. He knew it was a bad habit, a compulsive behavior he couldn't get rid of because it soothed some weird tense part of his brain that refused to smooth back down into shape. It brought him an odd comfort.

"Technoblade," Wilbur started, "can you read?"

Shaking his head with a grin, he heard Wilbur laugh at Tommy's lack of consideration for that little fact. Wilbur was definitely going to throw that into his brother's face later.

The truth was Techno could read some words. Not a lot, not enough for it to actually be functional. He'd picked up a thing or two from being on the diplomat's desk with nothing better to do than scan the lines of text and try to guess at familiar letters until he could form some basic words. But that was it.

"I can read it to you," Wilbur said while sitting down. He grabbed the book with one hand, still holding his poor excuse for breakfast in the other. Techno thought humans were probably supposed to eat more than that - especially in the morning, the most important meal of the day. But who was he to point that out?

"You don't have to," he came up to say.

"These are great though, they're Phil's travel diaries. You should hear about the time he found this bastion full of hoglins instead of piglins-"

Since it was pointless to make a fuss, Techno went back to swimming circles. But this time, Wilbur's soft voice kept him company as he told stories of faraway places and deep endless waters Techno would never see again.

Phil built him a cave.

Techno didn't… he didn't get it. He couldn't wrap his mind around it.

Phil had gone out with that same stupid bucket that Techno had almost dived into head-first on the day he was brought to this house and then he came back with the bucket full of stones. His pants were soaked through from where he had been standing in the river (there was a river semi-nearby, Techno found out by questioning him. It was very shallow though, it barely came up to Phil's knees) and picked up a bunch of rocks he'd judged suitable to put together into something habitable.

And it was! It was something habitable. It had closed off walls and a closed top and a little slit in the side that was big enough for Techno to easily fit through yet still provided him with that cozy feeling of his cave being completely concealed when he was inside it. It was perfect.

And Technoblade absolutely did not get what the point was.

He still didn't ask though.

Technoblade was so tired he fell asleep in it as soon as Phil was done setting it up, without even thanking the man. He probably should do that in the morning, his exhausted brain murmured at him on the cusp of unconsciousness. Definitely in the morning-

Techno woke up in the middle of the night because somebody had thrown open the door hard enough to make it slam into the wall.

Disoriented, he went out to look. He'd blame the fact that his mind was still half-dazed for why he didn't notice there were two complete strangers in the room. Or one of them was a stranger anyway, the other was the man who had been in the house that morning.

"It's over here." They strode to the aquarium with purpose, knowing exactly what they were after. Techno tried to hide in his cave but it was useless. The humans could just lift the entire thing and throw it onto the ground. They tried to grab him next but he was too slippery, making them curse loudly. The other person - the one Techno didn't recognize - shifted nervously from one foot to another.

"Can you hurry, they're going to come down."

"The little fuck isn't exactly cooperating," Quackity complained. Techno remembered his name from when Phil spoke to him.

"We don't have time for this." The other man stepped forward and pulled the entire aquarium onto its side. A torrent of water poured out into the floor and Techno went along with it, pebbles scattered along the wooden floorboards. Techno fell down, hitting the ground with a wet thud. Vaguely, he was glad he hadn't landed on his head again or he might have been in even more trouble. His tail still hurt from the impact though.

Especially when a foot came down on it next.

Techno screamed, the pain bad enough to blind him.

"See, that's how you keep it from getting away," the man who had pulled over his aquarium hissed. They weren't pressing down hard enough to kill him, but Techno still twisted and squirmed, unable to move.

Hurried footsteps came down the stairs. "What the-" Phil.

They were yelling but Techno couldn't hear over the rushing in his own ears as the pain got more and more overwhelming. He could barely think, let alone understand what was going on. Through blurry vision he saw Phil step forward, trying to rush towards him maybe? It didn't feel real.

Quackity pushed him and Phil staggered. His shoulder hit the wall and there was an audible pop, like a balloon. When Techno blinked, Phil's arm was bent at a wrong angle and he distantly knew that was very bad but anything more than that his brain couldn't process. Black spots danced along his vision, cutting the image of Phil hunched over on the floor from his sight.

"Let's get the fuck out of here," Quackity said. There was a knife in his hand suddenly, stained with blood. He reached down to grab Techno.

After then there was nothing.