A oneshot for the SBI AU + Prompt event on twitter. This one is for 'witch AU' + Unlikely Friends
"Tommy! Wait up!"
As usual, his little brother gleefully ignored him and continued to run ahead of him. If Wilbur wasn't sure that their parents would ground both of them for being out there in the first place, he'd totally rat Tommy out for not sticking close to him like they always said he should. That would teach him a lesson.
They'd definitely yell at Wilbur too though.
It wasn't his fault the mansion was so unbearably boring. Especially when they had guests over. Dad told them to stay up in their rooms and not make too much noise. Wilbur didn't see the point, it's not like the men that came by the house didn't know they were there. They'd sometimes visit just to assess Wilbur's progress. As the older child and the heir of his family's lineage, it was only expected that they'd want to keep track of his magic ability.
But Mom said it'd be bad for them to know too much.
Wilbur didn't really get it. He'd learned about other witch families during his lessons and he knew that the rivalries between them could get pretty nasty. But there hadn't been a proper war between them in ages, so who cared!
"Tommy!"
His brother's laughter came out slightly breathless, enjoying Wilbur's annoyance. Wilbur didn't want to say it out loud, but he truly was a little scared of getting lost. The woods were big and sprawling. And it would be dark soon-
"Oof!" Him bodily slamming into Tommy solved that little conundrum. Just to be certain he wouldn't run off again, Wilbur grabbed Tommy by the arm. "Geez, what has gotten into you?"
But Tommy wasn't looking at him, or even reacting to the question at all. He was staring straight ahead, where a little dip in the ground revealed a small groove between the trees.
There was a boy kneeling in the fallen leaves.
He was looking right at them - no surprise there since Wilbur and Tommy hadn't exactly been minding how much noise they must be making - with a wide-eyed gaze akin to a deer caught in the headlights of a car. He had strange, long pink hair, and dirt streaked his hands and fingernails as if he had been digging.
"Hello," Tommy said suddenly. The boy was still blinking in bewilderment and Wilbur hadn't made up his mind yet about what to say. Tommy had no such issues. "Are you from the town?"
The boy didn't move. Wilbur thought he might be scared, but then he started to slowly stand and his expression was closer to calculating than anything. Weighing his options on what to do next.
Making up his mind, the boy bolted.
"Hey!" Tommy attempted to run after him but Wilbur was holding his arm still.
"Tommy, what the fuck are you doing?" he asked, pulling his brother back to his side.
"Oh, come on, I just wanted to say hi." Sticking out his tongue, Tommy wrenched himself free from Wilbur's grasp. But he didn't try to run again. That had to be a first. "You know we never get to make friends."
"So you want to make friends with some random kid you met in the woods?" Wilbur asked, a laugh building in his chest.
"It's better than reading stuffy old books all day," Tommy said bitterly. He carefully started to climb down into the groove and Wilbur followed him.
"Good thing that's literally my job while you get to goof off."
"It's not the same if you don't get to play with me though," Tommy sighed to himself. Wilbur bit the inside of his cheek, feeling a bit of guilt coil into his chest. It must be hard for Tommy to be locked up in the mansion all the time. At least Wilbur had his special lessons and tutoring to distract him from how they were pretty much not allowed to go outside ever. Tommy was homeschooled too, but he had a lot more free time compared to Wilbur. Free time he had to spend alone since Wilbur was getting busier and busier with his responsibilities as heir these days.
"You know why we're not allowed to go out. It's dangerous," he said, though it fell flat. It was just a repeat of what their parents had told them over and over again. "Once we're adults, our magic will be strong enough to do whatever we want. And we'll play together every day."
Tommy sat down in the dirt, pushing his hands down into the leaves and then throwing them up again. He smiled up at the bright cascade of colors that fell over them while Wilbur knelt next to him. "Good! We should take over the world."
"We'll make our own nation," Wilbur agreed. Then he winced because something hit his arm. "Ouch!
It was a stone of some kind. Wilbur almost dismissed it, assuming Tommy had just accidentally thrown a pebble without realizing it. But the stone was too large, too sharp. Brilliant red facets caught the light. Before he could think better of it, his fingers had curled around it.
He could feel the magic that ran beneath the surface.
"What's that?" Tommy asked, leaning into his side. His elbow pushed into Wilbur's shoulder, trying to see what he had found.
"It's a soul shard," he said, confused.
Tommy's face scrunched up. "A what?" He was still too young to have learned about these.
"It's a manifestation of a witch's magic, used to conduct their powers."
"That boy was a witch?!" Tommy asked, stars in his eyes. The mere thought of meeting another kid their age was already novel enough, but meeting a fellow witch? Wilbur couldn't deny a matching spark of excitement had ignited in him.
"Probably yeah." He turned the soul shard over. It felt warm to the touch but in a foreign way. Like it didn't quite belong in Wilbur's hands. Because it didn't. A soul shard was very important for a witch, it wasn't something they should leave lying around. Wilbur only ever had made two of them himself and he kept both shards in a locked box underneath his bed. "He'll come back for this."
"We can meet him again?" Tommy was getting more enthralled with every word. "Maybe we could become friends. Do you think he goes to school in town? We could ask him to tell stories, we should bring him to the mansion and show Henry-"
"No!" Wilbur said, forceful enough to make Tommy flinch back. Wilbur put his hand on his shoulder, both as an apology and because he wanted to make sure Tommy understood what he was about to say. "We can't tell Mom and Dad about this - ever. It's bad enough if they hear we went out of the house, if they know we're making friends with other witch families they'll go ballistic."
With realization dawning in his eyes, Tommy nodded. "They'll lock us up for a hundred years," he said seriously. Wilbur didn't think they'd go quite that far but then again…
(He remembered being told to hide in his closet once, back when some people came over. Not the same ones who looked at his magic. Ones that yelled at Dad and had Dad yelling back. Wilbur had been so scared. Mom told him it was a rival family that had done some horrible stuff before. So they wanted to be extra certain he could stay safe. After that, they got even more strict in not letting them go about on their own.)
"We'll just keep it a secret for now," Wilbur said. Tommy reluctantly agreed.
Then they quickly went back home, the soul shard burning against Wilbur's skin where he held it clutched in his hand.
After going back to that same spot in the woods on four different occasions, they finally ran into the boy again.
In fact, their second meeting was eerily similar to the first one. When Wilbur and Tommy arrived at the groove, the boy was already there frantically digging in the dirt.
"Are you looking for this?" Wilbur asked. He held the soul shard up in one hand.
The boy's frame went all rigid, tension in his muscles making Wilbur think he was about to jump him. But he didn't, only glared fiercely. When he spoke it was through clenched teeth. "Give it back."
"I will," Wilbur said. "If you tell me your name."
The boy seemed to have half a mind to ignore him. But then he pushed back his shoulders and straightened his spine, trying to seem braver than he was. "Techno."
"I'm Tommy!"
And there went any chance they'd have to keep this safe. Wilbur sighed, then tossed the shard at Techno who caught it in both hands. "And I'm Wilbur."
Techno was still looking at them suspiciously, cupping the soul shard close to his chest.
"You shouldn't leave that lying around, it's dangerous," Wilbur said with a nod in his direction.
"I don't," Techno said. "Not my fault you stole it."
"It was on the ground?!"
"In the ground." Techno crouched in the same spot he had yesterday. He started to press his fingers in the dirt, pushing aside leaves until a small metal ring was revealed. Techno pulled on it.
"Wow!" Tommy fell to his knees beside the secret hatch. It wasn't big, barely the size of a book. But knowing that Techno probably had built it himself made it pretty impressive.
"I didn't have time to hide it again because somebody snuck up on me," Techno said, offering a small scowl when he said the word 'somebody'.
"This is basically our backyard," Wilbur defended.
"Imagine being rich enough to claim half the forest as your backyard, literally couldn't be me." The way Techno said it didn't make it sound very rude. In fact, it sounded like a joke. Wilbur chuckled.
"Yeah, and we never get to enjoy it. We're never allowed to go outside." Tommy crossed his arms, cheeks puffing up as he pouted. Wilbur poked them playfully.
"So dramatic," he commented. Then he turned back to Techno. "He's right though. I'm surprised your family lets you practice magic out in the open."
"They don't," Techno said. "I'm not allowed to do magic at all. Why else would I do it out here?" He put his soul shard back in the secret compartment. Wilbur could see he also had a notebook and a pen in there, a flask of water, needles, and some chalk. Not much as far as magical supplies went.
"Your family doesn't let you do magic?" Tommy asked.
Wilbur talked over him. "Is it because you're not the heir?"
The oldest child of any witch family was rumored to be the most powerful, carrying the lineage in their blood. Whether that was true or not, Wilbur didn't know. Mostly, the oldest child got the most attention from their parents and the most training in becoming a skilled witch. Maybe that was the only reason they turned out better at wielding magic than their siblings. But Wilbur had never heard of the younger kids being forbidden from doing magic.
"My parents hate magic," Techno said simply.
That… wasn't something Wilbur had considered possible. It didn't fit the image in his head at all. "Why?"
Techno shrugged.
"What family are they from?" Wilbur prodded, more curious than ever now. "What kind of magic do you guys wield?"
"They can't do any magic," Techno said. He was in the process of carefully covering his secret hatch with leaves. Tommy dug his hands into the dirt, happy to help. "I'm adopted."
Wilbur rocked back on his heels. "They're humans?"
"What is this, a cross-examination?" Techno gave him a little sideway glance, but the corner of his mouth pulled up into a smirk.
"Asking questions isn't a crime," Wilbur shot back. "You're the first person my own age I've ever met."
"Keep it that way," Techno said. "People suck. Trust me, I have to go to school and be around people all day, I know what I'm talking about."
"I think going to school sounds fun," Tommy said quickly, puffing out his chest to show off. "I would get all the best grades and be the king on the playground."
"You'd be shoved into a locker before lunchtime," Techno said. Wilbur laughed at how red Tommy's face got at the insult.
They talked for a while longer, mainly it was Techno telling them stuff about what life inside the town was like. It sounded pretty boring, all things considered. And if they had one thing in common, it was that Techno's parents would also kill him if they found out he was sneaking off into the woods.
"I need to be home before the sun sets." Techno stood up from where all three of them were sitting in the piles of leaves.
"If you come back around the same time tomorrow I can bring you some stuff to train properly," Wilbur said. The items Techno had were very amateurish from what Wilbur could tell. Which made sense if he didn't have anybody to actually teach him how to use magic. "We could practice together."
"Why?" Techno asked. And Wilbur wanted to make some kind of joke about cross-examinations, throw Techno's own words back at him lightheartedly. Except the sincere surprise on Techno's face (and maybe a small underlying current of suspicion) at being offered something so readily made him sad. So he smiled.
"Because we're friends now, duh."
Techno didn't say anything at first, but he hunched up his shoulders and fiddled with the sleeves of his hoodie. "I guess," he muttered eventually. Funny, Wilbur always thought the kids that lived in town wouldn't be so shy.
"Yay!" Tommy threw up his arms, once again spraying leaves over all of them. "Our self-made nation is going to be fucking sick."
At Techno's little frown, Wilbur just put his hand on the other boy's shoulder and shook his head. "Don't ask."
"This is a pendulum," Wilbur said. He held up the gold chain in one hand so he could show it to Techno. "It's used for gravity stuff, I think."
"You think?" Techno asked with a smile. He tapped against the metal ball on the end, watching it swing lazily from side to side.
"I've never used it, it was in my dad's office."
"I think he can make it fly," Tommy said. While Wilbur and Techno were sitting side by side, backs pressed against the trunk of a large tree, Tommy was too restless to stay still. So he was parading around with a giant stick, swinging it like a sword.
Techno turned his head to look at him. "Fly?
"Dad's magic is air-based so he can do all sorts of weird stuff with the wind!" Tommy said excitedly. "It's so cool. And he can also talk to the birds."
"He definitely can't," Wilbur whispered into Techno's ear. He reached into the cloth bag he'd brought again, stuffed with anything he could grab from his parents' drawers and wouldn't be noticed as missing. He put the cards he drew out into a little pile. "These are for telling the future. Mom uses them."
"She's a soot layer," Tommy said.
Wilbur had to laugh so hard he almost doubled over, grabbing at his stomach. Techno clearly didn't know what had him in stitches, but the hilarity must be infectious since he stifled a giggle behind his hand. Dissatisfied at being mocked, Tommy marched over to beat them both with the stick. Since it was more of a fancy twig, it was hardly effective.
"Fuck you!" Tommy said with as much scorn as a boy his age could. So not very much scorn at all.
"She's a soothsayer," Wilbur finally managed to say. "Somebody who can predict and shape the future through magic. Like, pull the threads of fate."
"That sounds a bit overpowered," Techno said dubiously.
"Definitely," Wilbur agreed. Their mom was kind of a big deal in most witch circles. Sadly, that also meant she traveled for work a lot.
Techno was shuffling the cards. "What sort of magic can you two do?"
"I can do this!" With a flick of his wrist, the branch Tommy was so valiantly wielding had caught fire. At Wilbur's glare - neither of them was supposed to use their magic outside of lessons yet, but Tommy especially since he was so young - Tommy quickly closed his hand around the flame. It snuffed out without burning him, the heat fading back into his skin naturally.
"Fire magic? Pretty pog." Techno nodded approvingly. Tommy swelled with pride. He seemed pretty eager to impress their new friend. Then Techno looked at Wilbur. "What about you?"
"I'm still training," Wilbur said evasively, but all at once Tommy was next to him shaking his shoulder.
"Oh, you need to show him your new trick. Please, Wilbur, please please please please-" Tommy was practically yelling into his ear.
Wilbur shoved him off. "Alright, alright. Man, you're annoying."
Tommy only clung to him more. "You love me though."
"That's what you hope," Wilbur said darkly, but he reached out to ruffle Tommy's hair as he got up. "Uh, let's see. What should I use?"
"I'll find something," Tommy said. He ran off into the ticket. A few seconds later he was already back, something cradled carefully in his hands. "Do you think this will work?" He showed Wilbur the bones he had found.
It must have been a bird of some kind.
"Probably." Wilbur laid them down on the ground in front of him. He glanced at Techno, weary that his particular magic could be a bit scary for those not used to it. "Don't freak out, okay?"
But Techno only nodded, leaning forward and watching closely.
Closing his eyes, Wilbur started to sing. It was more of a humming, really. The words were ancient and barely carried through in the melody. Despite that, he could feel the magic flowing, and he could hear Techno gasp which told him it was definitely working.
The first flutter of wings made him open his eyes again. The bird was partly formed, flesh over bone and feathers still growing. Wilbur continued to sing until he had rewound it in time fully and it was alive again. Then it flew off into the trees.
"I'm taking back what I said about your mom," Techno told him. "You're overpowered."
Wilbur laughed, flopping back against the tree. "What about you?"
"I'm not going to show you, it'll be totally lame in comparison," Techno protested.
"Dude, that's not fair. We showed you ours, so now you have to show yours as well. That's the rule."
"I don't remember agreeing to those terms." Before Techno could say anything else Tommy tried hitting him with the stick again.
"You have to!" he insisted.
Techno batted the stick away. "Fine, but if you call me cringe you won't get your payment."
"Payment?" Wilbur asked.
Techno reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a small plastic bag of colorful bean-shaped… somethings. "Since I felt bad about you bringing me all this stuff to train with for free, I brought you some candy. It's not much but-"
"Candy?!" Tommy threw the stick onto the ground, forgetting about it in an instant. Not when he had sweets to worry about.
"It's from this little shop in town," Techno said.
He'd really managed to combine two of Tommy's favorite things. Food and illicit goods from outside the mansion that they wouldn't normally be allowed to have. Wilbur snatched the bag before his brother could.
"You can have some later," he said at Tommy's sulking. "Just show us your magic already."
Techno finally nodded and drew a needle out of his pocket. It was similar to the ones Wilbur had seen him keep in his secret underground stash. Carefully, Techno used it to stab into the skin of his thumb, opening a small cut. He turned his hand upside down so the blood could drip down.
Except it never did hit the ground. A small trickle of it clung to Techno's finger until enough of it collected that it seemed to form a homogeneous glob. It finally pulled free, floating a few inches off the ground.
"There's some other stuff I can do with it aside from moving it around," Techno said. He held his free hand under the blob he had formed and it solidified before falling into his palm, a perfect little red marble. "But I don't know the spells yet."
"You're a blood witch," Wilbur said. Tommy reached out to touch the marble, so Techno gave it to him.
"Yeah…" Techno's voice betrayed that he knew exactly why Wilbur had sounded stunned by this revelation.
Magic was more or less hereditary. Specific strains ran in specific families, with the children usually having some subcategory of magic within said strain. Tommy had inherited their family's elemental magic in the form of his fire control. Wilbur's magic tied into his mother's ability to bend reality to her will.
Blood magic was supposed to be extinct.
"I think it's really cool," Tommy said, tossing the marble up and catching it again. Maybe for a kid his age, the odd atmosphere was easy to be misinterpreted as Techno feeling down that his magic wasn't as cool as Wilbur's. Wilbur saw no need to tell him the truth.
Techno pressed his thumb against his mouth, blood streaking his lips. And Wilbur didn't say anything about that either.
Meeting up with Techno in the woods had become a near-daily occurrence after that. Wilbur or Tommy always made sure one of them had time to sneak out and go meet up with him. And on the rare days neither of them could, Wilbur often would feel very guilty.
It wasn't like Techno was waiting on them or anything. He probably just practiced his magic when they weren't around like he used to do before they'd become friends. But it still felt weird. And Wilbur enjoyed spending time with Techno a lot.
Sometimes they played tag, or hide and seek. Once, Tommy had brought his toy cars and the three of them had spent all afternoon building a race track.
Wilbur wished he could just ask his parents to let him go out and see Techno. Or better yet, invite him over to the mansion. That would make all of this much easier.
They finally managed to sneak out late one evening after having not seen Techno for two days. Wilbur was carrying a few of Mom's homemade cookies in a little bag. He thought the other boy would really like them since he seemed to love sweets almost as much as Tommy.
When they got to their spot, Wilbur thought Techno might not be there today and that made him very disappointed. Maybe he could put the cookies in Techno's secret stash? But Wilbur was really looking forward to giving them to him personally and watching him try them.
"Wilbur, look!" Suddenly Tommy pulled on his sleeve. He was pointing, but in the dimness of twilight, it was hard to see at what.
Something was curled up against the tree they usually sat at.
Someone.
"Techno?!" Wilbur rushed forward, panic a fickle thing bursting in his chest. Why was Techno out there all by himself? Why was he just sitting there, huddled up and shaking? Did something happen? Did he-
"Wilbur?" Techno blinked his eyes open, arms curling even tighter around himself. He was pale and when Wilbur pressed a hand to his shoulder, so unbearably cold.
"What happened?"
"It's fine," Techno said quickly. Something which was immediately undercut by him shifting and exposing a large patch of dried blood on the front of his shirt.
Tommy made a noise, smothered and scared. He was kneeling so close to him, Wilbur could feel start to hyperventilate. "Techno, what happened?" Wilbur asked again, a little more forcefully.
Techno blinked at him, seeming as if he wanted to protest a second time. But something about Wilbur's stern look made him shrink back. "It was an accident," he muttered. When he turned over his arm, Wilbur saw there was a large gash in it.
"Did you do this?" Wilbur reached out to grab Techno's wrist and look at the wound properly, disregarding the small pained whine Techno gave him in response.
"I wanted to try something new with my magic but-" Techno coughed, breathe hitching. "I messed up. My parents would kill me if they found out so I decided to stay out here."
Techno's skin was so cold, it frightened Wilbur. "When did this happen?"
"Yesterday," Techno admitted.
"Fuck, Techno." Wilbur's scolding would have to wait because then another cough came from Techno. His cheeks were a little flushed and Wilbur gingerly pressed a hand to his forehead. Where Techno's arms felt as if they were made of ice, his face was burning up. "You have a fever."
"I didn't know what to do," Techno said softly. He looked at Tommy, then away. "Sorry for scaring you." Tommy shook his head, bottom lip unsteady. But he probably didn't want to risk speaking or he'd break out into sobs.
Wilbur looked at the gash in Techno's arm again. "We need to bring you to our house."
Techno recoiled, pressing himself against the tree. "No!"
"Techno, this is serious. You're sick and hurt and- and I don't know how to fix this-"
"Can't you use your magic on this?" Techno asked. He pulled his arm back against his chest. "The bleeding already stopped, it's fine."
"It's not fine!" Wilbur yelled, feeling guilty when him raising his voice only made Techno tremble more. He'd never seen the other boy act like this before. "We need to get an adult to help you."
"They'll kill me," Techno spat back.
"Dad would never do that," Tommy finally managed to say, swallowing repeatedly. "Techno, I don't want you to die."
"They already killed all of my family," Techno said. "I'm the only one left."
Wilbur couldn't stand to listen to this one moment longer. "If that's what you believe, you're dead either way," he said. "Because not doing anything will also kill you. You might as well take a chance and trust us."
Techno glared at him. Wilbur glared right back.
"I'll protect you," he said. "I won't let them hurt you, I promise."
"Fine." With a clenched jaw, Techno stood up. He almost immediately stumbled, but Wilbur offered his own shoulder to support him. Tommy walked on the other side, trying to help as best he could.
The ten minute walk from their spot in the forest to the mansion felt as if it lasted for ten years. Wilbur could feel the heat radiating from Techno's skin, while the arm curled around his neck might as well be that of a corpse. He hummed under his breath, encouragements and reassurances, not using his magic but feeling too pent up not to. When the pale light behind the windows of their home finally became visible, Wilbur sent Tommy up ahead to get their parents.
Mom met them out in the garden.
"What the hell is this?" she asked, stepping forward to help relieve the burden of keeping Techno balanced from Wilbur's back.
"I can explain," Wilbur said.
"Explain later. Gosh, the poor thing is half-frozen. Tommy, run upstairs and get your father." Effortlessly, she scooped Techno into her arms. Wilbur couldn't help but think it was probably a good thing that the other boy was too out of it to really realize, though he could see him shake more at being touched. "Wilbur, get me a tub of cold water and a cloth. And the first aid kit from the kitchen."
As much as it pained Wilbur that he'd have to let Techno out of his sight, he nodded. He needed to be strong and show he would make a good heir for the family later by shoving his own fear into a far corner of his mind and being useful.
Still, while he ran off to get the required items he only felt relieved his parents were there to deal with the things he couldn't.
"I told you they wouldn't kill you on sight." If Wilbur sounded a little smug, then that was probably allowed. Techno was leaning against him, head resting on his shoulder. Beneath the blanket that covered them both, their hands were clasped together.
"They've been gone for a very long time," Techno said. "Maybe they're just calling somebody else to finish the job."
Wilbur laughed. "I won't let them," he said, squeezing Techno's hand.
The door to the study opened again, Wilbur's dad came in looking haggard. Wilbur hadn't expected how much seeing Techno would affect him. And not just because he was mad that Wilbur and Tommy were sneaking out.
No, on the contrary. While their parents were definitely also pissed about that and both Wilbur and Tommy would be receiving their punishment in due time, the thing that had spooked their parents was that they thought Techno had been dead for years already.
Wilbur only knew Simon as the man in a few of Dad's most important photographs. A childhood friend who had died. Wilbur hadn't known Simon was a witch, Dad didn't talk about him much. There was no way Wilbur could have made the connection anyway.
Techno had never told Wilbur that his real father was named Simon.
When Dad sat down on the settee across from them, he put his head in his hands. Wilbur didn't like that he looked so sad. Shouldn't it be good news that Techno was alive?
"This is going to take a while to sort out," Dad sighed. He rubbed at his face, the dark circles under his eyes. It was already past midnight, Mom was up putting Tommy to bed.
"Sort what out?" Wilbur asked.
"Just… fucking everything I guess." Dad gestured kind of helplessly. "We thought you were killed alongside your parents." Those words were directed at Techno, who pushed closer to Wilbur's side. "I knew I should have dug deeper, I knew something was off about what we were told. But Wilbur was only a few months old, I couldn't risk him and Kristin being in danger. If Simon had only gotten the guardianship papers sorted, but you were only born two weeks earlier. How could he-"
A beat of silence passed. Dad sighed again.
"Sorry, this isn't something for you both to worry about." He stood up and took a step closer. Techno hunched back even more. Wilbur couldn't blame him. Not when he realized exactly who had killed Techno's parents. Techno had every reason to be distrustful of another witch. Hell, he had probably been raised to be paranoid around any adult who showed signs of magic and was told to suppress his own as the only way to protect himself, protect the last blood witch left.
Wilbur was still scared that Techno's words weren't too far off. Somebody could come back to finish the job.
"The only thing that matters is that I failed your family before and I won't do so a second time." Dad tried giving Techno his best attempt at a smile.
Techno nodded and looked away. Wilbur squeezed his hand again.
"Does this mean Techno will come live with us now?"
"I don't know," Dad answered. "As I said, there's a lot of shit to sort out… Also, that really depends on if Techno even wants to live with us."
Wilbur turned his head, but he couldn't really see Techno's face as well with the other boy tucked against him like he was.
"You don't have to decide right now," Wilbur said quickly.
"Okay," Techno breathed, visibly relieved.
"You should both head to bed, actually." Dad stood up again, stretching his arms. "Techno can have the guest room-"
Wilbur felt Techno curl up at the prospect of having to be in a strange room all by himself. "Can't we share my room?"
Looking at them both for a moment, there was a strange expression on Dad's face. Not a bad one, nor was it sad exactly. Nostalgic, maybe? As if he was remembering something that hurt him a bit.
"Sure," he said. "Just don't keep each other up all night, yeah?"
"Promise." Wilbur stood up, helping Techno up too with the blanket wrapped around his shoulders. "Come on, Techno. I'll show you where my room is."
Wilbur didn't want to say it out loud - he didn't want to put any pressure on Techno while he was still sick and everything was changing so much. But he really did hope Techno would decide to move in with them. Even if he didn't, he'd definitely be allowed to come over after this. Wilbur would make sure of it.
He'd promised to protect Techno and he would stick to that.