And now for something a little out of my usual...
Tango wants it on the record that he did not volunteer to care for a child.
The task was thrust upon him by the other Hermits, who all unanimously agreed that he was the one best fit for the job. How did they come to that conclusion? Tango has no clue. It's not like he has any experience with kids. And just because he's a blaze hybrid doesn't mean he knows how other hybrids work.
He's not even the only hybrid on the server! Grian is an avian, Doc is a creeper hybrid, Zedaph is some percentage sheep, Pearl is…. Something that's not human for sure, though Tango never quite figured out what. And that's not even getting into whatever the hell Etho has got going on. All together, it would probably be easier to try and list the Hermits that are humans (Cub? Maybe? That's a pretty shaky maybe though) and call it a day.
What Tango is known for among his friends is a proficiency for dealing with dangerous mobs, particularly ravagers and wardens. But just because he can herd those big dumb logs around doesn't make him qualified for childcare. Mobs are easy. They're wild animals, essentially. They're a piece of cake to direct, Tango could do it in his sleep.
And frankly, if he does mess up and one dies, that's fine. He can just replace them. Decked Out was built on the spilled blood of innocent ravagers, may they rest in peace.
Tango doesn't think any of the Hermits would be very happy with him if he killed Techno.
He's working on some redstone schematics when the relative peace of his base is disturbed by a crash from the other room. Tango jumps up, tail standing on end at the intrusion. Alarm bells are going off in his head wondering what just exploded and if it's something critical to his factory. That would not only be a pain to fix, but also possibly hazardous. Except then the crash is followed by a low whine and he knows exactly what happened.
Tango quickly goes into the other room, where Techno is lying on the ground.
"Oh buddy," Tango mutters, helping the kid up. Techno rubs his forehead, frowning in a way that scrunches up his entire face. "I told you to come get me if you needed anything."
Techno points upward to one of the chests Tango has placed on a higher shelf. If the overturned chair nearby is anything to go by, Techno had tried to climb up to get it. Tango doesn't understand why though. Techno should have everything he needs in his room?
What's even more curious is how Techno noticed the chest at all, since he's blind.
"Do you want something from in there?" he asks. Techno starts to nod, but then he winces. His foggy eyes blink rapidly. Tango steps back, looking up at the chest again. He doesn't even know from the top of his head what's in it. Random supplies, probably. It's one of his spare chests, filled with junk and trinkets accumulated over time.
He turns to climb up there himself and maybe try to see what from inside could have drawn Techno's interest, only to get distracted by Techno taking two steps and falling over again.
"Oh geez!" Tango jumps to his side again. "Are you okay?"
Techno doesn't really react, hunching in on himself with a hiss. Tango knows the poor kid hasn't been having the easiest time adjusting to the normal overworld. The pressure in ancient cities is different from the surface, as are the oxygen levels and even simple things such as brightness and sound. When Xisuma brought him over, Techno seemed to be absolutely miserable all the time. And while Tango knows good ol' X meant well, he didn't exactly do a good job of reassuring the kid when he was too busy muttering under his breath about glitches in player code and cross-server anomalies.
The bottom line is that none of them know how Techno ended up on a server that should not allow anybody who isn't whitelisted. And since Techno is mute, he's not been of a ton of help figuring out how it happened.
He can write, maybe, though he's only written a few very simple sentences and his name.
Techno's bottom lip trembles. The patches of sculk along his skin brighten up suddenly, pulsing in tune with what Tango can only assume is his heartbeat. All in all, the kid looks like he's about to start crying. And that makes Tango panic.
The last time Techno cried, the sonic effect of the shriek broke several windows of his base.
Thankfully Techno does not appear to be much of a crier. Unlike other children - not that Tango has a ton of experience with those, unless you count how juvenile the Hermits act sometimes - Techno only cried once. The first time they brought him up to the surface.
So the fact that Techno is about to start bawling right now is not a good sign.
"Hey, hey, it's okay. Uh, come on, little guy, how about we-"
Before Tango can continue his aimless rambling, Techno's mouth opens. And instead of a sound coming out, it's vomit.
'Oh,' Tango thinks to himself. 'Yeah, no, this is fine.'
When he's done heaving, Techno just sits there, blinking a little in confusion at the mess. The acidic smell swiftly fills Tango's nostrils and he almost starts gagging himself. He scoops Techno up underneath his armpits and walks towards the door. "Yeah, we're uh, we're not staying in here."
One small little detail is that Tango does not consider himself squeamish, but the smell of puke is certain to make him sick in turn. He'd rather scoop ravager dung all day than deal with pukey bits. They're gross. So gross. Mega gross.
"Come on," he says as he walks to the small pond that's close to his base. He puts Techno down, steadying the child when he sways. Tango tugs the young boy's shirt off, leaving him in just the linen shorts. They're simple clothes, hurriedly put together by Gem because the clothes Techno was wearing when Xisuma found him were stained and dirty from years of crawling through ancient cities. They will get Techno some proper clothes soon. Maybe. Scar was put on the job, which means Tango has no timeframe to know when it will be done.
Techno is smart enough to realize what Tango is doing, and waddles into the water, shivering at the cold, while Tango himself sits down on a bench right by the edge. Tango would help him clean up, but he isn't particularly in the mood to get water all over himself today. As a blaze hybrid, it's the sort of thing better avoided unless he takes the necessary precautions. And he doesn't have those at the moment.
The child takes a few steps, before falling over and going completely under. Tango shoots up, eyes going wide.
Did he just accidentally and indirectly drown Techno?
But then the small warden's head emerges from the water again, shaking wildly and tossing his pink hair around. Some of it stuck to his antlers in a complete mess. Tango should have braided it this morning. He forgot.
Yeah, he's definitely not doing a good job at this whole childcare thing.
"Tango!" A voice calls from the pathway. Tango glances over, not entirely wanting to pull his eyes away from Techno because he feels that the moment he isn't looking, something terrible could happen.
Cleo plops down on the bench beside him.
"Are you here to laugh at my misery?" Tango asks, giving her a half-hearted sideward glare. Cleo laughs, stretching her legs out in front of her.
"Wouldn't dream of it really," she says sarcastically. And Tango is joking anyway. But then she continues. "Xisuma sent me by to check up on you two."
"I bet he's surprised that he hasn't seen a death message pop up in chat yet," Tango says.
The first thing they did after finding out about Techno was link his player code up to the server's respawn thingamajig, so even if something goes wrong, it's not permanent. Still, Tango knows he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he got the kid killed somehow.
"Don't sell yourself short," Cleo says as she leans forward, her elbows planted on her thighs. "He seems to be doing just fine." Both of them watch Techno stumble around, getting up and falling down. Tango would be concerned, but it's hard to say if Techno is having any real trouble. His expression is always so empty, neutral. Kinda creepy, to be honest.
"Really?" Tango asks. He's very doubtful of himself, but if Cleo says so it must be true. She's good with kids.
"Yeah, totally."
And then Techno falls and hits his head on a rock.
"Oh no, no, no." Tango shoots up to go retrieve him, while Cleo tries to muffle a few chuckles into her hand, fiery curls bouncing with the motion of her body when she doesn't completely fail to keep in the laughing fit.
Tango scoops Techno by the armpits again - the appropriate way to carry cats around he thinks, so it works for feral little children - and hisses when the water laps at his ankles, stinging his skin. His tail curls up to keep safe as he hauls Techno back to the bench, where Cleo is only just composing herself.
"You okay?" Tango holds Techno up to eye level and the kid nods. He even smiles a little. Huh?
Techno points at the side of his head. Or at his ear? And gives a thumbs up.
"Wait, did falling earlier knock loose one of your internal sensors?" Tango asks. "That could be why you puked and couldn't keep your balance after." It makes sense. He'll have to do more research into warden auditory systems. Techno kind of wiggles in his grasp while also shrugging, signaling that he doesn't know and he wants to be put down. Tango doesn't want to get kicked again - Techno makes it very obvious when he wants something and it's not happening fast enough for his tastes - and sets him down.
"See?" Cleo says, smiling smugly. "Good parenting."
"That wasn't good parenting," Tango says. "That was a fluke!"
"If the kid's happy, it's good parenting," Cleo insists, lifting Techno into her lap. He starts to play with her curls. "It's really quite simple, Tango."
"If it was simple I could just make a parentificator machine to do it for me," Tango mutters. Cleo laughs again.
He ends up remembering the chest that night before he goes to bed. Tango climbs up there, and digs through the junk. Somewhere at the bottom, he has a sculk catalyst. The plant has been unearthed, roots tied off so it's harmless. Despite this, it hasn't died. There's a faint pulsing, a light glow that comes from the petals with the beating of an invisible tune.
Tango forgot where he got it. Probably the same biome they ended up finding Techno in.
No parentificator then, but maybe he can build something else that can put that smile on Techno's face again.
