Chapter Text
In another life, Tommy would’ve been shocked at how humble the ex-antarctic emperor’s home is.
A few months ago, Tommy would’ve laughed at the posters Techno has hung of him on the walls.
Now, Tommy just walked through miles of tundra to get anywhere but the blasted remains of Logstedshire. Now, Tommy’s gone a few days (weeks?) with a proper meal. Now, Tommy’s missing a shoe, his family, and a home. Now, Technoblade’s small retirement home was all he could ever ask for.
There’s an enderman in a boat, more zombie villagers than he can count downstairs, and the beginnings of a bee farm outside. There are more supplies than Tommy had seen in months and something in his mind screamed grab it and run, hide everything, but he pushed the instinct down to instead grab a stack of golden apples. Nabbing a few random potions, he makes a point not to think of Wilbur’s bright smile when he would figure out a new brewing recipe. Upstairs there’s a bed and more chests that upon closer look have a fully enchanted diamond set sitting at the bottom. A part of him wants to grab everything valuable he sees, another part of him remembers what it’s like to have things you work hard for taken, and a final part of him goes back down the ladder, leaving the diamond chestplate to collect dust.
Down on the main floor, Tommy heads back into the harsh snow to glance around the cabin one more time. There’s no hidden button (it was never meant to be, whispers in the back of his mind. Phil had told him at Wilbur’s grave of his brothers parting words and it makes it all the harder to look at blackstone or buttons) or anything that indicates redstone contraptions (Sam taught him the signs of a secret door and quietly he wonders if Sam would help him. Then he remembers the man’s last words to him, I just want everyone to get along, and he realizes even Sam wouldn’t help him confront Dream; the two had history). But Tommy knows nothing if he doesn’t know his family, and Techno was never a redstone person, so he goes back inside and mines through the floor with his stolen pickaxe.
The hidden basement had two mobs encased in glass that Tommy had never seen before; leave it to Technoblade to show up in a new server and already find new mobs. It was barren aside from the mobs but Tommy knew better than to question Techno’s use of an empty secret room. Technoblade was an over-preparer if nothing else, and his doomsday prepping has saved him more than once. It was saving Tommy now, as he made the decision to keep digging through the floor, deeper and deeper.
“I could hunker down here,” Tommy spoke to himself and a whisper reminded him of Wilbur doing the exact same thing in an uncomfortably similar stone cave, “Techno wouldn’t notice a little bit of his supplies going missing, huh?” A glance at his inventory told him that he was taking more than just a little bit, but taking it out of his inventory made him feel sick. (Put it in the hole, Tommy. )
With a small cave deep below his estranged friend’s house, a few chests, that stupid log, and an escape route, Tommy set up a plan. Sure, Techno is already geared, but that never stopped him from getting more supplies before and Tommy is betting on it not stopping him now. He’ll let Techno build up a supply that he could ever so slowly steal from, stashing it away until he’s ready to get the only things he cares about back from Dream. An enchanted compass glows steadily in his enderchest.
The first day hiding in Techno’s house was unpleasant, to say the least. Being this far underground, surrounded by stone, and in a tundra didn’t scream warmth and while Tommy wasn’t expecting much it made him long for sitting at a campfire in Logsted with Ghostbur. (No matter how bittersweet the memories were, considering Ghostbur left Logsted after the first few days, and stopped visiting entirely after the second week.) He felt shaky and with the realization that Dream wasn’t his friend gave way to the reminder that Dream was very much his enemy. (Something in the back of his mind whispers that he’s your only friend, go back to Logsted while you still can. He tries his best to ignore it.) Every creak or shift of the house above him left him clutching his sword with white knuckles, waiting for Dream to break open the ceiling and come rushing in (screams of Come here Tommy! mix with a disappointed Sorry doesn’t cut it and it leaves him nauseous.) He barely touches the stash of food he stole because he can’t tell when he won’t be able to get more. His clothes are still tattered and his hair is brushing the bottoms of his ears, paranoia mixes with fight or flight, and Tommy wonders if this is how Wilbur felt. If this is why he begged Phil to run a sword through him because anything is better than fear-fueled adrenaline never leaving your veins. If this is why Tommy can’t stop thinking about lava lakes and tall towers, even after getting far away from that damned portal.
Alone in a ravine, alone in a field, and now alone beneath the ground Tommy can’t help but let out a cackle at the thought. Alone with Wilbur in Pogtopia, or whoever had stolen Wilbur’s face and was demanding let’s be the bad guys, Tommy. Alone with Dream in Logstedshire, a party with two meant for twenty and empty condolence of I guess nobody misses you. Now, alone in Dnret with Technoblade only a few meters above him.
At another creak of the house, Tommy threw himself from his bed and tried to fight the urge to grab his sword. However, upon hearing a voice Tommy grabbed the sword and prepared for the worse. The voice was muffled but very distinctly Technoblade’s; and better yet, very distinctly not Dream’s.
“It was probably Philza,” Technoblade counters the air, and Tommy remembers that Techno mentioned a few times about voices he likes to refer to as “chat”. Silence, and then a heavy sigh. “Chat, Phil probably just needed the extra food. He hasn’t set up a stable farm yet,” Tommy almost let out another laugh because of course Techno noticed the food missing. Yes, Techno was an over-preparer, but he was also beyond observant. He’d have to be more careful from now on.
In the room above, Technoblade goes about putting chests in the secret storage area and filling them to the brim with basics. Food, multiple sets of iron armor, rudimentary tools, and multiple bottles of water. There’s nothing there he would miss. He took note of everything missing from upstairs because come on, why wouldn’t the Blood God have an itinerary of what he owns, and stockpiled the chests full of similar items to those stolen.
He saw the extra set of footprints in the snow, only a half-hour away from being completely covered by the blizzard. He saw how the stone covering his secret room was sitting just slightly out of place. He heard how if he tapped on the floor, it sounded slightly hollow. Technoblade didn’t win all of his wars by not noticing the little things, the only part now was to figure out who it was sneaking through his house.