Work Text:
Phil thinks of himself as a man that can do many things. He’s capable and others depend on him more than he depends on others. This is a fact that Phil is okay with and he wouldn’t want it any other way. He doesn’t like depending on people, it settles wrong in his bones in a way he can’t describe. There’s this feeling of pride he gets every time someone hands him another stack of papers. It means people needs him and he likes that.
Not once has there been a time where Phil has depended on someone, none at all. He gets everything done on his own and if he needs something, well he goes out and gets it on his own. Multiple nights where he’s gone out to the markets just to get something. Could he have sent someone else to get it? Yeah, but that would make him broken one way or another. Phil can handle himself.
There’s one person he trusts with his life though. Time and time again he finds himself close to letting down that guard of his around his best friend, Technoblade. The one and only. He gets so close to it time and time again and he gets worried for when it’s going to happen. That is the day that Techno will find a flaw in him and he won’t get to see his best friend ever again. The thought worries Phil a lot, and truth be told not a lot worries him. He’s been through wars and the legal system for fucks sake. Yet the idea of his best friend leaving him all because he let his walls down has never terrified him so much.
So yeah, Phil can handle himself.
Phil can tell today is going to be another long day in the empire. There’s nothing that makes it obvious, but there’s just this feeling in his bones after living here for so long. Sometimes he just wakes up and he can tell. Easy as that. Does it make those days any easier? Not at all, but all he can do is just live through them as if they’re any other day. It’s okay, it’s not so bad since Techno is around. God, Phil is genuinely over the moon each time he remembers that Techno is his best friend. His best friend. They’re each other’s best friends.
A light hum is heard throughout the castle as Phil walks through the halls. his hands itch with something to do, anything will do at this point. It seems with each day that passes by there gets less work to do. Phil can’t figure out if that’s because he’s doing all of it or Techno keeps getting to it before he does. Techno knows of his habits, ones that they both call different names. Techno calls it him being a workaholic and Phil simply calls it productive and putting his hands to work. It’s not his fault that some of the people around here need to do that or else the work will never get done. That is the whole point of being a ruler, is it not? Oh well, not his problem.
One step two step three step four step. Repeat. One step two step three step four step. It feels as if he doesn’t count his head might explode off. He needs something to do. He’s already talked to the chefs and saw how trades were going, he’s probably gone around the whole castle a million times at this point!
He takes a sharp left and looks around the room. This is fine, he can work with this. It’s a mostly empty room with nothing good to do with it. Phil has come across many rooms like this where they’re useless and have nothing going on. That’s fine, Phil can fix that. So that’s where he gets to work at. He tinkers with some redstone and makes a few little machines for the room so it can do something instead of sitting there to be left for dust.
Phil actually gets into a groove while working. He puts a repeater there and a torch there. It’s turning out great. His wings give off a small flick when something works, he’s careful though. He doesn’t want to ruin everything. The feeling is nice, to get something right and to be working like he’s supposed to? Yeah, this is great. When he pulls back to test the machine again his face makes one of confusion because it makes a small noise before shutting off. Did something not connect right?
Phil doesn’t get much time to check and mess around before someone is knocking at the door. He whips around to stare at whoever came to bother him and hums, trying to calm down and get this done. He needs to get back to this, it’s very serious.
“Philza, sir,” The person gives off a small bow. They look back up to take a few steps back. “I am here to inform you of a meeting that you must be getting to here shortly.”
Oh.
Great.
Just as Phil was getting to the good part. He glances down at his project and his face scowls a little. He hums before turning around to look at the kind person. “Thank you for informing me on this. You’re right, I’ll get going to that now.”
Anything to get back to work.
Slipping into the meeting room and sitting down to Techno is no issue to Phil. He’s done this a million times. Sit down, give a wave to everyone, and make some stupid jokes with the pink haired man and then the meeting begins. The issue is Phil forgot how long the meetings are. They’re so long and since he’s a ruler he actually has to keep his attention on the topic at hand. He has to put input on the conversation and make it seem like he’s not bored out of his mind. He steals a glance from the corner of his eye and Techno with his neutral facial expression seems to be doing just fine as always. Phil doesn’t know how he does it! Anything would be more interesting than this right now! Usually the meetings aren’t this bad, but for some reason Phil can’t explain why he wants to run out of the room currently.
They’re about the same things as always. Economy, allies. Any other boring thing out there. Political things or whatever else you want to call it. Phil thinks he’s heard all of these things a million times already. He knows what’s going to be brought up, like in a minute concerns about taxes are going to be brought up… and there it is!
Now Techno has been here before. A waiting game so he can get out of this plain room and do whatever he wants. He’s idly running a hand through the tip of his hair as he listens to the group of people go on and on and on. Techno wonders if they ever learn how to shut up. Apparently not… he tunes them out and lets everyone else do the talking. Here’s the thing though, Techno has a good expressionless face that nobody can read when he doesn’t want people to read him. Which is… practically all the time. Out of the corner of his eye Phil doesn’t seem to be doing much better. His leg is bouncing and his responses are a lot shorter than usual. Probably means he just has a project he wants to get to if Techno knows anything about Phil.
There’s not really much else to add in Techno’s opinion. He lets his fingers mess with the tip of the table just to get some sort of sensory stimuli in this sensory hell. The people talking do not help out at all. Phil usually notices when Techno is understimulated, but Phil is also understimulated right now.
Soon enough the meeting wraps up and Phil wants to cheer, to get up and run away. He can’t do that though, it’s childish and Phil is a grown adult that knows how to properly react to situations. He’s slowly standing up and dismissing himself with his usual smile before someone is walking up to Techno and Phil. Oh god this never ends well, let him leave this forsaken room.
“Sorry to bother you, sirs, but these papers ned to be read over and signed.” The person is handing over a small stack to the both of them and Phil feels like he might just grab at his hair right here and right now. Are you kidding him? More work? Sure, he might have been itching for something to do this morning… but that was that morning! He found something to do and now they won’t let him get to it!
Phil strains his smile. “Of course, mate!”
Techno can see how Phil’s whole demeanour almost crumples at seeing the paper work and Techno honestly gets that. He takes the stack and flips through the papers with a hum. “Alright.” Is all that he has to say.
They exchange glances and they’re both up to leave the room. Off to go do the same thing but in separate rooms.
That’s how Phil finds his next few hours. He knows he shouldn’t rush and it’ll only delay his progress, but he can’t sit still to do this work for the dear life of him. He’s not interested and he can’t force himself to put much mind to it. Each mistake causes him to stare at the paperwork and quickly erase it so he can redo it. This is fine, why wouldn’t it be fine? Phil is a grown man that is fully capable to finish a stack of paperwork.
Look, all he can say is at least he doesn’t work at an office job! The fuck ton of paperwork would probably kill him at this rate.
The problem is that he can’t focus. If he could just go back to his project and figure out what the one error was he would be able to do everything just fine. Was it the piston there or the repeater in that spot? Phil groans into his hands and tugs at his hair. Whatever! Just get the work done and everything will be fine!
So, he puts his all into figuring this out. He scribbles down what he’s supposed to and he even goes back to correct his last mistakes. He revives some would dare to say. He doesn’t even take all that long he thinks, just enough time is spent on it in his opinion.
Great! He scoops up all the papers and is twirling to get out of his room. He feels so trapped in it all of the sudden. Swing the doors open and say hello to free time! He glances around and he spots the familiar pink haired man that he enjoys to spend his days with.
Phil walks on over to Techno and gives him a wide grin. “Hello, Technoblade!” He thinks it’s a little funny referring with each other their formal names. His wings give a small flutter when Techno looks at him. Oh he thrives off of the attention and all it is just a little glance over.
“Hello, Philza.” Techno hums and he looks down at Phil’s hands. “Ah, you’ve finished?”
“Yep!” The P is popped as Phil speaks. His voice is quite bubbly, the only reason being is that he’s happy to finally be finished. The project is going to be his any second now. “I can go back to what I was doing this morning.”
At the mention of the project Techno raises an eyebrow, amused over what could be getting Phil so obsessed this time. It’s often that he gets entranced with little projects but Techno always loves to hear what they are. “Which is? I could see you ready to sprint out of the meeting room just so you could get your hands back on it.”
”Just a farm,” Phil kicks the ground a little and looks off to the side. He was practicing a new design! He doesn’t care if they have a million farms already. This design is going to be a lot better.
Techno nods and he can see the way his friend is getting ready to bolt. Maybe he should cut the conversation late before anyone gets any funny ideas of holding them back. “That’s nice, well I shouldn’t-“
Footsteps are approaching them and Phil’s face drops when he realises what’s going to happen here. He looks over at Techno who seems to be cringing. Like they’ve both came to the same realisation.
“Oh thank goodness I found you two!” The worker is dusting themselves off and drops their attention. A smile appears on their face as they grab onto the paperwork that both of the rulers are holding. “Oh you’ve finished these! Thank you!”
Techno crosses his arms and leans back on his feet. “What’cha need this time?” Techno hopes it won’t involve Phil for too long. He knows Phil can get antsy real easily.
The person doesn’t seem bothered by the tone and instead give a nod. “Well, abruptly we need to hold a meeting in an hour where you two need to be present so you can sign something.”
Another meeting? It’s not rare for them to have multiple meetings a day. Quite the opposite really. It’s more likely they have meetings than not. The idea of having another meeting though makes Phil want to stomp his foot and wail. His project! He pauses when he catches onto his thought process and cringe slightly. He needs to calm down.
“Can you reschedule?” Techno glances between both people and he sighs when the person shakes their head. “Alright. We should probably head off there now.”
Techno turns on his heels and glances over at Phil to make sure he’s following along, which he is. After so many years of knowing Phil he knows if he doesn’t pay attention when he’s inspired Phil has the huge chance of running off to go do whatever it is.
How much worse can the day get? Phil has finally been given the chance of inspiration and here he is being forced to stay away from it. God if Phil knew that becoming a ruler would be the worst choice of his life he would have happily turned the other way and left. Well, first he would take Techno, and then he would run away. He so badly wants to scowl and throw a fit. Why do they need to sign anything? Phil just signed a million things! Couldn’t they have done this at the last meeting? It’s not fair!
That’s what Phil wants to say. he wants to turn to Techno and grab at him. To tell him how this isn’t fair. Techno would huff out with a small laugh but he would rub Phil on the back. To tell him that it’ll be okay and one day they’ll take down all the government. Phil doesn’t necessarily know why he became apart of the government if he hates it so much, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. He’s so close to throwing a fit but he thinks Techno wouldn’t like that part.
They sit down and Techno can tell immediately something is off by the way that Phil doesn’t turn to him with that usual grin and usual joke. Not that Phil has to do that, but the thing is that he always makes some silly joke. It’s a little something to get the both of them through the meeting. Hours of ranting after so many meetings Techno knows Phil hates them. Techno has muttered out a couple agreements so he thinks they both know how much the other hates these things. Something is off with Phil but nows a terrible time to realise because neither of them can do anything about it.
Okay, here’s the thing. Phil is just going to zone out throughout the whole thing and only respond when they need him to respond. That sounds so smart, why hasn’t he ever done this before? If Phil was any more clear in the head he would respond how it’s because he actually needs to pay attention to these things. That doesn’t come across to Phil though. So he zones out, he thinks about anything else that could be more interesting than this meeting that he’s sitting at currently. The idea of different projects he could be working on. Maybe a little building or a little painting? He likes art… he hasn’t had much time to do it lately. All these stupid meetings. They’re stupid. Dumb.
A couple times Phil nods to a question or hums disapprovingly but that’s enough for Techno to realise that he’s going to have to be the one talking during this meeting. He’s probably going to have to have a talk with Phil after this just to see what’s up with him. In reality it’s probably just him being so excited about the farm he’s working on, but something else doesn’t feel right at the moment. God this so slow, Techno wants to stop paying attention as well. You can’t put two people with adhd in the same room in the most boring place ever.
Thank the lord because soon enough Phil is being nudged and he’s signing the paper.. and the other paper… and the other paper.. God how many does he need to sign? Phil thinks they really do want him dead! He put his signature down and stands up, thank fuck he can leave!
Techno hums as he looks out of the corner of his eye. He’s taking his time with signing the papers as he always does, but Phil seems ready to get the hell out of this place. He really can’t blame him. He stretches back with a long sigh and is pushing himself up too. Techno might be better off with a long nap at the moment.
That is what he’d be doing if it wasn’t the fact just as Phil was trying to leave a guard seems to be approaching him. Techno can see the irritated flap his wings give. The guard is talking to Phil and he turns to look over his shoulder to stare at Techno with the most upset expression he’s seen Phil ever give. Oh hell no that can’t slide. Especially when he’s in the room?
Techno lets his boots step heavily on the ground like they always do. He just has a strong walk, but it’s nice when needing to catch the attention of others. He clears his throat and raises an eyebrow. “Can this wait?”
“I mean- kind of? I-“
They don’t get much of a chance to explain, but Techno is dragging the both of them to get the fuck out of this terrible room. It’s intoxicating and the both of them just need to get out. It doesn’t stop there though, Techno keeps dragging them away and away so people won’t interact with them. He shuts the door and turns around to stare at Phil.
Phil was quiet throughout that whole interaction, not wanting to spend more energy talking and wasting his time on someone that he didn’t need to. He just wants to go back to what he’s been wanting to do all day long, is that too much to ask for?
They’re both staring at each other now, neither one of them speaking up. Techno doesn’t know how to start the conversation and Phil feels like he might genuinely scream right now. Finally just finally Phil is free from the meeting room but now he’s here. He can’t turn around and leave Techno. Techno gives off a small hum as he runs a hand through the tip of his hair to think how to start this.
“So,” yeah that’s not getting anything across.
“So…” Phil takes a shaky breath in. Today feels like it’s been too much and no one is leaving him alone. Just leave him alone. He can’t say that to the Technoblade though. The man that he’d do anything for and Techno would do anything for him. And oh he’s getting soft all over this thinking process. He can’t be getting soft right now because then he’ll crumble and show everything to Techno that he’s been trying to hide. he’s been trying to hide this for so so long. Ever since he found out that Techno is everything to him he’s just been trying to shove himself in this perfect shaped box just so Techno would want to be his best friend forever.
It’s a little silly if he thinks about it now. They’ve seen the worst of each other. Phil has seen Techno kill so many people just because the voices wouldn’t shut up. Techno has seen Phil swoop down and kill someone multiple times as if it was nothing. Yet telling Techno that he does… this? That seems out of the picture.
But here stands Phil feeling like he’s on the verge of sobbing andd kicking all because he won’t get his way. All he wants is his way but with each day here at this castle it just feels like he’ll get his way less and less. God the idea of throwing a tantrum in front of the Technoblade scares him so much. Phil knows Techno wouldn’t know what to do either which makes the situation a little funnier in his mind. Phil sobbing as the great Techno watches absolutely confused on the situation all because Phil can’t fucking communicate. They tell each other everything but Phil can’t muster up the courage to tell Techno anything. What kind of a friend is he?
It’s so silent before Techno decides to speak.
“Phil.” He clears his throat, not wanting to sound all rough like he usually does. “Talk to me, man. What’s going on? You’ve seemed all out of it all day long and I don’t think it’s only about the farm.” God he hopes that wasn’t the wrong thing to say. He’s not too good at figuring out what to say, they both know this. He just wants to be there for Phil.
Phil blinks and stares wide eyed at Techno. Oh god. He thought Techno was terrible at putting things together, especially when it comes to emotions. He must’ve not been so secretive if Techno put it together. Maybe the fact that they’re best friends is also supplied in his head as he thinks about it. He makes a small choked out noise as he takes a step back. He knows if he starts talking it’s only going to overwhelm Techno. He can’t let that happen. Oh. He just needs to hide and push it all away. Push away push away push away. Techno can’t see this side of him.
“Phil?” Usually Phil would have responded to him by now. He would have laughed it off and explained how it’s something getting under his skin. Now he’s not responding and Techno can’t figure out how to help at this moment. “Phil, talk to me.”
Phil makes another punched out noise and he tries to blink harshly, moving his hands to rub at his face. “You can’t just say that to me.” His voice cracks and he grimaces at that.
“What? Why not?” Techno takes a step close to Phil and offers a hand out for him to grab. Here’s a thing that might surprise some people. Techno adores contact. He might not show it to anyone besides Phil, but he loves it. Piglins get cold real easily and contact is the best way to make things a lot warmer. After Phil found that out he could never decline Techno of something that he actually needs. Here’s another moment of that, another moment where he can’t decline Techno.
He takes a step forward to put his hand on top of Techno’s, giving a small squeeze. He looks down and stares at the ground. How is he meant to get out of this one now? He can feel himself crumbling so much. It’s not anger anymore, just upset mess. He can see the care written all over Techno and oh. He can’t do this.
Phil whimpers as he tries to keep himself composed. At the noise Techno pulls Phil into a hug and engulfs him with his cape. There’s an off putting need to just hold Phil and he can’t explain what it’s about.
Fuck. Fuck. This isn’t fair. This isn’t fair. What is Phil meant to do? He can’t do this-
And all of the sudden his back is being rubbed in between his wings right in the spot he likes it the most and a sob leaves him. He grips at Techno tightly and tears just start to pour down his face. He can’t help it now, he can’t help but to crumble. Techno is understanding and this is the man he’d do anything for. How is he meant to explain what’s going on?
”Oh, Phil.” The piglin’s voice rumbles against the crow’s and it’s so comforting. He’s not small, no. Neither of them are. Techno is taller than Phil though. It’s different. “What’s wrong?”
If Techno knew that there was more going on he would’ve asked about it sooner. It’s such a shame that he can only help now, but he supposes anything works now. He rocks them back and forward as much as he can without bothering Phil. Rubbing his hand in little circles.
“I-“ Phil lets out another choked out sound. He’s trying so hard to stay put togehter. He just wants to be okay and Techno is making that really hard but nice at the same time. “Nothing’s been going right. Nothing!”
”Oh, that’s terrible.” Techno witnessed it first hand. The way that each time there was more and more being shoved Phil’s way. yeah, Techno can see how that’s frustrating. “No one’s been doing what you’ve wanted.”
A small sniffle comes from Phil as he nods. It really isn’t fair. All he wanted was to work on his project and now he feels like he doesn’t want to touch it at all. “I was doing everything right too!”
”I know, Angel.” The name started mostly off as a joke. Calling Phil the Angel of Death because how good he was at flying and killing people, but now it seems fitting in a different sort of way. And well… if Phil relaxes more over that, that’s only for these two to know. “It’s so not fair.”
A hiccup and Phil sobs. He grabs at Techno so so tightly as he tries not to wail. That’s all he’s been wanting to hear all day long. How he should be getting his way. It feels so nice and it’s from his best friend.
They stand like that for a few moments. Techno rubbing Phil’s back as Phil sobs. Small murmurs of nothings coming from the piglin as he tries his best to comfort Phil. The contact is warm instead of the usual freezing feeling of the castle. Now they’re embracing each other with more warmth than ever.
Techno takes a few steps back after Phil is no longer sobbing and pauses when Phil quietly whines. He can feel his sleeve being tugged on and he looks down with some confusion. That’s certainly not Phil behaviour. Should he be concerned? “Phil?”
Now this is an issue. Phil has crumbled too much that he isn’t able to pick himself up. What is he meant to do now? He’s not able to pick up all the pieces and be presentable for Techno. He’s going to realise and leave Phil behind. The thought makes Phil want to sob all over again. He blinks and looks at Techno with a little noise. Maybe if he doesn’t talk everything will be fine. He can turn around and walk off before everything goes terribly wrong.
“What’s going on?” Techno has so much concern written over his facial expression that Phil thinks he’s going to be a goner if he looks any longer.
“No-thing” Phil shakes his head. His voice is a little forced out, but nothing Phil can’t chalk up to just sobbing. Right?
There’s a beat of silence again as neither of them move to do anything.
Techno furrows his eyebrows as he looks Phil up and down. Something just doesn’t feel right. Is he over worrying about his best friend that he knows everything about and can tell when he’s being off? Surely not. They’re best friends for a reason. They both worry a lot but tend to hide it jsut fine. “It doesn’t seem like nothing.”
”Oh.” Phil drops at that. Fuck. he knew he couldn’t hide it from Techno forever. He should just take the hit. Try his best to explain as Techno walks out of the door. His only best friend ever. Just rip off the bandaid and watch as Techno becomes everything to nothing in his life.
“Phil, you can talk to me. Whatever is bothering you I can help wi-“
”I uhm-“ Phil didn’t mean to cut off Techno. God. he’s messing more of this up. “I- I do this thing called age regression.” His eyes drop down as he takes a few steps back. He doesn’t know how Techno is going to react to this.
Silence is loud and Phil doesn’t dare to look up to see whatever Techno is doing right now. No one dares to speak at the moment. Well, Phil doesn’t at the moment.
“I’ve heard of that.” Techno comments idly. Phil’s attention snaps up and he stares at Techno with an agape expression as if you just told him that he just won the best thing in the world. That can’t be right. Well of course it’s not far fetched, age regression isn’t too unheard of. Techno knowing it though? He feels so confused. “One of the voices mentioned it here and there.”
What is Phil meant to do with this discovery now? He feels so off that he can’t understand how this is even possible. he blinks and weakly nods like a little bobble head. “Y-yeah. Makes sense.”
“So you do that?” Techno tilts his head with some confusion. Phil loves to compare Techno to a big puppy each time he does that. Puppy.. “Is that what’s been making you so off this whole day? Actually that would make sense for a lot of things I couldn’t explain…” He looks off to the side as he taps his chin.
“Wh-“ Phil squeaks at that and he looks at Techno with a frown. “What do you mean?”
At least Phil is feeling better now, Techno thinks.
He runs a hand through the tip of his hair and provides a small smile, glad that both of their anxieties have calmed down a lot. “Well, sometimes you just acted a little off. I didn’t want to ask in case you were just having an off day. Sometimes more dazed or whatever. Nothing bad, something I’ve just noticed.”
”Oh.”
Phil feels as if he could pout right now. he was so worried for no good reason! The Technoblade still wants to be his best friend and he got himself all worked up about this for years. He runs a hand over top of his own and stares down. There’s still an issue though, he’s all soft and crumbled and he still can’t put himself back together.
It’s not awkward in the bedroom now, instead a more or so comfortable silence as the both of them stand there. They’re both relieved for different reasons. Tecvhno is happy that Phil is okay and Phil is over the moon that Techno doesn’t hate him! Phil feels a little bare now that his secret has been ripped out of the bag he doesn’t know what to do about that. Techno doesn’t seem to notice the issue though. Instead he takes a few steps closer and puts a hand on Phil’s shoulder. Phil’s eyes snap up and he stares at the piglin with a dumbfounded expression.
A small laugh leaves Techno over the expression and he moves some hair out of Phil’s face. “You want to sit down instead? I don’t think standing is so comfortable. Angel.” He smoothens out his voice to sound a lot more soft for Phil. He can’t help but to get so much softer in front of Phil currently considering the news that he’s been told, he just wants to do everything for him now.
Phil has to reel over this. He can feel himself crumbling more at the nickname and he weakly nods again. He feels like a goldfish that’s been thrown out of the fishbowl, which he can’t help but to giggle at that. The image of that is a little silly to Phil. He watches as Techno’s hand moves to hold Phil’s and slowly takes them back to sit down on his bed.
The room isn’t anything too special even after living here for so long. The comforters of the bed are a nice gold and there’s a couple of blankets on the bed. A few stuffed animals that Phil has made over the years for him. There’s the wardrobe and a desk in the room with a couple of other things scattered about. Not the worst, but in Phil’s opinion he would have added a lot now by now.
He blinks and looks down when he notices Techno taking off his shoes for him. He wiggles his toes a little, a happy noise coming from him once those cages are off. Not that he hates them so much, but they’re not preferred.
The mattress dips as Techno moves to sit down next to Phil with a dramatic huff. Phil quietly giggles at that, a lot of things seem funnier right now. Techno raises an eyebrow at Phil and pokes him at the side. “What? I’m just relaxing after a long day!”
“Yeah, but… you did it all silly.” His voice is a little higher in pitch but that’s the only difference at the moment. He’s never really talked much when regressed before. Maybe at most it was while he was trying to hide it, but other than that he can’t think of another time. He doesn’t seem to put much mind to it though, instead choosing to rub his hands against the bedding.
It’s not that hard to pin point when either one of them need something to do. They get antsy easily and sometimes it’ll end up with different things. Such as the few times Techno has walked in on Phil trying to eat a few things he shouldn’t, always saying that he felt like he needed to chew something. Techno isn’t much better himself, handful of times he’s accidentally picked at his hands quite harshly just because he needed something.
Techno offers a small smile to Phil and nods as if he got told something that had the most answers ever. “Right, I should sit down like that more often then if it makes you all giggly.” He’s noticed by now that Phil more or so quietly laughs or chuckles. It’s never anything more than that. To be fair Techno mostly huffs out something that’s meant to be similar to a laugh… but Techno thinks Phil’s delighted little noises is a lot better than anything else he could hear.
Phil hasn’t regressed in a hot minute. He tries to avoid it as much as he can. It’s not like when you’re a ruler you can get much alone time. The constant worry of someone walking in and someone needing him. It’s not a pleasant feeling. Phil doesn’t think that even if he wanted to that he could regress in those past moments. Too much stress was constantly eating him alive any time he would try. So… trying to regress was off the table until now.
“Uhm, yeah,” Phil glances over at Techno’s direction before his eyes drop down. He’s not so sure what he’s meant to be doing now. The crumbs all over the ground and Phil has never felt so unsure of himself before. Sure there were a few times, but this feels different. By now he would have fallen asleep to get over the fuzzy feeling if he did get this far in regressing. No point of sitting in it if he can’t do anything about it. Now he can do things though and he doesn’t know how he feels about it.
A beat of silence.
”I”m bored!” Phil throws up his hands and flops backwards in the bed. Surely complaining about it will do something. He wants attention or something to do…. Or anything! “Gimme something?” He sat up to flutter his eyelashes at Techno.
Techno blinks when Phil flops over but he huffs out that small laugh he was thinking about not too long ago. He nods and glances around his room, trying to think of anything to give the regressed bird. After a moment he pushes himself up and searches through the drawers of his desk.
“I remember…” He mutters to himself as Phil peeks his head over to see what the piglin is doing. “I thought it was… Oh- no it’s over here.” Techno steps back over and sits down, immediately the bird chirps with interest and wiggles on over to see what the new gift is.
What Phil sees is a pad of paper with coloured pencils. He coos with joy and happily snatches it out of Techno’s hands. Oh this is great! He was thinking about drawing earlier today and now he gets to! He curls up on himself so he can get the paper in a better position and starts to scribble something.
For a few moments all that’s heard in the room is the sound of the pencils on the paper. Quick but concentrated on what they’re doing. Techno pushes himself up again so he can grab a book to read. He doesn’t know how long Phil is going to be at with drawing so he wants to get himself something to do. That bird can’t be the only one entertained. He gives off a hum when he glances out of the corner of his eye Phil sitting there with his tongue poked out of his mouth as he’s concentrating. Techno thinks he can hear Phil mumbling how it needs to be perfect and oh well, Techno doesn’t have an idea what that could mean.
Right. He should sit back down.
So he does that, going back to where he was before. Techno makes sure to keep an eye on Phil but for the most part he’s keeping a note on what’s going on in the story. Techno loves to grab out random books to read whenever he gets the chance to, constantly checking the library to see what new findings could be there.
The room is comfortable, it usually is when the two of them hang out. Often nights Techno will convince Phil to get under the blankets with him so they can get warm. The Antarctic isn’t the best place to live if you can’t handle the cold, Phil often points this out. Now at this point Techno stays just to get Phil to put his wings around him. it’s comforting and most nights end in a mess of laughs and things they won’t remember the next morning because they’re both delirious.
Soon enough Phil is turning around the paper to shove in Techno’s face. He pauses and begins to pull back, embarrassment hits him when he realises what he’s doing. Techno has to stop himself from yelping out of surprise, but when he realises there’s art being shoved his way he puts down his book too see what it could be. He uses his hands to stop Phil from pulling it back any more which gets a small squeak of shyness from him.
The doodle is a lot more simple of an art style than Phil’s usual one, lines being a lot more shakier and loose. It’s a picture of who Techno can assume is Phil holding a little pig that is absolutely adorable.
Oh Techno is in love with this. He makes a small sound that is close to a coo and Techno gently holds it. “Awh, what’s this?”
“It’s uhm-“ Phil’s face gets a little pink at the cheeks. He wants to turn around and hide for the rest of his days! He can’t believe he actually showed this to Techno, maybe he should say never mind and hide. He glances up and oh. He can’t hide from how happy Techno looks. That would be mean of him… “It’s us.” His voice is meek as he looks down. “But it’s okay if you don’t uhm- if you don’t like it.”
“What?” That pulls Techno from his thought process. He holds the drawing a little closer to him as if he’s holding the most precious thing out there. “Phil I adore this little art piece you made. Is it okay if I put it up by my desk?” He turns his attention to look over there to prove his statement more.
Holy cow! Phil actually getting his art put up? He doesn’t know how he should feel about this. It’s such a big deal to him, he’s never had this happen to him before. “Uhm-“ His hands move to drum on his legs as he makes a small chirp of pure joy. He nods quickly, not sure how to express how happy he is in words. “Yeah- yeah! Yeah you can put it up!” Oh he’s winning!
There’s a kiss that’s pressed onto Phil’s forehead as Techno stands up. His eyes widen and he squeaks, curling up more to watch Techno go over to his desk. Techno searches around for a little while before using some push pins to put the picture up on the wall. He takes a few steps back to really admire it.
Techno has received many gifts over the years from Phil. Paintings, the stuffed animals on his bed, and some other pretty things. This though? This feels different. It was made while Phil’s the most vulnerable and he loves it so much. It’s so nice and Techno doesn’t know how to express how this means the world to him.
After standing there for a little too long Techno turns around and scoops Phil up into a hug. Fuck it, he’s gone soft for Phil. This is the only person ever Techno will find himself going weak for. This is trust, Phil is trust, and for that Techno will show Phil everything. His best friend, his partner in crime. Techno has come soft for the Angel of Death who has currently been cut down to just Angel. This is who Techno will spend the rest of his days with. This is all that Techno wants.
“Tech?” Phil pats Techno on the cheek to check if he’s still alive. Look, Phil can’t have his best friend dying right now after he got everything he could ask for. “Um… thank you for liking it..”
“Oh, I love it.” Techno lays them both down on his bed, his hand picks up to card through his angel’s hair. “I feel like I’ve been gifted all the gold from the best person out there.”
Now Phil knows that’s a lot. Phil understands that Techno is a piglin and piglin loves gold. He has to pause and look down at his hands in confusion. Did he give Techno gold? Maybe he should draw more things more often if he’s giving Techno gold. “Oh. If it’s gold then well! You’re welcome!” He pats Techno on the head again. He can’t help it… Techno feels so soft.
Techno leans into the contact without thinking about it. He does that every time, Phil seems to start petting him and Techno melts into it. He does not beat the puppy allegations at all with each cuddle session they have. Techno is starting to get too comfortable and he knows that he’s still in day clothes, but when has that ever stopped him from taking a nap?
Phil realises a second too late that he’s getting warm and comfortable. If he gave another thought to it he would be a little more upset that he’s getting sleepy, but all he knows currently is that he’s here with his best friend! His best friend! Phil quietly trills in delight and feels a hand scritch behind his ear wing, another happy chirp coming from him. His body completely slumps as he just soaks in the contact as much as he can.
“That’s it, Angel. Just relax. I think we both need to take a rest.” Techno isn’t lying when he says this. He’s so tired and he can tell Phil is as well. Maybe in a few hours Phil is going to freak the hell out… but that’s not the concern at the moment.
It grows quiet after Phil moves his wing to be on top of Techno, a little tweet is the last noise he makes before promptly passing out. Techno presses a kiss on his forehead before falling asleep himself.
They’re each other’s best friends. They’ll fight with each other back to back and they’ll have their soft moments together. They wouldn’t trade it for anything else.