Tyche | Technoblade x Reader

Chapter 8

"Not the royal guards?" Phil questioned.

"Tyche insisted it wasn't the royal guards."

Phil hummed, standing back up and grabbing the kettle from the furnace. He poured the boiling water into another container with tea leaves. "Sorry, you can continue."

You dismissed the man's apology. "A couple days later I was going to Gresham's office to ask about a few details for an event that we were preparing for. And, um, that's when I heard them talking about Tyche." Thinking about the situation made you start wringing your hands.

"What were they saying?"

Taking a deep breath, you let the words spill from your mouth. "They said that they needed to get rid of her because it was too dangerous with people in the Nether searching for her. So... they were talking about accepting a money offer."

"They were selling her?" Phil whispered, his hand curling into a tight fist. "Shit."

You let Phil have a moment for it to sink in.

After a few seconds, Phil spoke up again. "Well, what happened after that?"

"I-I grabbed Tyche and ran," You answered, "And that's how we eventually got here."

Phil rose from his seat again and poured the steeped tea into individual cups. He placed one of the cups in front of you and took a sip of his own as he sat back down. You took a sip of the hot tea as well, humming at the nice taste.

"Did I nick you earlier?"

You narrowed your eyes at the blonde man as his eyes darted between your neck and your face. Your hand rose to your neck, feeling the small cut sting. "Oh, no. That was from something else."

Phil kept staring at you, eyes narrowing. "I can tell something is bothering you still. You don't have to tell me but sometimes it helps to talk about it."

Just thinking about the situation made you want to empty your stomach so you could imagine talking about it would only make it worse. Though with one look at Phil's face, you felt yourself sinking into your chair. It was only fair to tell him right? It did include Tyche and you wouldn't be surprised if she had nightmares about it too.

"Tyche and I ran into guards not long after we escaped. They were able to restrain me and get a hold of Tyche. Seeing them drag her away made me– it made me feel so upset. So I..."

Pursing your lips together, you couldn't help but think about the consequences that would come with telling Phil you could have killed someone. Would he think differently of you? You were trying to protect Tyche but that doesn't excuse how far you went.

"I could have killed someone Phil," You whispered, keeping out any specifics. The moment that your confession was out in the open, your eyes started to tear up and your bottom lip started to shake. Crying in front of Phil was not something you wanted to do but with your emotional and physical exhaustion at its peak, you couldn't prevent the tears from trailing down your cheeks.

Phil couldn't help but compare this conversation with one he had many years prior. It reminded him so much of his son and the struggles he went through before finding him stranded in the woods. Of course, Techno didn't open up at first, wallowing in his own fear and disappointment before he finally cracked. It took Techno a couple of months to finally confess to Phil what happened and how he had violent tendencies, some justified and some not. However, it seemed like Techno got used to the emotional turmoil that came with violence and killing (or he got familiar with hiding it) and the voices that remained were not as loud as they used to be.

Clearly, this was your first time experiencing such a thing. Phil placed a warm hand on your head, slightly ruffling your hair.

"I'm proud of you."

That only made your crying worse, bringing up both your hands to cover your face. Phil sat next to you quietly as you tried your best to stay quiet. Tyche was still sleeping in the room over and you'd be damned if you woke her up from your sudden outburst. Luckily, by the time your tears dried and your breathing reduced to small hiccups, there was no sign of Tyche being woken up.

Phil retracted his hand from your head and took the cups, placing them in the sink to clean later. You sat back, trying not to wallow in shame. It wasn't like you to cry in front of someone, especially not someone you just met. The thought of Phil having to comfort you through that made you want to sink and disappear into your chair.

"I suggest at least trying to get some sleep, we'll be leaving in the morning."

"What?" You choked out, swallowing in an attempt to soothe your throat.

"We're leaving in the morning since we know guards are looking for Tyche. It would be safer for her if she was home. You're welcome to come unless you have somewhere else to go."

If you weren't so worn out from crying before, you're sure that you would have cried at his invitation. You had nowhere else to go, no friends or family. All you had was Tyche at this point and being able to help her get back home was an honor.

"I'd love to, Phil. Thank you."

Philza shook his head and waved his hand but you could see a small smile forming on his face. "No worries. Seriously, though, you really need to try and get some sleep tonight."

You nodded, standing up with your blanket and heading back to the couch. Once you laid down and got comfortable, you tiredly mumbled, "Goodnight."

You could hear Phil lightly chuckle before responding back. "Goodnight."

•••

I know that this chapter had some recap and was mostly conversation-based (that's also why it was slightly longer than my recent chapters) but I think it's important to show a bit of bonding between Phil and the reader and also show the reader's emotional progression (?? not sure if that's how to word it)

A lot of people don't like it when the reader cries in books because they think it makes them look whiny or weak but I think it's important because not everyone's perfect and, in this story, you're running away from everything you've known and having to make your own decisions based on your moral standings. That's not really what you were raised to do. (Also, a note, it is okay to cry. There's nothing wrong with it and it can be just a way to relieve stress.)

Sorry for the rant, I just really wanted to explain how I was thinking when I was writing this chapter and hopefully people won't think the reader is just being whiny in this story. There is such thing as character development, even for the reader.