Taking the meshed mask off his face, Techno pointed his épée at his fellow student's neck as he stood over them. The fencing instructor had clapped, congratulating him on his win. Techno glanced at his mentor, then back to the student on the floor. He put a gloved hand out to his classmate, and they took it firmly. They took their mask off, revealing a pair of lime green eyes, slightly displeased, but mostly fascinated. Techno's face was grim.

"Well played, Dream."

Dream smiled widely, shaking Techno's hand. "You did great! Good game, Techno." Techno was surprised at the other's zealousness, and he just nodded. Dream's friends, George and Sapnap, stalked up to Dream, glaring at the pink-haired boy.

"You cheated!" Sapnap blurted. Dream wheezed, George laughed nervously. Techno observed Sapnap, raising his eyebrow at the black piece of cloth that wrapped around his head.

"Oh no," he said monotonously. "You caught me." Sapnap turned red, looking down at his feet. Dream wheezed even harder, and George seemed to squeal like a pair of windshield wipers. Techno didn't understand why they found it funny, but he couldn't help but smirk at their laughter.

"You smug pig," Sapnap muttered. Techno's face shifted into a murderous glare, and Dream smacked Sap's arm.

"That's rude! He won fair and square," Dream reprimanded his friend. Sapnap brushed it off, stomping away to wait for his friends outside. Dream looked at Techno apologetically. "I'm sorry; he's just like that." Techno nodded, not saying anything. George whispered something to Dream, and they excused themselves.

Techno stood alone, watching them leave before going over every move he made from the fencing duel. His brow wrinkled as he grew more unsatisfied with his performance, and he criticized himself harshly. After beating himself up for every mistake, he went to the locker room, changing into casual clothes, then headed out of the fencing building. He grew more depressed seeing the rain pour from the sky, and he walked to a grocery store, pulling out a list from his pocket. On entering the store, Techno ignored the overexcited welcome from the employee and headed straight to the freezer aisle. He was determined to get out of there as soon as possible. Techno felt tense in any public place, and he longed to be back in his dreary apartment. At least there he would be alone, undisturbed. Though he chose to be alone, he was lonely no matter what he did. He found it didn't really matter if he was with or without people because being surrounded by people was just as lonely as being alone, but more stressful.

Dream came to Techno's mind, and he thought of how pleased the guy must be all the time, having two close friends around him constantly. Techno grew envious and clenched his fists. He wished he had family or friends that cared at least a little bit about him, but he remembered the cruel words of his previous family and the peace that overtook him from finally escaping them all. It made him think until he came to the conclusion that maybe having a family was a bad thing.

A woman behind him cleared her throat, and Techno quickly snapped out of his thoughts, apologizing quietly to the woman. She just sighed, pushing past him.

Man, did Techno hate most people.

Finding his way to the freezer aisle, he picked up the only items on his list: four boxes of lasagna he could put in his toaster oven to easily prepare. It wasn't the most nutritious meal to have every day, but he always picked out a vegetable to pair with it. After putting the boxes of lasagna in a basket he found at the end of the aisle, Techno headed to pick out a vegetable, settling on a beet. He figured slicing it into thin wedges to put on top of the lasagna for the last few minutes it cooked would make an unusual but edible meal. Techno decided against buying a special drink, reminding himself water was always available. After making minimal conversation and eye-contact with the person at check-out, Techno headed to the subway.

~~~~~

The train had been almost about to leave, and Techno slid right in between the doors of one compartment, not wanting to miss his ride. As soon as he had gotten in, the doors shut behind him. He exhaled, holding the paper bag with several packages of lasagna in his hand. Turning away from the doors, Techno was surprised and disappointed to see two other people. He must have interrupted a conversation because it seemed like they had just calmed down from laughter.

One held a guitar, his arm dangling over it. He looked up at Techno with a slight smile, a small bunch of his curly brown hair falling over his eye. He adjusted his black beanie, glancing at the other.

The other was a young boy who stared curiously at Techno, not returning the glance to his friend. A red jacket was pulled over his plain white t-shirt, and his feathery golden hair complemented his outfit nicely.

Techno hoped they wouldn't try to talk to him, starting to walk back toward a seat furthest away from them. Before he could even take another step, the boy spoke up, greeting him. "Hello."

Techno was not happy, and he turned his head to glare at the boy. Immediately after he did so, he was sure he messed up, giving a nervous glance to the boy's musician friend. Techno was relieved to see he was giggling at Techno's reaction to the greeting and was not upset.

He acknowledged Techno's glance and moved his guitar, placing it back in its case. Scooting over a little, he invited Techno to sit.

"I'm Wilbur, and this is Tommy. You don't have to worry about making fun of him because he's really easy to mess with." Tommy protested, and Techno hesitantly sat down, shaking Wil's hand.

"I'm Techno," he said quietly, just loud enough for them to hear.

Tommy stood in his seat, offended that Techno was invited to have a seat next to Wil. The boy quickly walked over and sat on the other side of Wilbur, crossing his arms. Wil smiled, patting his head, the opposite reaction that Tommy thought he would get. His parents never bothered with his existence, so having someone acknowledge him meant the world.

"What's in the bag, Big Man?" Tommy asked, trying to get attention off himself. Techno snorted, and Wilbur laughed hysterically, causing Tommy to giggle lightly with them.

Techno answered with a smirk and a hint of a laugh at the end of his voice. "Just some lasagna." They all burst into laughter.

~~~~~

I took a little break in preparation for the Revolution and then to cool off for the ending. I don't want to spoil anything (Shoutout to my man Snowkit100), but I just wanted to say that Wilbur Soot is such a great storyteller and writer. My gosh.

Thank you so much for reading, and I really appreciate it. I love you all <333 :)))))