The night was cold and quiet.

For the first time in years, he had no sort of background noise to lull him to sleep. He had no Wilbur softly playing his guitar or shushing a crying Fundy in the room next door. No Tommy or Tubbo running around or knocking things over as everyone else tried to sleep. No Phil shushing his rowdy children so he could sleep.

None of it.

He didn't like the quiet as much as he thought he would.

You would think that, as someone who doesn't get peace and quiet whatsoever, he would jump at the possibility to have one night of peace and quiet.

You'd be wrong.

He would much rather have his brothers and nephew than the quiet.

~<•>~

"I'm not the hero, no one's the hero, we have L'manburg for each other!"

"It was never meant to be."

"Surely not."

"Techno, L'manburg is my home. My unfinished symphony."

"My unfinished symphony, forever unfinished."

"As long as I can't be the next Schlatt, you can't be the next Wilbur."

"Yes you are, but so are we!"

"I know what I'm like...and that's the issue..."

"I miss him so much, I didn't think it would be so hard..."

He didn't get much sleep that night.

~<•>~

The night after the wedding was an...odd one, to say the least. For one, Techno was both simultaneously more affectionate than usual and more paranoid than usual. Not for a single moment did he relax, which concerned Wilbur, who seemed to be the only one to notice Techno's sudden change in behavior.

That night, Techno insisted on sleeping on the couch. Now, yes, there were times he fell asleep on the couch while reading or when he was too lazy to go to his room upstairs, but never did he insist on sleeping on the couch, especially without any reason. His brother was a man that always had a reason for his actions, even the smallest ones.

And what's even odder is that he seemingly dropped the topic of moving out entirely. He didn't bring it up once after the wedding, and when it was brought up, he completely disregarded it and brought up another topic.

Even with that, though, he was still his brother underneath. He still read constantly. He still played games with the teens, and while he would never admit it, have fun while doing so. He was still his antisocial self, just a lot more defensive about every little thing.

~<•>~

"Hey, Techno!" Wilbur greeted his brother as he walked downstairs the next day. "Do you mind doing me a favor?"

"Depends," Techno replied, sitting on the couch. "What favor?"

"Well, I have a job interview in a couple of hours and since Phil already left for his honeymoon and since I wouldn't trust Tommy or Tubbo by themselves for two hours, let alone let them watch a toddler, I was wondering if you'd babysit Fundy for a couple of hours," Wilbur explained. "Now, since he's four, he can do quite a bit himself now. You still have to get his lunch ready and take him to the bathroom, but other than that just make sure he doesn't die."

Techno shrugged. "Alright."

"Really?"

"Yeah, how bad could one kid possibly be?"

~<•>~

So apparently babysitting was a lot harder than he initially thought.

Currently, he was running around the house, tripping on toys that Fundy abandoned thirty minutes ago, trying to catch the naked fox hybrid.

And if you're wondering why he's naked, you're not the only one, because his babysitter is wondering the exact same thing.

Okay, so let's back up for a bit.

Wilbur left for his interview an hour ago, leaving Fundy alone with Techno.

At first, it was good. Techno played with Fundy for a bit, even letting him play with and tug on his braid, which hurt like hell by the way.

And then Fundy had to use the bathroom.

So Techno took him to the bathroom, letting him do his business, and when Techno turned around to help Fundy pull up his overalls and fasten the straps, he found that Fundy was gone.

And his clothes, and yes, underwear included, were strewn across the bathroom floor.

The hell...? Did he explode or something...?

As he picked up the fox-themed shirt, he heard Fundy giggle behind him.

You know Boo from Monsters Inc, and how she seemingly teleported with how she could move around without being seen or heard? It was like that.

Techno looked from Fundy to the discarded clothes, and back to Fundy again, a look of astonishment on his face. "Huh."

Fundy giggled again before running down the hall, shouting "catch me!"

This leads us to right now.

Techno stilled when he heard the front door unlock and open, but sighed with relief when it was only Tommy.

That's right, he gets home around this time.

"Hey, Techno...uh...did Fundy's toy box fuckin' explode or something?"

"You could say that..." Techno turned around and looked at the disaster around him before Fundy caught his eye on top of the banister. "How the hell did you get up there???"

Tommy chuckled behind him, earning a murderous glare from the piglin.

"Can you help me clean this up before Wilbur gets home?"

Tommy nodded, setting his backpack on a chair. "I'll clean it up, you get Fundy."

Techno nodded as he ran up the stairs, grabbing the toddler before he could fall off the banister. "C'mon little guy, let's get you dressed."

Fundy giggled. "Clothes icky!"

Techno laughed a bit. "But you need to have clothes on. No one wants to see a naked baby!"

Fundy giggled again. "Naked baby!"

Techno laughed, shaking his head fondly.

~<•>~

It was about four in the afternoon when Wilbur got home. When he opened the door, he found the house surprisingly clean, perhaps cleaner than it was when he left, minus Techno's plush pig and Fundy's plush fox that sat on opposite sides of the couch.

On the couch sat Tommy, who was in the middle of doing homework. If he knew that Wilbur was there, he didn't acknowledge him. Aside from the occasional frustrated muttering from Tommy, it was oddly quiet.

"Where's Techno and Fundy...?" Wilbur asked.

"Upstairs," Tommy replied, paying his eldest brother no attention.

Wilbur hummed, quietly walking up the stairs. He first looked in Techno's room, finding it empty. He then looked in the nursery.

The nursery looked roughly the same as it did when he left, except now Techno and Fundy were sleeping in Fundy's bed, which is remarkable that the tiny thing can hold Techno's weight, with Techno holding onto his sleeping nephew for dead life.

Wilbur giggled softly before taking a picture of the two for blackmail and closing the door behind him.

~<•>~

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