potatoes
ALSO GOT 2 MORE STORY IDEAS- NO WAIT 3! ONE IS TALKED ABOUT IN THIS CHAPTER, IDK IF ILL WRITE IT THO

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"Techno's in love~!" Tommy and Tubbo sang, "He has a crush~!"

"I'm not in love!" Lies. He may not be in romantic love, but he was still fawning over something. Killing. The thrill of seeing someone you hate so exposed and being able to watch them die- the idea of taking out all of your anger at the price of someone who was awful anyways.

Techno only killed with a knife. He tried a gun, once, but it was too loud, and he nearly got caught. He also had no way of disposing of the weapon, and it would leave traces over the scene. That's why he had to convince his family to leave Brazil a little earlier. 

"Come on, that's the only reason-," Tommy faltered slightly- "That's one of the only reasons to have Hanahaki! If you're in love, or missing your other half!"

"Yeah!" Tubbo agreed, smiling. "Tell us! We won't tell anyone, please?" He gave the man puppy dog eyes.

"I'm not in love," Techno rolled his eyes.

"Well then maybe you feel platonic love! Missing your other half!" Tubbo stole the words from Tommy, speaking before he could.

"I don't- I don't have platonic one-sided love." Techno scoffed, would they just leave him alone? The voices were making this alot worse than it actually was, teasing him, laughing, and calling him names like 'loverblade'. God, he hated that name. 

"Maybe you think you do, then. Come on, please? We won't spill it on stream or anything!" Tommy begged, desperately trying to put on the same expression Tubbo had. (but failing because how the fuck did Tubbo do that? He has some superpowers, holy heck.)

"The way you said that is really suspicious." Techno sat on the couch, turning on the tv. Wilbur and Phil were having a conversation in the kitchen, occasionally pausing to listen to what was happening. "I don't think I can trust that."

"Pleaaaaaaaaaase? Pinky promise?" Tubbo asked, the two sitting beside Techno and observing what shows he hovered on.

"Yeah, pinky promise? Pwease, mister Blade?" Tommy mocked, snickering when Tubbo elbowed him in the ribs.

"I said no." Techno flicked through the channels, avoiding anything that made him want to stab something.

"OH! You didn't deny it this time, you're breaking! Tell us! Or me, I'd understand if you didn't want to tell Tub- OW, Hey!" Tommy was elbowed in the ribs by Tubbo a second time. 

Techno settled on a half-way finished episode of Brooklyn Nine Nine, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah, because constantly explaining that I don't have a crush- romantic or not- is getting tiring."

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?" 

"Alright, that's enough from you two. You're clearly tired, go to sleep." Phil chuckled.

"You sound like my dad." Tommy rolled over, facing Phil with a scowl. Tubbo did the same, but the expression didn't have the same effect. Mostly because he was struggling to keep his eyes open, jolting awake when he realized they were closed.

"Well, right now, I am your dad." Phil stated matter-of-factly. "And I'm telling you to go to bed, go on, go change into something comfortable if you can."

Techno laughed at that, the way Tommy looked immediately uninterested and bored, but the boys both had no other option. They were falling asleep while standing up already. 

"Yeah, child, go to bed." Wilbur called with a playful tone. 

"I'm not a fucking child, Wilbur, I'm a big man!" Tommy said. Normally, his voice would have been in a threatening tone, but all that it was now was slurred sleepy speech.

"Whatever you say, ChildInnit." Techno ruffled the boy's hair, chuckling at the muffled protests. "You too, Tubbo, no exceptions."

"Aww man," Tubbo whined, but got up anyways. He nudged Tommy, giving up when the boy refused to move. Instead, Techno was forced to pick him up and take him to his room. 

Techno was tempted to practically throw the teen onto the bed, but thought against it, leaving him for Tubbo to take care of. He stuck his tongue out at Tommy on his way out, closing the door with a soft click.

"Alright, now you go to sleep." Phil took a drink of his coffee, gesturing to Techno. "It was a long flight, too long for you to just be up after midnight with two hours of sleep."

"What? No, I'm not tired." It wasn't a lie, his throat hurt like hell, and the voices screamed for blood spilled to replace his own. 

"You're sure? You look like you're tired." Wilbur gave him a look, and Techno rolled his eyes.

"No, do you have anything for sore throats? Maybe something small to eat, aswell?" Techno asked, gesturing to his throat. Towards the end of his sentence, his voice gave out, and he was thrown into a mini coughing fit. Luckily, this time it was only a few drops of blood, instead of the however much Techno had previously thrown up.

"Oh, yeah." Wilbur opened a cabinet, searching through it and pulling out a small box with a plastic container inside. Pouring it in a small cup and giving the right amount to Techno, he moved on to ask a question. "How do you cure Hanahaki, anyways?"

"Uh." Techno winced, "Confess or surgery, but then you'd lose everything." 

"Everything?"

"Well, I know I'm not in love, so it must be friendship, right? Maybe? Anyway, if I get rid of that then- what if I never have the ability to be friends with anyone? Lose my connection with you guys?" Techno shrugged, "I'm just... worried, is all."

Worried because he can't remove it. 

He can't, because the voices won't let him.

When they really don't want him to do something, they'll take control, and get exactly what they want.

He didn't want to see the kind Dr. Ray on the ground, covered in his own blood. He was nice, he didn't deserve to be mauled like that.

No one did.