5

The marketplace isn't far from the castle grounds. From what Techno can see whilst being dragged, you simply take a right and down a cobblestone path. The town is beautiful, to say the least. The buildings all look the same, two story houses at the highest, one at the lowest. Wood pillars hold up roofs and walls in a very barn-looking way. Each building has a triangle-shaped roof with a single chimney at the top. The roofs are gray with slate, a medieval style.

Wooden wagons drag horses that almost run into them, yet they also greet the two like they're old friends. Then there's wooden wagons with no horses, they're just stocked with food people are selling. Tents are set up all over the place with tables where people sell various items like jewelry, dolls that are handmade, everything that comes to mind. Some people just sell blankets, normal things.

In a strange way, it reminds Technoblade of a home he once knew. A place he had lived in for so long before the voices took over. When he had come to, the village was on fire, bodies surrounding houses. It was terrible, it was the first massacre at his fault. He didn't even know his own strength, and that incident had reminded him just how strong he really was as a god.

He feels sad here.

"Hey, how far away is this – sorry – Tubbo guy?" Techno asks and apologizes to somebody he ran into due to Tommy in the middle of the sentence.

"Just around the corner," Tommy answers gleefully and takes a sharp turn. Techno almost falls over, he stumbles on the ground and is quick to right himself again. Almost as soon as they turn, they stop. Techno falls to the ground from lack of momentum.

"Gods dammit, Tommy," Techno murmurs and lifts himself up to his feet. Well, now his pants are torn at the knees where bloody scrapes are visible, and his hands are all bloody.

"That's my bad," Tommy sucks in a sharp breath and pats him on the back, "It's right here."

"How can you even tell? These houses all look the same," Techno rolls his eyes and glances at the houses around him.

"I just can," Tommy protests and strides up to the door, giving it a confident knock.

They wait for a few moments, allowing Tubbo to open the door. When he does, it's held back by a makeshift chain.

"Tommy!" Tubbo smiles and looks at Techno, wrinkling his nose, "Who's that?"

"Technoblade," Tommy answers happily and gestures to the blood god standing awkwardly.

"Oh."

"Don't worry, I won't kill you. I just fell, this is my blood," Techno chuckles awkwardly and wipes his hands full of bloody cuts on his pants.

"Alright then," Tubbo murmurs suspiciously and closes the door. Techno thinks that for a moment he's been rejected, until the door is opened fully again. "You can come inside."

"Thanks, Tubs!" Tommy flashes a bright smile and takes Techno's hand yet again, this time more gently.

He drags the pink-haired man inside through the small house, although it has two stories. Tubbo moves to the kitchen, throwing on an apron.

"Say, Technoblade, do you know how to cook?" Tubbo smirks and looks at the man standing awkwardly by the door.

"Oh, gods," Tommy murmurs and throws himself onto the extremely battered-up couch by the door.

"No?" Techno answers, unsure of what's about to happen exactly.

"Well, get over here then. I'll teach you, yeah?" Tubbo throws him an apron that he hastily catches. He reluctantly puts it over his waist, trying to tie it.

Technoblade curses under his breath as he struggles to tie the knot, Tommy watching in amusement.

"You're the blood god and you can't even tie an apron?" Tommy cackles and throws his head back, hitting the couch with quite some force.

"Oh well by jove, Your Majesty, I'm ever so sorry," Techno counters in a mock british accent. At his last word he chucks the apron at Tommy's face, which remains facing the ceiling with a smile.

"Hey!" He protests and throws it back at him, only for it to be thrown back in his face quite roughly.

"You sure you don't want that?" Tubbo questions and looks Techno up and down with raised eyebrows.

"I'm sure," Techno nods and rolls up his sleeves.

Usually he wouldn't let somebody even touch him, but he's warmed up to these people. He's found himself falling in love with this kingdom slowly, bit by bit. Yet, he allows Tubbo to guide his hands carefully around, and lets him order Techno what to do. Of course, the voices are quick to protest.

Is this goat ordering you around? They cackle, You're better than that.

It's almost as if the voices are always in control, because Techno has to hold his tongue when he's told to put flour on the counter, or roll out the dough. He doesn't even know what they're making, he wasn't paying attention.

Apparently, by the time they're done, they've made bread. A common thing in the town according to Tommy. But he also says that Techno makes good bread with a scrunched nose beforehand. So, is he really all that believable? No.

When they finish eating the bread, Tubbo stands up and looks at Tommy, who looks back with wide eyes.

"You finished?" Tommy asks with a wide smile on his face.

"I finished," Tubbo smiles back and nods confidently, "Want me to show you?"

"Yes!" Tommy exclaims and practically knocks over his chair from getting up.

"Finished what?" Techno asks and glances at the two of them with a single raised eyebrow.

"My nukes," Tubbo smiles proudly and beckons for Techno to follow the two.

It's funny, he thinks. That a mortal would fool with something as deadly as nuke. Is he not terrified of death? Of course, Technoblade isn't one to judge one's interests. It doesn't matter to him, but he does find it amusing. Of course, a goat man, who is always able to die at any moment, fools with deadly things.

Sometimes Technoblade wishes he could be afraid to die. He wishes he could be afraid to die after all these eons of living. He's come to realize that these voices are the only things that stop him, that beckon him away from death. But, maybe he's wrong. Maybe it's just the curse laid upon him, and the curse that will keep him a statue in this world.

Tubbo leads them down to a dark cellar, lit up poorly by windows and the weak light activated from the switch. As soon as Techno's eyes adjust, he lays eyes on an object that's significantly large. It's shaped like a bullet, with wings on either side of the shape.

"So, you play death?" Techno asks and leans onto the wall casually.

"If you'd like to word it that way," Tubbo shrugs and walks over to the nuke, his hooves clomping like a horse's on the floor. He strides to the nuke and the large pile of dynamite beside it.

"This dynamite'll go inside the nuke, so I'll have to pull it apart and stuff it in. Then, I can wire it up to this control–" he holds up a remote, "--so I can detonate it."

"You want to stuff dynamite in that?" Tommy points to the object significantly larger than Tubbo, by about three feet maybe.

"Yeah, idiot," Tubbo laughs and stares at the half-made nuke for a considerably long time. "I don't know how I'll pull apart the nuke, though. I didn't really think that part through."

"Well, why didn't you just put the dynamite in before you finished the nuke? Idiot," Tommy asks and sits himself onto the floor.

"Well I forgot about the dynamite!"

"Well maybe remember the dynamite!"

"You know for the angel of fucking life you're pretty rude!"

"And for a goat-man, you're pretty un-goaty!"

Techno cackles at the poor insult, his head slamming the wall as he drops back. The two continue to banter, throwing poor insults at each other.

"At least I can open the fucking nuke!" Tommy shouts at one point proudly. He's standing with hands on his hips, a boasting smile on his face.

"Then do it!" Tubbo offers and gestures to the nuke, backing away to give Tommy room.

The blond boy struts down to the nuke and stands in front of it. He cracks his knuckles, a sound that makes Technoblade wince in disgust. It's an ick for him, cracking knuckles, he can't stand the sound. Tommy uses his hands to grip a crack in the metal he finds and fits his hand into the crack as best as he can. He gives Tubbo a smug glance before attempting to pull it apart, the smile quickly fades as he fails to do it.

"See? You can't," Tubbo laughs, "Loser."

Tommy frowns and tries again, yanking the metal apart harshly. Surprisingly it works, the metal makes a loud scraping sound as it's pulled apart.

"I can, loser," Tommy boasts proudly, hands on his hips.

Tubbo stays silent and huffs to himself, snatching up the dynamite. Techno chuckles lowly, watching as the man stuffs the dynamite into the crack. Tommy leans on the wall beside Technoblade, being considerably shorter.

"What time is it anyway?" Tubbo calls out, flipping another stack of dynamite in his hand. "You should be getting home, Tommy."

"Oh yeah, we should," Tommy winces and looks up at Techno, who's barely spoken since they got here. "Let's head out, yeah?"

Techno shrugs and pushes himself off the wall. Tommy says goodbye, Techno murmurs a "thank you" and a "have fun" before walking out of the room with him. As soon as they step into the street, sound floods Techno's ears. He has to resist the urge to clamp hands over his ears but Tommy is quick to drag him by his hand. Techno almost slaps him again.

The marketplace is more full than when they came to the house. People flood the streets, making turns, heading straight for them, away from them, turning left and right. It's a busy place, not nearly as quiet as the castle is. Well, maybe that's because Techno spends most of his time writing in his room, and reading. It's silent in his room, well, it's never silent with the voices around.

He silently thanks the busy, shouting people demanding better prices, ringing bells from those calling people to their stores, and those having conversations full of gossip. This way, he can barely hear the voices in his head.

"We have to buy some bread," Tommy murmurs and comes to a stop, beginning to slowly walk.

Techno stumbles at the sudden change of pace and is quick to right himself. The angel of life digs for a couple of gold coins in his pocket, wings tucked tightly behind him. He can barely stretch them in this tight street, and it's beginning to ache.

"We just had bread, Tommy," Techno protests and moves his shoulder slightly so somebody who wasn't paying attention didn't bump into him. "Can we just go to the castle?"

"No no, Will said he wanted bread, Techno. Also your bread was shit," Tommy snorts and pulls his hand out of his pocket along with three gold coins. Techno sighs heavily and trudges along Tommy to a small wooden cart, it's horses not there.

The cart is stocked with loaves of bread, the kind you see in the movies. A man stands in front of it on a small, wooden chair that looks like it's one more person from falling apart. He looks up at the two with a smile when they approach. He stands from his chair and gives a small bow.

"Your Royal Highness," He says, "It's nice to see you again."

"Nice to see you too, sir!" Tommy smiles, his wings giving a small flap behind him. "I'll have, uhm, one, no, er, two loaves of bread?" He holds out his hand containing the three coins with a smile.

"Oh no, no, allow me to give you it for free, sir," The man smiles and hands him a loaf of bread. Tommy frowns.

"No, no, take the coins. I insist, sir," Tommy holds out the hand once again.

When the man doesn't take it, Tommy gently takes the hand and places the coins in the man's hand. He smiles and closes the man's hand into a fist around the coins.

"Oh, thank you, sir," The man smiles, his mouth forming wrinkles as he does and his eyes squinting. Techno watches and nods at the man when he looks at him for a solid three seconds.

"You're welcome, have a good day, sir!" The blond boy smiles, the sun filtering his hair and skin, as they walk away. He carries the two loaves of bread in his hand until he drops them and Techno takes them himself.

"It's loud here," Techno murmurs just as somebody bumps into him, knocking his shoulder back. "And apparently people are blind here."

"Well, that's the marketplace for you," Tommy laughs and ducks as a winged man flies overhead. "It's busy."

"Clearly," Techno rolls his eyes.

The castle grounds are quiet, just how Technoblade likes it. The only sound is the birds chirping and the sound of grass under their feet.

It's calming, the way Tommy is giggling as he tries to drag the bread out of Techno's grasp, how he flies above him just out of spite. The way Techno ducks and starts to sprint to the willow tree, hair flying behind him and a wide smile on his face as he laughs.

He's found his five minutes of peace, and his happiness. After all these eons, he finally found it, and it's right here. With Wilbur and Tommy in the garden under the willow tree.

"Wilbur!" Techno calls out a laugh in the midst of his shout.

Tommy comes down from the sky, and Techno ducks. He falls onto the grass with a laugh and hoists himself up, gathering the bread from where it had fallen.

Wilbur looks up from his book and laughs at the two. They seem so happy, Wilbur thinks. He's glad that they can be this happy. Just days before Technoblade, Tommy seemed to be more gloomy. Yet somehow Techno has brought a light to this place, a light that will never go out it seems.