TACENDA // Technoblade X Reader

12

The rest of the week passed by much the same. In the mornings - negotiations. This was the bane of each day; being shut up in the throne room for hours, listening to Colin and Ilbertus bicker back and forth, making no progress. Your brother was too much of an ass to listen to reason, and Ilbertus was angered too easily to work around it. These hours were filled with long sighs and glances traded with the twins and Technoblade. 

It was annoying not only because there was no progress being made, it was worrying that your father was letting Colin do whatever he wished with the negotiations. He barely said anything during the meetings, even when it was obvious people were waiting for his input. It was like he had already resigned from the throne and passed it over to your brother. 

It was concerning, but there wasn't much you could do about it. Your father was the king, and you were sure there was at least some reasoning behind his behavior.

Still, the long meetings were not the only part of your day. It had become a habit, after the session adjourned, to make your way to the gardens with Technoblade, to unwind from the tension of the court in the sunshine before dinner. It was a nice way to spend your afternoons, and you had made good friends with him through it.

He had opened up to you more too - there wasn't just the blunt and vaguely frightening exterior he put out; underneath it all he was a good laugh and a deep thinker - some of the things he thought about; his political ideologies and moral codes, made you re-evaluate your own. He was one of the smartest men you had ever met, and it was a shame that Colin and people like him would discount that just because he was from the Nether. 

You were lounging in the gardens with him now, sprawled under a tree and lazing about in the soft afternoon light, a chessboard abandoned between you. You had played a few games, but once it became clear that he was vastly your superior at the strategies of the game, you stopped bothering, instead choosing to soak up the suns rays. 

It had been a while of companionable silence when you broke it, turning your head slightly to look at Technoblade, catching his eye through the mask. "Tell me about the Nether."

"What about it?" He asked, copying your movement and turning to face you slightly. 

"Just..." You gestured into the air. "All of it."

"Can I ask why?" Technoblade asked.

"I've always wanted to travel," You said. "And I would really like to visit there some day. It feels almost like a rite of passage, since both my father and my brother have made several journeys through the Nether."

Technoblade hummed thoughtfully, pillowing his arms behind his head. "Well..." He started. "It's much warmer there, than it is here. It's always shocking when you go through the portal - one minute everything's all warm and dry and then it's cold and humid the next. The air is much thicker here than it is there too. But it smells better here."

"What does it smell like there?" You asked, closing your eyes to try and imagine the place, using Technoblade's words and the descriptions you had read. 

"Ash." He said. "It's comforting to me, but I can't imagine it smells good to others."

You hummed, adding the smell to your imagery.

"There aren't that many trees." He continued, a wistful tone coming to his voice. "But the ones that we do have are beautiful. They're a sort of greenish blue, and their leaves sparkle like the stars in your night sky. The forests are my favorite part, I think. They're an odd kind of beautiful... like, ah..." He paused, searching for an analogy. 

"Like the twins." You said, finishing his sentence.

"Sure." Technoblade said. "Like the twins."

"And what about that great fortress you live in?" You asked. "It it really built over a lake of lava?"

"Parts, yes." He said. "It's probably about the size of this castle, except we don't have much in the way of gardens and the like. My favorite room is the library though - it's got this vaulted skylight that lets you see directly up to the glowstone."

"And is it true you keep Blaze's as pets?" You asked. 

"Some." He said. "I'm not particularly fond of them, but they're warm."

You laughed at the understatement. "It sounds like a lovely place. Odd, but interesting nonetheless."

Technoblade glanced at you curiously. "I'm surprised that you're still interested. Isn't your religious hell based on my homeland?"

You waved a hand in the air, dismissing the thought. "No one really believes in that anymore anyway. Ever since the Crusades in the name of Notch, the only people that still go to church regularly are villages in the mountains whose heads are too full of snow to realize how idiotic they are."

Technoblade laughed and shifted where he was sprawled in the grass, smiling at the sky as the clouds drifted overhead. "When all of this is over, and Ilbertus and I go back, you should come visit."

You turned your attention to the sky as well, thinking about the blissful day in the future when all of this would be over, one way or another. "I would love to." You said. "You could show me around that library you mentioned."

"And I could show you the trees." He added. "I think you would love the forests."

"They sound magical, from the way you described them." You said. "The whole place sounds magical."

"Well, I probably exaggerated a little-" 

"I think it's better that way." You interrupted before he could put himself down. "If you weren't a warrior, you would be a great storyteller. You speak so eloquently, and there's just something about the way you tell stories that reminds me of the way epics are written."

"I doubt anyone would want to listen to the stories I have to tell." Technoblade said. 

You frowned, glancing over at him. "I would listen to you talk all day if I could."

For a moment, his eyes met yours, only to look back to the sky hurriedly - almost shy.