When Clay saw the familiar cattail of pink hair across the airport, that fluttery feeling of happiness and something unnameable returned. All of last year, Technoblade took up every inch of space in his mind- the rare smile he only got to see once, the immense intelligence he tried to conceal with a constant tone of boredom or ignorance.
All rational thought abandoned his mind, even cut him off mid-sentence. He dropped his bag- which had everything, including his phone- in an airport and just ran at Techno.
The pinkette caught him willingly, strong enough to pick him up and spin him around.
"You know we look like a couple in a mushy romance movie," Clay laughed.
"I don't care! This is so amazing! You're really here, Clay!" Tech said loudly.
Clay's real name was only for his most trusted people to use. So that meant Aurora and Techno, because they were his best friends. And obviously his family.
Everyone else had made their way over, and Aurora looked like someone had just walked up and slapped her.
But Clay was too happy to see Techno to worry about it. "Guys! This is Techno. Tech, that's Zak, Darryl, Alex, and Aurora. They're in school this year."
"We get to be first years together," Techno said. Generally only Clay and Techno's twin, Wil, could tell what emotions Tech was expressing under the monotone. Right now, he sounded mildly interested.
Clay realized self-consciously that he was still in Techno's arms.
"Yeah," Aurora said in a friendly voice. All signs of the pained expression were gone. "I assume you know what you're doing, then. We'd love your help because we don't."
Techno shook her hand, laughing. "Actually, no, I have no clue. But he does. This veteran is a second year now." Tech glanced at him appraisingly. Clay grinned. It always felt strangely good to have Techno compliment him, even if it wasn't really a compliment. Sometimes it was enough for Techno to just be impressed by him. It sort of made him want to hide in his hoodie, too, for reasons he couldn't explain.
After baggage claim, they all piled into Philza's bus of a vehicle and pulled out of the parking lot.
As they drove, Techno pointed out all the landmarks that went by, and at some point during a history lesson on the train station, he noticed Clay looking at him funny and stopped talking.
"Umm... hi?" he said, waving a hand in front of his face. Clay snapped back to reality.
"What? If there's gonna be a pop quiz, I'm here to regretfully inform you that I will not pass," he laughed. Techno could sense an underlying tone of nervousness, though.
"You alright?" he asked. Clay gave him a genuine smile this time.
"I'm good. So wait, how many owls have been passed through here before?" And with that, the two of them zoned back into the tour without realizing Aurora and Alex had been watching and silently giggling through the whole thing.
"DAD! TECHNO STOLE MY BEANIEEE!" Wilbur yelled, chasing after his twin and avoiding the laughing Clay.
Phil just sighed and plucked the beanie out of Techno's hand the next time he ran by and dropped it into Wil's.
People could see the whole encounter through the windows of the bar they were standing outside, though not many people seemed to be in there, as per usual.
"Why are we here?" Aurora asked Clay uneasily, rocking back and forth on her feet.
"This is how we get to Diagon Alley," he explained. "Don't worry about it. Everyone in here is pretty chill."
