||Beefsteak || DSMP ||

17. The Art of Keeping up Disapearances

Technoblade's POV
"So where was he??"
I was carrying a crate filled with potatoes. But suddenly, I was not carrying a crate filled with potatoes.
The floor was.
"Ah, Jesus— what??" I responded as Belle, the small scary woman that stayed here, ignored her sneak attack and began to pry me about a thing I'd said a week ago.
"The Funtaurian man. Where did you see him and what direction was he heading in?"
I thought. "I was headed south and he crossed my path going southeast." I recalled.
"I see.. was he on foot?"
I nodded.
She squinted, losing herself in deep thought.
"Why are you asking now..?"
She escaped her mind and glared at me. "I didn't trust you and thought you were mean."
Blunt.
Rude.
True though..
What an assho-
I shook my head, the voices quieting once I did.
"You do now..?" I asked as I bent over and picked up the crate and the few potatoes that had fallen out.
"You'd leave before dawn for hours, but you also just cared for a ridiculous number of potatoes when you weren't gone to be doing anything truly devious."
I blinked. "I'm.. glad?"
"Evil takes time, and you have potatoes." She said wisely.
Maybe she was spending too much time in the caves like Wilbur...
Speaking of..
"We were not!"
"I know what I saw! There's a song about it!" Tommy cried.
"What?!" Wilbur exclaimed. "I'd fallen asleep, you nitwit!"
"Sitting in a tree?!!"
"Yes! Three days ago! Drop it!"
The two continued to yell as they passed the door to the farm.
I turned to Belle again. "What's that about?"
She flinched. "The boy is an idiot, that's what!"
I chuckled lowly.
My brother has a very sensitive soul. When I came back that day and looked to the tree, I knew he was doomed..
Though Belle was harder to read.
She seemed inconvenienced if anything, and any embarrassment came from the kid's harsh language when describing what happened.
"Is that search for your sister going well?" I asked as I walked past her.
She followed.
"She's not my sister-" she clarified. "And it's not a search. I know where she is, I just need to get her back. Or find a way to get in.."
"Oh.. that's it?"
Her expression was purely judgement.
"I mean- I found these tunnels that run under the country. If you want I could help-"
"Are you serious??" She questioned.
"Um.. yeah."
Her smile made her cow ears perk up. "Thank you very much, uh- sir!"
Oh I hated that.
Are we old?!
Sir sounds strong..
"Uh.. please, just Techno.."
She nodded. "Sorry!"
Weird..
Sweet..
Cool?

Anita's POV
Tubbo had gotten a bag of my belongings from my house while out late at night, and now I was brewing in his workshop, as I'd been for the past few days.
Turns out, his vast skills encompass underground demolition apparently, so he was below the surface carving and mapping out a tunnel in the direction of the pog base, or whatever they were now calling it.
The knocking of wood made me jump, almost dropping a bottle.
The front door.
I descended into the basement and activated the lever that he'd told me to pull if something happened.
A loud click echoed through the tunnel and nothing followed.
Another knock from above.
I began to panic, but a whirring soon came closer.
"Is that a mine cart??" I whispered, the tunnel echoing.
It clicked at a distance and he ran towards me.
"Are you okay??" He asked as he stopped by me.
"I- yes. Why is there a-"
"I found most of it a while ago— did you think I did all of this myself??"
I stayed quiet.
"It would take years to do this! I've just opened up old routes. I only manually did about half a mile or so"
"Oh.. cool, someone's at the door." I said saltily.
His eyes went wide.
"Oh."
The door was knocked on again and he turned to go up the stairs.
I grabbed his wrist.
"I have to-"
I pulled him towards me and swiped my thumb across his cheek.
I showed him the mark I'd cleaned and he apologized before going up.
I snuck back up behind him and covered the basement entrance as I heard the door open.
"Hello?" I heard, muffled.
"Hey!"
"Fuck!" I whispered, ducking away from any windows and below the counter. It was him.
It was Quackity.
"What are you doing here?" Tubbo asked.
"Can I come in?" He avoided the question.
I heard the door open more and footsteps creak through the house.
"Got anyone here with you?" He asked, his fake smile audible in his voice.
Tubbo stayed quiet.
There was a long pause.
"You look tired." Tubbo said.
More silence and then a nervous chuckle. "Helping to run a country.. it's hard work."
"Why are you here?"
I couldn't make out any movement.
"The president is looking to hire you for your work."
"Tell my father I'm busy."
"He won't like that.." Quackity had a tone that resembled less a threat and more of a warning.
"What could he possibly want from me?"
"Loyalty. To know you're obeying the laws set in place."
I could feel the tension rising.
"You of all people know he's looking for fear, not loyalty."
A sigh came from Quackity. "I know— just please! He's feeling weak and you could help calm him down. Stop him from hurting.. people."
I tried to get closer to the wall and slid closer.
Crash.
I slammed my hand over my mouth and backed up.
My movement had sent an empty bottle off the counter and a shard stuck my leg.
It was red hot pain, warm blood trickling down my calf.
I stayed silent.
"Anita, you alright?" Quackity sang out.
I couldn't muffle my heavy breathing as fear and pain swirled around me.
A push and a slam came from outside, and the door swung open.
Tubbo was pushed back, and Quackity stood over me.
He looked between me and the brewing stand.
"Way to go, dumbass." He joked crudely.
I glared up at him as I grabbed my leg.
"Stop it with the eyes. Your little hideaway stunt isn't doing shit. Your little helper hasn't gotten within a mile since you got here." He spat.
Tubbo pushed past him and landed on his knees next to me.
"Are you okay??" He questioned as he pulled my sock further down my calf. I grabbed his arm and nodded, keeping eye contact with the cocky man who stood at the door.
"Choke on a dick."
"God! You mushroom fucks are mean!" He laughed before turning.
"You're the weakest little henchman I've ever laid eyes on."
"Anita!" Tubbo argued as he pulled a cloth from his belt.
He stopped walking. "You don't know shit."
"You're pathetic. You know you're wrong, too. That's the worst part about you. You'll hide behind a flag, a tyrant, anything. Because you're a pathetic little-"
The front door slammed and echoed through the house.
"Hold still." My attention shot back to Tubbo a second too late and the shard of glass slid out of my leg.
I crunched forward with a yelp and he cringed.
"It's okay.. it's okay.." he seemed to be soothing himself more than me as he lifted my leg and placed it over his knee, wrapping the cloth above it and tying it tightly.
"I can't believe that fucking-" I started.
"Shut up!" He ordered as he focused, reaching and grabbing bandages from the bottom drawer next to him.
He was intensely and carefully working, looking back up to me every time I flinched even a bit.
"I don't have any healing-" he tried to peer over the counters from the floor and groaned. "Fuck.."
I waited until his angry breathing calmed a bit to pull my leg away.
The second I did he frowned at me.
I held my hands out and swung my leg around.
I rose using my good leg and started to stumble.
He jumped up and hooked his hands under my elbows to keep me up straight.
I deadpanned. "Off."
He let go but didn't create any distance as I slowly put my foot down.
I hid my wince as well as I could.
"It still hurts." He accused.
"Well, yeah.." I argued. "We have bigger problems now."
"Sit down." He instructed.
"Hello?? He knows I'm here, and if Belle hasn't been here then maybe something's wrong!"
"Go sit on the couch." He repeated in the same tone, ignoring me.
"DUDE-"
"Your bleeding is freaking me out! Just go!"
I scoffed and turned, taking a step towards the living room and stumbling into the doorframe.
He grabbed my hand and pulled it over his shoulder, the other hand around my waist.
"Aye! Off!" I whined. "I can do it!"
However he already had me stumbling forward and soon gently laid me on the couch.
"It's basically a paper cut, calm down.." I tried to tame his nerves. It was not a paper cut.
"Aren't you part animal too?? Do you not feel that panic when blood is open like that??" His tone was meaner than I knew he intended.
I knew what he was talking about.
I barely showed any Tauran qualities. Most royalty doesn't. I was properly educated on the prey animal instinct well despite the fact that mine were dampened.
Taurans, and to my new knowledge, likely any prey animal hybrid, can feel it if they're being hunted, don't react well to blood, and tend to be more paranoid.
However there was a reason Funtaura was so successful at joining two peoples that even the cows and mushrooms began to mimic us.
Funtaurans developed a natural pheromone that can be activated to cause calming affects on cow hybrids.
It's found in no other mushroom hybrids. The combination of the cow people and mushroom people created this power, and I wondered if it'd be different for a ram..
I reached out and placed my fingers on his cheek softly.
His eyes shot to mine and I could see how shaken he was.
I cupped his cheek.
"Take a breath." I instructed softly.
His chest rose and fell, once more rising as he leaned closer into my hand.
His thoughts slowed and face rested.
As I went to pull my wrist away, he grabbed the back of my hand, eyes still closed.
I watched his peaceful face as he melted further into my grasp.