𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙞𝙜𝙡𝙞𝙣 𝙋𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚 - [Technoblade x reader ]

27

Time hadn't ever gone as slow as it did while we waited for word about Ishton.

We had been able to escape all the chaos by going to my old bedroom. I had been surprised to find out that it sat entirely untouched. I thought that Lavinia would have taken her first chance to get rid of everything I owned and pretend as if I had never been there.

Techno was incredibly tense. He would pace, before he would sit on the couch and run his hands over his face, and stand up to pace again. I wish there was a way that I could comfort him but this weight he was now bearing was not one that he felt alone. It was something that weighed in the room, something that hung in the air like it could crush us at any moment. Nothing would ease this burden but knowing Ishton would be okay.

Alethea sat at my side, leaning her head on my shoulder. I could tell that she was tired, as we all were from such a long battle. I had found one of my old gowns and let her bathe and change into it. It was obvious that the blood coating her skin was making her sick.

I had yet to take care of the blood on my own clothes and skin, but it was hard to think past what was happening with Ishton. I couldn't imagine the Nether fortress without the light and heart of Ishton roaming its halls. Dinners with Erix where Ishton wasn't desperate to catch his father's every approval. Ishton not attending our wedding.

No one had said much since Alethea had changed. We sat in tense silence as the time passed much too slowly. I was so desperate for even a piece of news. A sliver of hope that he would make it. Anything.

Alethea suddenly jolted to her feet, leaving Techno and I shocked by her sudden movement. She ran a hand through her dark hair as she sighed and strode for the door of my rooms.

"I'm going back to the infirmary. I need to do something. Maybe the Endermen will let me help where they need it, and I might hear more of Ishton's condition," she was gone before either of us could oppose.

Devastation was a mild word to describe the way that I felt when I looked at Techno. He was so broken and it was written so clearly on his face when it was just the two of us. With Alethea gone, he had nothing to hide and it was so heartbreaking to see.

The moment happened quickly, but my arms were around his waist and my head on his chest before either of us could register what happened. He tensed under my embrace only momentarily before he was holding me so tightly to him I thought I might stop my breathing.

I'm unsure how long we stayed like that. How long we enjoyed the comfort of each other before the smell of all of the blood become a little too much for me and I had to peel myself from him with every ounce of strength I had in me.

"I'm sorry. The smell of the blood on both of us is making me somewhat ill," I said with a half-smile. He only nodded his head once before he strode for the bathroom. I was rather confused when I heard the water running. There was no way he could be bathing in here with me right now.

He returned only a moment later with a wet cloth in his hand. He tried his best for a smile, but it looked so out of place on his tired and broken face. He gave me the rag, likely to begin wiping the blood off of my own body. I took the rag from his hand, but wrapped my fingers in his own and wiped the warm rag down his own pink skin.

He melted into the touch, coming closer to me as I continued to wipe away the battle that lingered on his smooth skin. We sank into quiet, blissful comfort. Soon his skin was looking cleaner, and the only blood that remained was the darkened color of his armor.

Or so I thought because when I looked up I saw the blood sprayed on his handsome features. Was my hand shaking as I raised it to the face looking down at me? I was unsure, but when I touched his face, his eyes closed and it felt so much more intimate. I carefully and gently wiped away every piece of crushed blood on his handsome features.