Chapter Text
There was no bell to signal Technoblade’s arrival into the shop. Naturally, as a bell in a black market store would be just plain stupid .
A cacophony of animal noises filled his sensitive ears but Techno didn’t flinch. The store was dimly lit and full of cages that were definitely not up to legal standards. Not that it mattered in a very illegal store. The creatures in the cages were either clawing at the walls or curled into a corner.
Now, what, you may be wondering, was a respectful and well-known member of the SBI crew doing in a place like this? Simple really, Technoblade needed to find a suitable runt. Piglins, especially brutes like Techno, needed something small and fragile to take care of to soothe their instincts. It takes a while for those instincts to develop but, once they do, the piglin needs to find a suitable runt before their instincts choose some rando who may not be too keen on having a giant boar-man dote on them.
Sure, he could have gone to an adoption center or just found a street kid but Techno’s never really been fond of orphans and he’s not all that good with people. Being a piglin has the double-edged sword of being incredibly intimidating and not all that sociable with those outside the sounder.
Better for him to find a small animal to serve as a runt instead, it would be far less tedious to gain its trust than it would be for a sentient creature. It would be even better to kill two birds with one stone and take down some underground black market business while he’s at it. It even has the added bonus of a traumatized and malnourished creature for him to nurture back to health. Three birds with one stone really since he’ll be rescuing the poor thing as well.
The store owner slithered out from behind some glass terrariums displaying various reptiles and approached. He was some shady dreamon with a mask covering his face. Many animals shrunk away from him as he went by and made various sounds of distress or pleading. This guy was definitely abusing these poor things.
“Ahh, welcome, you must be that piglin who I was contacted about, looking for a…unique runt, are you?” Techno responded with a curt nod, “Well you’ve come to the right place, let’s see…you’ll be wanting something that needs a lot of attention and won’t get overwhelmed by a large predator such as yourself giving it that attention… something not necessarily small but relatively weak. If you’re here you want something rare, not something you would find in a regular pet shop… you’d want something intelligent so it could learn what your chuffs and growls mean… I think I might have something.”
The dreamon’s eyes glowed with the light of someone who was about to reel in a pretty penny. Techno followed apprehensively as he was led much deeper into the store until they stopped in front of a secure looking door.
The dreamon pulled out a key and opened the door. Beyond it was filled with more cages, larger ones now. Within them were creatures Techno recognized as critically endangered and heavily protected species. This was where the really expensive animals were kept, the ones that made this place very illegal.
Techno was led to the very back where one cage was set apart from the others quite a bit. It was large and a blanket was thrown over it. The dreamon tugged the cloth off to reveal a frankly pitiful creature.
The thing inside was clearly bipedal with two long legs and two arms with hands for grabbing. It was curled in a corner of the cage with a heavy looking collar clamped around its neck. The collar appeared to be electric and had a chain connected to a loop near the door to the cage. The fur or hair it seemed to have was located on the top of its head while much of its body was covered by scrappy clothes to protect its obviously soft skin. Scared and intelligent eyes stared up and Techno from behind ratty locks of hair.
“This is a new creature I’m calling a human, it was discovered not too long ago. They’re very fragile in terms of their body but incredibly resilient. They’re very intelligent but tend to do rash things, especially the young ones like this. This one here is pretty willful however, doesn’t like to do what it’s told. It doesn’t follow orders well and seems to be on a mission to get itself hurt at the rate it's going, perhaps all it’s good for at this point is being a lap dog. But I get the feeling that’s what you’ll be wanting, am I right?”
Techno stared down at the ‘human,’ it stared up at him. Its ribs were poking out which generally was not a good sign but who knows, maybe it's something common to the species? The look in its eyes proved that the creature was intelligent and the copious bruises and cuts and scrapes proved it was easy to hurt.
The inexplicable urge to see the thing wrapped up in the nest and covered in gold came over Technoblade then. Yup, this is the one. This is his new runt… he’s got his work cut out for him.
Just as Techno was about to open his mouth and ask the cost the dreamon added something that made Techno want the human even more.
“Also, it may not look it, but those ratty curls shine like gold with a proper washing. We don’t have the means here to make it shine properly but I’m sure you can. So what do you say?”
“How much?” Techno asked gruffly, taking a step forward and turning on the dreamon and looming over him.
“Woah, eager, are we? That’ll be 600 credits, full payment, here and now.”
Techno grimaced, pricey but he was rich, no need to fuss too much. He handed over the credits and turned back to the human. It seemed to know what was going on as it shrunk under his gaze, not yet knowing how well taken care of it was going to be.
With that, he was given a sheet of paper with the human’s information and the controls for the shock collar. Because the place was, you know: illegal, he had to bring his vehicle around into a loading bay where the cage was loaded into it. The human had to be sedated to keep calm during the process, Techno was going to wring that dreamon’s neck for every spike of fear his runt felt.
Once all loaded up Techno called Phil and told him everything he’d seen of the place. Techno took off as Phil and his forces moved on the place ready to shut it down. Once Techno had piloted his smaller ship into the hangar of his starship he set in coordinates and warped away.
Techno wasted no time in checking on the runt. He– as Techno learned from the file– was curled in a corner with a drowsy but still fearful look in his eyes. He flinched when Techno opened the door, despite Techno’s efforts to telegraph his every move.
“Come here little one,” Techno urged softly, “I’m not going to hurt you, let’s get that collar off ey?”
The runt started shaking, from what Techno could only assume was fear but still crawled carefully forward.
“That’s it, runt, keep comin’ towards me.”
And he did, on shaking limbs, his runt came up the edge of the cage but would not step out. That was fine, Techno just needed him in arms reach. But when Techno reached out, his runt flinched back into the corner of the cage.
“C’mon runt,” Techno coaxed, “I need to get you out of that cage, it can’t be comfortable in there can it? Let’s get you into the nest with all the soft blankets and the gold.”
The runt didn’t move, only stared fearfully at Techno. It was clear that this was not going to be an easy task. Then again, nothing about taking care of his new runt was going to be easy.
Techno spent a lot of time trying to coax his runt out from the cage but he must have grown to feel that the cage was a place of safety, at least from the horrors outside of it.
He couldn’t blame the runt for being scared. If Techno were that small, he’d be pretty terrified too. Because Techno was scary, even he could admit that. Built like a boulder with tough pinkish-brownish skin and coarse hairs. Not to mention the massive two pairs of tusks sticking out of his lower jaw and the four muscular arms at his sides. Scars covered his body and his eyes the color of blood.
It all made for a very terrifying picture to anyone who didn’t know him.
Eventually, Techno couldn’t wait any longer and had to resort to tugging him out by the chain attached to his collar. It was not something Techno wanted to do nor enjoyed doing.
His runt clung to the bars in the back of the cage and scrabbled at the floor, doing everything in his power to keep from being pulled out. He yelled and screeched but Techno gritted his teeth and bore through the noise.
Techno thought that once his runt was out of the cage he would stop fighting. He was wrong. The little thing used all of his puny strength to attempt to resist. It didn’t do anything for him but it gave Techno an idea.
“You’re quite the fighter aren’t you?” Techno muttered fondly to his runt once he’d got a tight but gently restraining grip on him. “I think I’ll have to give a name suitable for a warrior, hmm… how about Theseus? He was an old hero from the myths on my species’ home planet, Hypixel. He defeated the last of the minotaurs, which were terrorizing the planet. But even after he won he was cast out by his people because they feared his power. Don’t worry Theseus, you won’t have to face any minotaurs and I will certainly never be getting rid of you.”
Theseus stilled while Techno spoke to him, staring up with those wide sapphire eyes. He started squirming again when they began moving but it was to no avail. Techno took him to his nest and laid him down in the blankets.
Theseus made to scramble away as soon as Techno let go of him but before he could even sit up Techno was wrapping him in the blankets until he was sufficiently bundled up.
With a terse “stay,” Techno left to get some food and water for Theseus, locking the door behind him.
🜋🜋🜋
Tommy squirmed in the blanket prison he’d been wrapped into. It was tight and nearly impossible to move within it, but with an unceremonious amount of wriggling, he was able to get an arm out.
Needless to say, Tommy was terrified of his new owner. He hasn’t even done anything bad to Tommy yet, other than imprison him in blankets. The logical part of Tommy tells him to be good while his new owner is still kind but Tommy’s never been one to give in, even after all his time in space.
It was not fun, finally escaping his last abusive foster home only to end up being abducted by aliens. They did not seem to be aware that Tommy was sentient, or maybe they just didn’t care. Either way, he was treated like an animal and tossed around from one owner to another until he eventually ended up in that last fucking pet shop.
At least he’d picked up a thing or two from all the different aliens he’d been kept by. He’d managed to at least learn how to understand quite a bit of what seemed to be the common language. He knew quite a few words and could comprehend most conversations he heard.
That being said, Tommy's only ever tried to communicate once. It had been on a scientific research ship earlier on in Tommy’s experience in space. Suffice it to say he quickly became their favorite specimen. He’d never tried to speak again but committed himself to learning the language through observation.
So he’d stayed silent on that front. Doesn’t mean he didn’t scream and yell and curse whenever he was manhandled by them. Case in point being only a few minutes ago when the pig-lookin’ fucker–Tommy knows he’s called a piglin he just doesn’t care– dragged him out of the cage and carried him here where he imprisoned Tommy in this cocoon of blankets.
Come to think of it, it was really weird how gentle his new owner was. All things considered, it could have been a lot worse. Tommy didn’t want to think about all the ways it could’ve been worse.
The opening of the door to the blanket room snapped Tommy out of his thoughts. Pig-bitch was back with a bowl of something. Oh lovely, Tommy gets to have a water/food bowl, awesome.
But no… there’s a spoon-like thing sticking out of the bowl of…soup? Yep, that’s space soup, space soup that smells really fuckin’ good. Oh, and there’s a bottle of water in his other hand.
The piglin grunted scoldingly at Tommy when he saw his half-successful escape attempt. When he approached, presumably to tuck Tommy’s arm back into the blanket prison, Tommy snarled at him and started struggling again. No way in hell was he letting Pig-bitch touch him again–despite the fact that he knew it was inevitable.
More grunting and whining noises came from the piglin, interspersed with soothing words in Common–what Tommy was referring to the generally spoken language of most aliens.
Tommy managed to free his torso entirely before the piglin gave up on trying to convince him with words. Huge hands grabbed him under his armpits and lifted him the rest of the way out of the blanket prison. His freedom was short-lived however and he found himself in a new prison: the piglin’s lap.
The piglin placed him down in his lap and used his legs to trap Tommy’s. With one hand, the piglin caught Tommy’s wrists and used that arm to pin him to the piglin’s chest. Tommy threw back his head to try and hit the piglin’s chin but instead just landed on his shoulder. The piglin then used another hand to grab Tommy’s forehead and keep his head stuck on his shoulder.
Once the piglin had Tommy effectively immobilized, he started up a rumble deep in his chest that felt and sounded a lot like a cat’s purr. The piglin was fucking purring . It was strangely calming and it did not take long for Tommy’s struggling to slow. He made a chuffing noise and started stroking Tommy’s hair while rocking back and forth. Tommy realized he was trying to comfort him. No one had done that for Tommy since…since far too long ago.
It ended up having the opposite effect and Tommy’s aggressive growls and snarls turned to choked back sobs. A lot of emotions decided they wanted to stop being repressed and flooded over him. Soon enough Tommy was full-on crying in an ugly mess. It was all just too much for him.
Somehow, against the odds, Tommy’s new owner–because that’s what he is and it never fails to hit Tommy hard that he’s just something to be owned– understood that Tommy needed a good cry. There was no harsh smack like he was expecting, just more gentle stroking and soft words.
After what felt like ages of just sitting like that, Tommy’s eyes finally dried and the piglin carefully wiped his cheeks free of tears. He then released Tommy’s head, not like he had the strength or will to throw it around anymore either, and grabbed the bowl of soup and placed it closer to them.
Then he took the spoon, filled it with soup, and raised it to Tommy’s mouth. Fuuuuck no–nope, Tommy is not being hand fed by this bitch! Nope nope nope.
In response, Tommy turned his head away and tried to reach for the spoon with his hands. The piglin did not let him, however. So Tommy turned to plan B.
Using his best puppy eyes, he stared pleadingly up at the piglin and made little grabby hands hopefully. With a wobbly lip, Tommy blinked for maximum effect.
He got a deadpan stare for his efforts.
The spoon was shoved closer to Tommy’s mouth and the smell made it water. After flicking his eyes between the spoon and the piglin’s face Tommy reluctantly opened his mouth and accepted the soup. His pride took a hit but it’s not as if it hadn’t been shattered already by being treated like an animal for literal years.
They got through about half the bowl before Tommy felt he’d burst if he forced any more food into his stomach. Luckily the piglin recognized the effects of Tommy’s previous lack of nutrition and set the food aside.
He then offered Tommy the water which he gladly drank. After that, Tommy thought his new owner would just leave him to explore his new room but apparently not.
Instead, Tommy was wrapped once again in the piglin’s arms. The piglin leaned back, taking Tommy with him, and curled up around Tommy in the nest of blankets. He then wrapped the two of them in the blankets until they were comfortably covered and tucked Tommy into his chest.
The rumbling purr started up again and Tommy slowly relaxed into the hold. It wasn't… bad…maybe even nice, not that Tommy would ever admit it. But… It'd been a while since anyone had truly been this kind to Tommy. Pretty much all physical contact had been harsh or cruel in recent years.
Tommy noticed how warm the piglin was then. He must produce more body heat than a human would. Tommy found himself snuggling into the soft chest that was producing the warmth around him.
If there was a tiny gasp and choked-back squeal from somewhere above Tommy? Well, that’s just between the two of them innit?
🜋🜋🜋
Life certainly took a different turn from then on. ‘Techno,’ apparently, as Tommy learned from listening in on a call he had with someone named ‘Wilbur,’ was not like any owners Tommy had the pleasure of knowing so far.
It actually… wasn’t bad.
Not that Tommy would admit that even when faced with death.
But… Techno had no interest in displaying Tommy as a rare specimen or making him an obedient little toy. He just wanted to take care of him.
The name was a little pretentious though. Like seriously? Theseus ? Sounds like some rando of ancient high society or some shit.
After some bumps, they’d actually formed a decent relationship. Techno learned the hard way that Tommy could and would be bathing himself and will not be wearing any tight jewelry.
That’s another thing: the gold .
Tommy had heard that piglins liked gold but this was just an unorthodox amount of the stuff. So so so much gold: rings, necklaces, earrings, bracelets, crowns, anklets– anything! And he seemed to want to put it all on Tommy.
Unfortunately for him, Tommy had no interest in wearing anything he felt to be a collar or shackles. Techno managed to understand this after the first couple tries and stuck to more loose-fitting items. He still would not let Tommy exist without at least three pieces of jewelry on at a time, usually more.
Techno made some killer food though. None of that pet shit for Tommy, only the finest cuisines from Technoblade himself. Although, even though he clearly knew Tommy could feed himself, Techno insisted on hand-feeding Tommy.
That was something to get used to. At first, it was met with prolific resistance on Tommy’s part but he accepted his fate eventually. And it’s not like it was all the time, if Techno had other things to do he’d let Tommy feed himself which Tommy was immensely grateful for but Techno was always sad about.
Tommy also learned that apparently, piglins, especially brutes like techno, needed a runt to take care of and Tommy fit the description well enough for Techno. That explained the gentleness and fondness that was directed at the blond from the piglin.
So far as Tommy could tell there was no one else on the relatively medium-sized ship they were on. He’s seen them orbit around the same snow-covered planet a couple of times for some reason. Tommy has a suspicion that that is Techno’s home planet but he’s waiting until Tommy fully trusts him to land.
Whatever the case, Tommy is mildly content to stay in the position he’s in. Sure it’s a little demoralizing to be hand-fed and cuddled by a brute alien that sees him as small and pathetic, but at least he’s not in a science lab.
Tommy’s broken out of his thoughts by Techno entering the nest room where Tommy had been chilling. In one hand he carried dinner, which appeared to be these potato-like things and meat of some sort, and in the other a sort of holo pad thing.
He sat down and patted the spot next to him, indicating for Tommy to join him. Tommy crawled across the blankets to the spot and was immediately scooped into Techno’s lap.
He sighed as a fork with some meat was lifted in front of his face. As always he tried to reach for it himself but was denied. Another sigh proceeded out of Tommy’s mouth as he opened it.
Techno alternated between potato-things and meat until Tommy refused another mouthful, filled already. He was getting better at eating more and now only a few pieces remained. Techno purred proudly at the sight.
Once Techno set down the food he gave Tommy some water which thankfully he was allowed to drink on his own. At the price of allowing Techno to play with his hair but he would have done that anyways.
Afterward, Techno poked around the piles of gold in the room until he came back with some hair pieces, a crown, some thin necklaces, and a ring. He braided Tommy’s hair back and decorated the circle of braids with clips and the crown to finish it. He then placed the necklaces and ring in their respective places and sat back to admire his work.
Techno didn’t seem content though. He snorted, looked thoughtful, sighed, and shook his head. He settled down in the nest but Tommy could tell he was still unhappy about something.
From the way he’d been eyeing Tommy’s ears and the amount of gold jangling around on his own, it wasn’t hard for Tommy to guess what he wanted.
And Tommy was going to give him hell if he tried.
For now, though, they just went to sleep, Tommy wrapped safely in Techno’s arms.
🜋🜋🜋
Techno grunted as he tried to hold Theseus still. It was not easy to pierce a human’s ears apparently. It probably had something to do with the needle, Techno wouldn’t be surprised if Theseus had some sort of trauma surrounding needles. Who knows what the boy had been through before Techno got him.
Theseus being a rare and new species meant he most likely ended up on a not-so-ethical research ship or lab at some point.
Whatever the case, it did not change the fact that Techno was going to do this. He’s already tried twice before and this time he won’t let Theseus get out of it.
Theseus was shrieking horribly when Techno finally pinned him so only two of his four arms needed to hold him and the others were free to work. Horribly sobbing filled his ears and Techno had to try very hard not to relent. Just two quick pierces and that was it. The needle was clean and he had numbing potion at the ready.
Techno did his best to comfort his runt, purring and murmuring reassurances. It worked slightly, which worked more he couldn’t tell, but Theseus did what he could to be still so Techno could get it over with.
As quickly as possible, Techno swabbed Theseus’ earlobes with the potion-soaked cloth and pressed the needle to the first one. Theseus whimpered and shook uncontrollably.
In two swift motions on each ear, the piercing was done and the small emerald studs Techno had chosen were in place. He immediately threw the needle into his piercing kit and shut it, releasing Theseus as well.
Theseus just slumped over into Techno’s chest with relief. Big, sapphire eyes stared up at Techno then, questioning and wary. Techno purred when he saw the glittering green and gold in his runt’s ears. The perfection of it almost ate up all the guilt Techno felt at putting Theseus through that.
Almost.
“I know runt, you hate needles and didn't want that,” Techno soothed, “I’m sorry but my instincts couldn’t live without your ears pierced. They look lovely, treasure. They’re a symbol of my family y’know, everyone that I consider part of my sounder wears an emerald in their ear. See mine, here on my left ear.”
Theseus just stared at his ear for a minute with his watery eyes. He reached a wary hand up and gently pinched the emerald dangling from Techno’s ear between his fingers. Then he sniffled and buried his face in Techno’s chest, retracting his arm at the same time. Well, at least Techno hadn’t destroyed the little trust Theseus had in him.
Techno wrapped his arms around his runt and rocked back and forth until all the tension had left Theseus’ muscles and his breathing steadied. When he looked he found the peaceful face of Theseus fast asleep, his eyes puffy and face sticky from crying.
With a sigh, Techno let his own eyes drift closed.
If his runt still trusted him after that, it may be time to start thinking of returning home. Just a couple more weeks out here and they should be good to head back to the planet. That should be about enough time for one more orbit before landing.
A part of Techno wanted to stay out there forever and not share Theseus with anyone. But the louder part of him wanted to go home to see his sounder and show them his new treasure.
Techno drifted off with thoughts of his sounder filling his head.