TECHNOBLADE WASNT SURE what alerted him to it first—the fact that someone was living in his house secretly.
maybe it was the missing potions and golden apples. or maybe, it was the crying underneath his floorboards, but he knew that there was someone.
that's why, when he found the rugged looking sixteen year old boy, slightly shaking, he wasn't alarmed.
instead, he tugged the boy up and out of the "basement" underneath his house by his arm, while he was screaming and sobbing, muttering something about being 'sorry'. he threw the mess of a boy onto a chair scattered in his first floor "kitchen" area.
"hand it over thomas."
technoblade sat across from him, glaring at the younger through his pig-skull mask. his younger brother, still sobbing, glanced around the room nervously, eyes wild, probably looking for an escape route. "look at you, it's pathetic, your like a rat that's scavenging for its next meal. if da—" he cuts himself off, correcting his mistake. "if phil knew what you were like now he would, well, be dissapointed." he finished, still glaring.
tommy quickly emptied his pockets, pulling out golden apples, potions, taking poorly fashioned amor off his body, it would get him away from his monster of a brother, tears still running down his face.
"i'm— i'm— i'm sor-" he hiccuped, "i'm sorry techno."
"is that all of it?" he spat.
Tommy pushed a small compass across the table. engraved with designs and designed with pretty colors. his eyes flickered down, bloodshot and attempting to save face.
"please let me keep it... it's important to me."
it wasn't right. something was very wrong with his younger brother, he decided.
ever since the death of wilbur, technos younger twin brother and tommy's older brother and role model, he'd changed.
but it wasn't just that, something happened.
the boy was badly singed, possibly from explosives. he was noticeably shaken, his eyes sunken with deep bags underneath them, and malnourished. he was considerably scrawnier and dirtier since they last saw each-other. he looked small, which was concerning, he was a tall and proud child, not a teary-eyed and scrawny boy.
then he noticed the bruises, the scabs and scrapes, and the ooze coming out of one of them. then he noticed IT.
his shoulders dropped, cold dread wavered over him. theseus wasn't supposed to receive pity from anyone, he was supposed to die a hero.
tommy had tried to die a villain. alone.
his brother tried to die, but not as a hero, not revered or admired.
the world didn't make sense, his vision blurred.
what happened to his brother, why would he try— to do something like that. what pushed him to that point? WHO pushed him to that point?
he had to find out.