Work Text:
Techno, quite frankly, had no idea how he got here. Standing in a tiny kitchen, up to his elbows in suds, washing the dishes from a meal he'd prepped and cooked, being hugged from behind by quite possibly the clingiest human he'd ever met.
Actually no, that was a lie, he knew exactly how he had gotten here. Down to the very moment his life had changed, when Phil had given him that shit-eating grin in an alleyway in a city he didn't care to name, and promptly left him to come up with a convincing enough improvisation that the Hunter who had just walked in on them brawling wouldn't kill him on the spot.
Yes, admittedly, it was a single mortal Hunter vs an ancient vampire, he could've just slaughtered the man in his tracks and been done with it, but in a thousand years of life, simply murdering everyone who crossed your path was boring.
And so he'd spun a tale, one with just enough of a sprinkle of truth to not flag up as a lie, and the man had bought it hook, reel and sinker. That would've been that if it had been any other Hunter. He would've been sent on his way, perhaps directed to a nearby vampire shelter to wait out the rapidly coming dawn, and would've never thought of it again. But apparently Alexis Solaris delighted in ruining his wonderfully neatly layed out plans, and had instead insisted on bringing Techno to the Hunters lodge nearby, where, as he had explained, he could wait out the dawn, get some blood, and they could help him work out his new life.
Because Techno, in all his wisdom, had managed to tell him that he was a fledgling, out of the nest, and Phil had been his sire chasing him down. In the old days, this was standard practise - fledglings belonged to their sires for the first decade or so of death, and to leave was unacceptable. In the last couple of centuries, however, the new fangled era, they had all these ideas about kidnapping and fledglings being people, and so to hold one against their will was highly illegal.
Techno had done a remarkable job, for the next few days, of playing the hapless fledgling, turned against his will, the poor thing, confused about what life as a vampire entailed, wanting nothing more than to return to a human life that would no longer accept him, very sad, much sympathy. He could hear Phil outside the building, occasionally, laughing to himself as he presumably double checked that Techno wasn't the contents of an ashtray, and promised to thoroughly thrash the man when he was out.
But 'out' never seemed to come.
He sat his way through several very long, very tedious 'how to not be a murderous rampage machine and therefore break the law and therefore we have to kill you' talks, from several different Hunters, who all emphasised the point that 'we know we're carrying stakes and silver and holy water, but as long as you're a nice vampire we won't use them on you (:', drank far too much animal blood that was clearly several days old, and was even shown fang care (admittedly that one was useful, when Techno had been turned, toothbrushes hadn't even been invented yet).
He assumed once they were finally happy he wouldn't either run into the sunlight or drain half a dozen people, he would be allowed to venture into the big wide world, and he could return to Phil.
However, the return of Alexis, with a beaming grin on his face, and papers waving in one hand, promptly shattered that dream.
"Isn't it great?" he'd said, after telling Techno all about how he'd petitioned the Head Hunter at this lodge to let him take Techno home to help him out, "Roommates!"
"Great." Techno had said with a dead eyed smile, "I hope you don't mind if I stock my blood in your fridge."
Alexis apparently didn't. As he'd already bought several containers of very high quality, cruelty free blood, fixed the entire apartment with complete black-out blinds, and replaced anything silver in the household.
Techno had only meant to stay a couple of days. He figured he'd settle in, drink some blood that didn't taste like it was watered down, and piss off Phil by sending him scathing texts on the phone the elder still hadn't worked out how to properly used.
A couple of days had turned into a week, then a week into two, and before he knew it, Phil swung by the window to tell him that he had been called to a meeting in Venice, and would be back in a month or two, and then, well- Techno would've needed to find somewhere to stay anyway, given that he was no longer allowed to attend meetings after the Paris affair, so he might as well stay with his roommate.
As far as roommates went, his was alright. Didn't bother him during the day, always made sure the fridge was stocked, did the dishes-
At the end of the first month, Techno was getting slightly bored of the same four walls, and announced while Alexis was cooking dinner one night (he'd tried to explain to Alexis that he didn't need to eat, but the man insisted it would help him feel more normal, more human, and he'd eventually succumbed) that he was going to find a job.
Alexis had been supportive as ever, and with a little help from the Head Hunter, Techno managed to land himself a nighttime security job, doing the graveyard shift that no one else wanted.
It paid well enough, and before long, he was contributing to the household in a way he hadn't since- gods, since at least the early 1920s, when he and Phil had worked a while in a bar in New Orleans.
They had funds stashed worldwide, and as such, had never felt the need to work particularly hard at anything - Phil knew a vampire with uncannily good predictive abilities, and their investments had yet to fail them, but it was nice every so often, to do something that felt productive. Plus, the long hours gave him a chance to catch up on some of the reading he'd been promising himself he would for the last few decades, and he worked his way quickly through his to-be-read-list.
And as of his roommate? Well, Alexis had been delighted that he was taking an active stance into returning to 'human life' (Techno learnt through an eavesdropping session that apparently the man had been worried about him being depressed, of all things), and when Techno had gotten a promotion, only a few months into the job, he took the opportunity to do his favourite thing - celebrate.
It had been a small affair (in Alexis's words), a few friends invited over, all clearly having been briefed on the vampire residing in his spare room, some drinks and a potluck-style meal, but Techno, much to his surprise, had found himself rather enjoying it. The humans were good enough company - he'd been introduced to a Niki, a Charlie, a Wilbur, and one who everyone referred to as Fundy, but he was fairly sure was actually called Floris, the first of whom who actually gone and made blood jello shots, which was both impressive and delicious, and by the time the night was over, his shirt was unbuttoned at the top, his hair was loose from its braid, and he was unsteady on his feet. Their guests had distributed themselves between the guest room (and how strange, that Techno's room was no longer that), the sofa, and he was fairly sure Wilbur was asleep in the bathtub, by the time Alexis helped him up the stairs, laughing and remarking something in soft Spanish, a language that Techno could almost, but not quite understand, having learnt it first six hundred years ago.
He could've blamed any number of things on what he did next. The drinks making him bold, the company making him relaxed. The plausible excuse in the morning for them both to forget it, to wipe it from their memories.
But the truth was, Techno had just really, really wanted to kiss him.
They hadn't spoken about it the next morning, when they both stumbled out of Techno's room somewhere in the late afternoon, having woken up within minutes of each other, but Alexis had squeezed his hand when he was making breakfast for five hungover humans and one amused vampire, and Techno had brushed a hand over his waist when they passed in the corridor to see his friends off, and somehow they were kissing again against a wall, against the sofa, against the headboard with their shirts off.
When Phil messaged him three months to say that he was finally done with the meetings, and that he fancied another hike in the Andes, Techno had hesitated only a moment, looking down at the sleeping figure on his lap, in their bed, before he told his husband that something had come up, and he would be staying there a little longer.
Phil had taken a moment to respond, before he'd asked whether it was anything to do with the pretty little human Techno had been talking about for months in their back and forth messages. Techno had sent him a photo of his own middle finger, making sure to catch the shirtless Alexis in frame, and Phil immediately called him just to laugh hysterically into the microphone, teasing his husband for taking a mortal lover.
Techno had hung up the call, but the grin stayed on his face until he finally fell asleep as well, phone falling on his chest.
He and Phil had- an unconventional marriage.
The elder had been married to Kristen long before Techno was even born, centuries before, in fact, and it had been Kristen who'd encouraged him to take a lover of his own for when she was busy organising covens, which was comparable to herding feral cats. Techno had been enchanted by the flawless creature in his village, and Phil had been hooked by the unusual pink hair and the way Techno took everything in stride so easily.
Love had been a second thought to the initial lust, creeping up slowly on them in the decades after Techno had begged Phil to turn him, the sort of love that settled like dust onto shelves, layers upon layers of tiny fragments building into something that was deceptively strong, clinging to everything even when you tried to brush it away.
Kristen popped in every few decades to say hello, usually with a star struck mortal toy on her arm, and both Phil and Techno brought home conquests of their own, although less frequently than she.
Some would consider this a betrayal, a breaking of loyalty, but Techno would prefer to call it preventing the water from stagnating. Eternity was a long time to spend together, and they'd both get thoroughly sick of one anothers company if they didn't stir the pot every so often.
So he stayed.
Four months turned to a year, he met Alexis's rather extended family over the winter holidays, and had spend half of it hiding in the corner, overwhelmed with all the people who wanted to hug and kiss him and tell him how smitten their Quackity was and that he better treat him right. (Alexis had groaned loudly at the nickname and hid his blushing face in Techno's shirt).
Techno organised a road trip for their first anniversary, contacting their closest friends - because they were his friends as well, now - and plotting a haphazard route across the country, making sure there was a pit stop to please everyone, and they'd had the best two weeks of their life in one beaten up van, sleeping in motels or under the stars when the weather was nice, before returning to mundane, yet not boring life.
He changed jobs somewhere between the first and the second year mark, having finally checked off most of his reading list, and had decided to try his hand at bar tending a while. It turned out that while the noise was horrific, vampire reflexes were fantastic when it came to dealing with customers, and his enhanced senses created some truly fantastic new flavour combinations, much to the regulars' delight. He ended up with an entire board of new cocktail flavours available at request, and was (quite bewilderingly to Phil when he showed up for his annual visit) the most popular bartender around.
Two years became three, hosting game nights at their new apartment, painting the walls and each other, choosing mismatching furniture and obscenely bright rugs, just because they could. Their group had expanded now - Wilbur's girlfriend Sally, and then Niki's girlfriend Puffy, who brought her best friend Sam.
Techno received a call from the hospital one day, telling him that Wilbur had gotten into a car crash and put him as his emergency contact, and had rushed down to see him, finding a pale Wilbur and a frantic thirteen year old by his bedside, and then Tommy was suddenly a regular around their house, and more often than not would swing by after school to talk to 'the only friend my brother has who isn't lame, no offence Big Q'.
And then he blinked, and it was four years, and they were standing in their kitchen, Techno doing the dishes, and Alexis holding him from behind, one hand on his waist, the other scrolling through the website of a local animal shelter.
"Look, all I'm saying, is that orange cats are dumb as fuck, and we're already sharing like three brain cells between us. We can't afford to donate one to the cat!"
Techno stifled a laugh as he carefully set the last plate on the rack to air dry, wiping down his damp hands with a cloth, "You might have three brain cells, but I have significantly more than that. I'm fairly certain I'm three short, though, so you better return them soon."
He turned around to wrap his arms around Alexis's shoulders, leaning his chin on top of his head. He enjoyed the casual intimacy of these moments, one hand scratching idly at Alexis's scalp, the other toying with the chain of the necklace he'd bought him for his last birthday. A promise ring was hanging on the other end, silver twisted round into a wreath, and obsidian set in as the stone.
"This is coming from the guy who thought Rome was a country?"
"In my defence-"
Techno stopped short. Blinked. Blinked again.
"In your defence?" teased Alexis, still unaware of the danger that lurked only a matter of feet from his exposed back.
Techno's mouth went dry, and he had barely a second to react before he shoved the younger behind him and caught the other vampire's attack head-on, hurling him across the room.
"Technoblade." hissed the blonde, a sharp smile on his face, "Long time no see. You've been busy, it looks like. What does Phil say about this farce, hmm?"
"You have no right to be here, Dream," Techno hissed back, "I'm not in your line of work anymore-"
"Techno?" Alexis sounded stunned, looking back and forth between the two vampires in the room, "Who the hell is this? Why is he in our house? Who is Phil?"
Techno was watching a sand castle teeter, waves crashing around it's base, shattering the illusion that it could ever be solid rock.
"Oh? He didn't tell you?" Dream was smirking under his mask, a curl of cruel lips, "Phil is his husband."
And Techno could do no more than watch the castle fall.
-0-0-0-0-0-
If you'd told Alexis five years ago, that he would be on his knees in front of a vampire, he would've choked on his drink, told you he didn't swing for bloodsuckers, put on his Hunter-In-Training badge and taken you into the station to sober up from whatever pills you'd taken.
And yet here he was, looking up with adoring eyes at the man he loved most in the world, gently tugging open a small box, and saying the words he'd been silently mouthing to himself for months.
"Techno, my heart, my soul, my better half. Will you marry me?"
Techno's eyes widened, and he brought a hand up to cover his mouth. There was a long pause, expectant and exhilarated, friends and family gathered around, some already with tears in their eyes.
"Ye-"
"No."
The denial came not from the man in front of him, but from behind. A familiar, sharp, British accent, scornful and sneering, followed by footsteps as the man rounded the corner into Alexis's field of vision.
Blonde haired and smirking, he tugged Techno towards him, raised a hand to cradle that familiar face. And instead of flinching away, or questioning the stranger crashing their moment, Techno leant into his palm and smiled.
"Phil." he breathed, "It's been too long."
"It has, oh husband of mine," agreed the stranger, the words not quite registering in Alexis's brain, "But I'm back now, and you can cast this one aside."
And then-
No. No, this wasn't how it happened.
Alexis blinked once, looking around the room at his friends and family. Except the faces were all blurred, the encouraging words gibberish in his ears. No one seemed to see the tragedy in their midst, no one saw the love and trust shattering in Alexis's eyes.
Phil hadn't been at the party, had he? This wasn't how it had gone down. He'd never gotten the chance to pull his ring out, had never heard the 'yes' that fell from Techno's lips.
Because they'd never even had the party, had they? Because- because-
"QUACKITY FOR FUCKS SAKE STOP SCREAMING!"
Alexis bolted upright in his bed, sweat plastered to his forehead, shaking like a leaf. His throat was raw, and his lips dry, the echo of his screams ringing in his ears.
"Shit- sorry!" he called across the dorm, receiving only a muttered grumble from the two other Hunters in the room.
The one good thing about being a Hunter was that no one questioned when you woke up screaming. Everyone here had seen horrors beyond imagination, and no one pried into what specifically haunted his dreams. Alexis too, had seen things that would turn the stomach of the strongest man, it made sense he'd have nightmares. He just didn't clarify that in his nightmares, the vampires were gently kissing him under the moonlight, instead of trying to tear his throat out.
He groaned as he checked his phone - 5:28am. Too early for the town to be awake so he could find some coffee that wasn't the tar-like substance that they coaxed out of the cafeteria machine, too late to go back to sleep.
The facility was silent as he padded through the corridors, wandering in the direction of the training rooms, the vague idea of lifting some weights in his head.
He never used to get up this early - if he tried, Techno would drag him back into-
He cut that line of thinking right down. The pink haired bastard was already haunting his nights, he wouldn't allow him his days as well.
"Lexi. Come back to bed."
Alexis laughed as a sleepy, uncoordinated hand batted the sheets blindly, looking for a warm limb to attach to. As a vampire, Techno was naturally nocturnal, but years of trying to keep a normal-ish schedule meant that he was now predisposed to waking up at roughly a human time. However, waking up did not equal getting out of bed, in his books, and if the vampire had it his way, neither of them would be active until at least late afternoon.
"I have to go into the office, carino," he laughed again, expertly avoiding the grasp of the pouting vampire, "Trust me, I want to stay as well, but also I like not being fired."
Techno gave him a filthy look as he buried himself back in the sheets, "This will not be forgotten, traitor."
"I guess I just won't pick up dinner on the way back from that jacket potato place you like-"
"We can talk about this- Lexi- Alexis- come back you wretch-"
Alexis laughed all the way down the corridor.
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BE-
Alexis startled awake roughly, head jerking out of the puddle of drool that had formed on the table under his sleeping face. It took a moment to register that the incessant beeping wasn't his morning, calling him out of his- well, not comfortable, but warm at least bed, and was instead the hunting alarm waking him from what had apparently been a power nap on the cafeteria table.
He grumbled to himself, checking his watch as he hurried out to grab his kit - 7:08am, a frankly indecent time to be murdering people. A serious case of getting out of the wrong side of bed.
Other hunters were stumbling in in a similar manner - they got so few early morning calls, most being the middle of the night (a good decent time to go on a killing spree, nice and predictable), so the stumbling, unshaven, eye-bagged hunters pulling on belts and jackets and slipping stakes into their pockets were far from the pearly-grinned, perfectly put together Hunters that graced every recruitment ad and magazine page.
"Morning folks!" hollered the Head Hunter for the isolated lodge up in the mountains, "We've got suckers in the forest and three dead townsfolk. I've called for reinforcements, since these were brute-force murders with the tells of mature vamps and not opportunistic attacks or fledgling frenzies, but we're gonna head in first by ourselves. Every know their roles? Quackity, you haven't been on a mission with us yet so you'll hang with me. No men down today! Or women, sorry Mira."
The dainty woman in the corner rolled her eyes and racked the shotgun in her hands.
Alexis liked this Head Hunter - he was old fashioned, sure, but he meant well and genuinely cared for his Hunters, and was a fair and patient teacher. He also hadn't questioned when he'd asked to be introduced as a duck, nodding solemnly and not questioning the nickname.
Alexis had hated it, as a child, but it was better than his actual name, and god forbid better than Lexi.
He couldn't hear it now without a silken voice appearing in the back of his mind, a mingle of accents he couldn't quite place, posh and well-spoken, monotone usually but with the occassional lilting quirk that made his heart flutter.
Had made his heart flutter.
Now it just made him vaguely nauseous.
Alexis was quiet as he slid his weapons belt on, fastened straps and double-checked that everything was in place, hopping into the passenger seat of the truck, while the others sat in the back keeping an eye out.
He hadn't stayed still in one place longer than a month since… well, since he'd broken up with Techno.
The last, awful week, where he'd learnt that their relationship was built on a lie, that Techno was not only married, but that instead of being a shy fledgling who was working on rebuilding his life, was a millenia old serial killer, who'd been involved in some of the worst bloodbaths in history, had been given the moniker 'The Blood God' for his distinctive style of murder, and was heavily associated with the oldest and most dangerous vampire in existence, Lady Death, and his secret husband was none other than her right hand man, the Angel.
Alexis had no idea why he'd kept the farce up so long - had it been for amusement? Boredom? He knew that the older you got, the quicker the years went, so maybe the four years that had been everything to Alexis, that had made him think he had a future with the man in his bed, were nothing but a summer fling to Techno.
He'd given his everything, to a man who didn't exist.
"Quackity, you're not gonna freeze up on us out there, right?"
"Hmm? Oh- no, I won't," Alexis affirmed, "Just thinking about something."
"Something?" questioned the Head Hunter, a twinkle in his eye, "Not a pretty lass - or lad - waiting for you at home, is it?"
"No, no-" Alexis quickly corrected, "I'm not- I'm not dating. At the moment. I'm actually thinking about someone I used to know. A vampire, actually. He was…" Alexis paused. He didn't usually tell people about what had happened, and certainly not the true version of it. But the man was kind, and it was nice to talk to someone.
"He was a friend," he decided on, "Or I thought he was. Turns out he really wasn't my friend, and everything I thought we had was a lie. He also turned out to be a murderer, so-"
"Ahhh," the Head Hunter nodded, "That makes sense, I understand."
Alexis's eyebrows drew together, "What do you understand?"
"Why you're here, sonny. You're whale hunting, aren't you? I called around the other lodges, all said the same thing - you pass through, hole up a few weeks, mess around with your maps, stay quiet and do your job, and then you're gone again."
"W-whale hunting?" Alexis asked, feeling like he'd dropped into an alternate reality, "I-"
"Moby Dick, you know? No? Well- Captain Ahab, this sailor, spends all his time chasing after this white whale called Moby Dick. Whole buncha themes about obsession and revenge, but I ain't paid much attention in school. Point is- that's what we call someone hunting down a specific vamp. He's gone looking for Moby Dick, they say, and then no one's confused when he turns up dead. I'm an old man, son, but I tell you now - turn back from that ship. Whatever you think killing this sucker will do- it won't. Go home to your family before it's too late, and we're shipping you home in a coffin."
Alexis swallowed, fixing his gaze out of the window, "I can't. It's- I said my goodbyes. I lost my entire future because of him, he's the reason I wake up screaming every night. I can't function like a normal person any more, he broke me."
The Head Hunter sighed, "I won't push you, laddie. I can give you some numbers of some people who might be able to help you, though, when we get back. You'll be moving on from us soon, if you follow your patterns - it's been a pleasure having you, and-"
He was cut off rather abruptly by the screech of metal and the abruptly cut off scream of someone who'd just had their head ripped out.
Alexis had only just grabbed the door handle when the decapitated head of one of the Hunters rolled across the windscreen, empty eyes staring out.
He was rather proud of the fact he didn't scream, instead rolling out of the cab smoothly to assess where the attacking vamps were.
There was a flash of blonde hair in the trees, followed by another scream, but this time, Mira held her ground and kept her head, slashing smoothly at the vampire. Her baton smacked firmly into the vamp's arm, and the cracking sound of bone could be heard.
The man screeched, the high-pitched sound piercing Alexis's eardrums even as he moved in, trying to angle his stake up through the ribs - when they had a man down and murdered, all protocol went out the window.
The vamp seemed to sense his approach, however, and spun them both around, so fast that Alexis barely had time to pull before before he staked his own ally.
There was a moment of silence and stillness, his brain working twice as fast as adrenaline flooded his system, before Alexis found himself face to face with-
"Dream?" The name blurted it's way off his lips, eyes wide and mouth open.
"Hold on- you know this sucker?" barked one of the Hunters as they assembled in formation, facing their enemy and raising crossbows.
"Uh- briefly-" Alexis said, "I'll explain when he's dea- AH FUCK-"
Before anyone could fire an arrow, Alexis found himself being swept off his feet, and a strong arm wrapped around his neck.
"Anyone fires," Dream huffed, sounding worser for wear than he had the last time they'd seen each other, when the blonde had explained everything in painstaking detail, "And it goes into your little friend's-"
And then Alexis was falling again, this time away from Dream, the part of his brain that wasn't terrified muttering in disgruntlement about being thrown around the place, as something large, tall and decidedly pink tore the blonde away.
Oh fuck.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Techno had been hunting Dream for fourteen months, now.
After everything that bastard had done to him, a slow and agonising death was the least of what he deserved.
Unfortunately, he was also the slipperiest vampire Techno had ever met, and the combined forces of he and Phil had barely managed to keep vague tabs on him through the country.
A few centuries back, they'd worked together in a mercenary group - Techno had been bored, and he'd been promised blood and gore galore. Assassinations, blood baths, making eloquent threats while holding the torn-out hearts of people's families- you name it, they were doing it.
But Techno had lost interest in that after a few decades - had immersed himself in his music era, actually, training with some of the greatest musicians of the time and spending a few decades devoting himself to the craft of the violin - and hadn't thought about Dream again since, aside from when he was brought up in passing conversation by others.
Of all the people who would ruin the life he'd made for himself, Dream hadn't been the one he'd expected.
But then again, Dream had been bitter when he'd left, and he seemed to be the type to hold grudges, so perhaps he'd simply been biding his time for his revenge.
They were finally closing in, now. Dream had been sloppy a few village over, and then once again here, and they'd been planning an ambush when he left, knowing he'd sneak out through the narrow gorge and skip right over the forest and across to one of the larger cities on the river-side.
He had no idea when they'd been spotted, although it made sense considering the corpses that Dream had left in town today that the Hunters would've been called, but he did know that it was going to ruin all their carefully laid plans.
Phil had suggested letting Dream take out the Hunters, (and potentially getting taken out himself, which would save them a job), and while Techno was reluctant, mainly since he wanted to kill Dream, he had to admit that it was a good idea.
And then Alexis had rolled out of the passenger seat, his eyes a little harder, his face more pinched, but still as beautiful as the day Techno had lost him, and he'd lost his mind.
Dream was under him in seconds, the vampire not knowing what hit him before his head was on the opposite side of the forest to his body.
Techno would regret later both that he'd let it end so fast, and that Dream would never know who ended him, but right in that moment, he was more focused on the man in front of him.
The man who was staring at him with abject hatred and raising his shotgun.
Techno sighed heavily, rolling his eyes as he darted forward, snatching the Hunter round the waist, throwing him over his shoulder and running off into the forest.
Phil's footsteps followed him faintly, even as the startled shouts and screams of the other Hunters followed them, and Techno ignored Alexis's kicking and flailing as he ran them down through the forest, to somewhere they wouldn't be bothered.
Techno wasn't quite sure what the plan was after that, but at least he had a goal and an end point in mind.
By the time he deemed the distance far enough that the Hunters wouldn't be able to find them, Alexis had ceased his screaming, and was instead muttering rapid Spanish curses in his direction, which Techno had only ever heard being sent in the direction of reckless drivers or the dishwasher when it broke down before.
"Are you quite finished?" he asked coldly, setting the man down and ignoring the instinct in his lizard brain that told him to wrap fully around the warmth of the human.
"You kidnapped me," Alexis hissed, hands flying for the stake still hanging in his belt.
Techno didn't move to stop him, although he'd ensured the gun did not come with them.
"And? I needed to speak to you, and it was an opportunistic moment. Plus, I just saved your life, you could at least thank me."
Alexis's beautiful face twisted into an ugly sneer, "Thank you? For ruining my life?"
Techno swallowed, "I did no such thing. I thought I made your life significantly better, actually."
"You lied to me! You spun me a whole sob story about being a poor young fledgling, took advantage of my generosity, and weaselled your way into my bed, my friend group, even my damn family. You know my mother still asks about you? Sometimes I think she's even more heartbroken than I was, with how excited she was to plan the wed-"
Alexis cut himself off with a snap, but it was too late, the word already hanging in the air.
Wedding.
Alexis had been planning to marry him.
Techno's heart was ancient and shrivelled, but gods if it didn't ache.
A slim hand came to rest in his, Phil squeezing gently as he flitted out from the trees.
Alexis flinched, and then glared at the blonde man, "And you- did you find it funny? Watching your husband run circles around me?"
Phil shrugged, "Yeah actually, mate, it was hysterical. Not for the reasons you're thinking, though - Tech's always so solitary and cut off, it was brilliant to see him so ridiculously head over heels. Every time I checked in, you two were being all lovey-dovey and cute."
Alexis blinked, brain buffering for a moment, "You- you know what, never mind, I'm not playing your mind games today. Either you kill me now, or I kill you."
Techno almost rolled his eyes, and couldn't quite squash the fond smile - always so dramatic, his little human.
"Lexi-"
"Don't call me that."
"Alexis," he tried again, "None of us are killing each other today. Unless you want me to Turn you, which I'm happy to oblige-"
The shiver was full body and repulsed, "No."
"That's understandable. But I need to talk to you, and we can't do that if you're trying to stake us."
"What is there to say?" Alexis snorted, "You lied about who you were, you're a murderer, you pretended to love me for four years, ruined my life, and to top it all off, I'm currently staring at your husband."
Techno's eyes widened - Alexis- Alexis believed he didn't love him? He'd thought he was upset about the murderer thing, not that it had been a lie-
"If it's any help, I also have a wife!" Phil chimed in mildly, "And we're all pretty open about the whole marriage thing."
"Well I'm not! And it doesn't change the rest!"
Techno stepped forward, dropping Phil's hand, "Alexis," he murmured, looking down into those midnight eyes, "Do you really believe I did not - do not - love you?"
Alexis took a step back, but it was easy to mirror his movements and keep their proximity, "I- of course you didn't, if you did-"
"I would not have spent four years of my life with you? Wouldn't have assimilated to your lifestyle, wouldn't have courted you, and integrated into your friend group, have met your mother and endured several shovel talks on what they'd do to me if I broke your heart? Wouldn't have adjusted my plans to spend the rest of your mortal life, if you never asked to be Turned, with you? For I would've - I'd blocked out another seventy years from the vampiric community, in order to live out your lifespan. I would've stayed, Lexi, and then perhaps longer still, if you'd ever made up your mind on children, to ensure that they had their fullest lives."
Alexis had stopped moving away, and his jaw was left hanging open, "You- I- no, Dream said that-"
Techno couldn't help the scoff, "Are you seriously listening to Dream over me? The man who showed up once to ruin our lives and then a second time attempting to kill you? Look- I'm sorry, Alexis, that I lied to you. It wasn't intentional, I swear on my undead life, the fledgling story was something I made up on the spot in that alley way, and you were not supposed to take me home with you afterwards. Everything that happened between us was real, Lexi, our life was real, our love was real."
They were close enough now that the pounding of the mortal's heart was deafening.
Alexis's tongue flicked out, wetting his lips as he breathed hard and heavy, "I- I don't-"
"Let me prove it to you, my love. You left before I could explain anything, you ran from me. Let me make this right, Lexi. I miss you. And I love you."
Techno stared intently down, keeping his voice steady even as his eyes betrayed his nervousness.
He wanted their life back.
Wanted their colourful apartment, and their friends, and the cat they'd been planning to adopt.
He just hoped that Alexis wanted it too.
Slowly, ever so slowly, he stretched his hands out, palm up, vunerablity on his face.
Alexis's face was torn, eyes flicking between Techno, Phil, and something that only he could see.
And then he stretched his hand out too, and connected their palms, warm tanned flesh meeting Techno's own cool and pale skin.
He let out a breath he wasn't aware he'd been holding, and quirked his lips up into the first genuine smile he'd had since that night in the kitchen, "Thank you, Alexis."
"Don't thank me yet. I just- I want to understand. I want the truth."
Techno nodded, "You deserve that. But not here - the day is coming on fast, and the trees can only block so much of the light. We have a cabin a little further up in the mountains, it's a short run."
"Alright then, I'll let you take me to your cabin in the woods," Alexis said, and there was a flash of smile there too.
Maybe, just maybe, they'd be okay.