H"uh?“ Techie looks around frantically, hands up to his chest in tight, protective fists. “Swing? Swing wh-what??” That sounded like Hux, but Techie couldn’t understand where that voice was coming from. Hadn’t he been alone in his room just now?
“Nothing, I just felt like saying that,” Hux said, appearing in Techie’s doorway with a CD.
He swiveled around in his chair to face Hux and let out a relieved sigh. “Oh man, you scared m-me!” Noticing the CD in his hand, he asked, “Wh-what’s that?”
“Is there… r-root-beer?” He perks up once it occurs to him to ask. It was one of the only upsides to Mega City One. There was always something sugary to drink, and Techie quickly claimed root-beer as his all-time favorite, with sweet tea a close second. But… wait. Does Hux even know what that is? Is there root-beer in space?
A flash of an image flickered behind his eyelids: one of MaMa’s thugs beating the hell out of him with a fist flying his way much like Kylo’s was. That memory left him paralyzed, Techie eyes wide open with fear. The blow was coming, it was- pain, there’d be pain- and-
No. This was Kylo Ren. He wouldn’t hurt Techie for real.
With this in mind, he recovered just in time and blocked the blow. Something soft about his expression read, “I trust you.”
smugglingscavanger-deactivated2:
“Oh I think he’s a darling fella. Of course I had to do some… research on him to ensure he was good for Mattie, but her definitely checks out. Cute button nose, adorably dorky giggle, Matt definitely has good taste…”:
–
“Oh. I’m s-sorry for int-t-truding.” Techie’s face falls and his hand slips off from Matt’s shoulder. Surely they were talking about their relationship or something romantic; definitely something Techie had no right to overhear.
“I’ll leave you t-two alone, then.”
“ you’re fine techie we were finished with whatever we were talking about. You can stay I insist it will be fun. Maybe we can watch a movie or something.”
Matt didn’t want to make techie feel like he wasn’t welcome here because he was. Was he ever wanted there but he wouldn’t force it on him. If he had their places to be he understood.
“ I mean you don’t have to I’m sure kess won’t mind another person for the movie.”
Techie looked to Kess and asked, hesitant, “Is it r-really alright if I stay?” They seemed to be very close… he didn’t want to intrude. Couples need alone time, right? A sharp ache in his chest reminds him to stop being so fucking pathetic. He needs to be happy that Matt has a girlfriend!
(Easier said than done.)
Techie bites his bottom lip, anxious. Did he screw everything up? “Yeah… We d-don’t have to tell them that we’re friends, th-though. It can be our secret! R-Right?” He clasps his hands together in his lap and stares hard at them like they hold his cue-cards for the rest of the conversation. A quick, sideways glance towards Matt has his heart beating faster.
“I’d n-never let them get in the way of our friendsh-ship, Mattie. You mean a lot to me.” Here Techie gives him that smile again, and gently pats him on the shoulder. Were he a braver man, he’d rest his head on Matt’s shoulder and tell him just how much he cares for him… romantically.
But he isn’t brave, not at all. Techie goes through life cowering and flinching. Maybe one day he’ll take the reigns and confess to Matt that he’s out-of-his-mind in love with him.
The force of Kylo’s earth-shattering orgasm crashed over Techie; he gasped for air as each hard contraction milked him and dragged him over the edge with an incoherent sob. Techie flooded his love with sticky seed and practically collapsed over him, panting and shiny with sweat.
He wrapped his arms around Kylo’s waist and gently pulled them both down onto the bed on their sides. Techie panted quietly against his back and pressed little adoring kisses to every bit of warm skin. When he got his breathing back to normal, he pulled his softened length out and tangled their legs together.
“Was that… good?” Techie asks, shy and still a little dazed.
Techie relaxes into the mattress, looking up from the pillow as if something she’d said drained the tension from his body. “Nao,” he whispers to her like it’s a secret, a smile in his voice. “In case you d-didn’t get the memo… I’M a big stupid loser.” He meant it, actually. Techie’s self-esteem lay so far underground that it could hit the planet’s core. And yet, though somewhat misguided, Nao was praising him.
If being a “big stupid loser” meant he hadn’t let this cruel world make him unfeeling or hardened… that was alright by Techie. “I’ve never b-been normal, and if ‘normal’ is treating oth-thers like garbage, I’d rather be weird.”
Something about this felt like a teaching moment, as though in some alternate universe he’d been her father and had the responsibility of guiding Nao through life. It was a pleasant idea. Heaven knows Techie hardly felt useful or needed. Maybe he was here, a little bit.
She didn’t dare look at Techie in the silence that followed due to the tightening in her throat. If she did, he’d see the tears that were dangerously close to spilling and if she spoke, he’d hear the weak wavering accompanied by wanting to cry but holding back. ‘Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. What are you crying for, huh? Because that snivelling loser reminds you of your difficult, dumb and dead brother? He was kind too and look where it got him.’ Her cruel thoughts did little to make her feel better but it did remind her that Techie was wrong.
“T-Then you’ll just die like the rest of them! Probably in some trash heap forgotten and unmourned!” She snapped at him, voice still full of sadness but sharp enough to indicate she was angry. She rolled over with her back to Techie and pulled the blanket over her head so she could be disconsolate in peace.
Techie’s mouth fell open, at a loss for words. Obviously Nao had lived through something horrible to hold all these cynical thoughts so close to her heart. Being bitter and sad should be for lonely 34 year olds like him, not for kids. His chest tightened with sympathetic pain. Did she ever even get to be a child in peace?
“I’m s-sorry,” he apologizes quietly. “I didn’t mean to, uh, upset you…” Techie let her have as much of the blanket as she wanted and settled in under the sliver left over. His eyes were still wide open, staring at the ceiling and knowing he’d be getting little to no sleep. But he had an idea.
“Nao… My brother w-would mourn me. So would Matt. And… maybe you w-would. As long as I h-had people that cared about me, it’s okay if I d-die in a trash heap.”
“I’m not upset.” Came the pouting reply, muffled by the blankets. She couldn’t keep the scowl off her face, nor the stream of anger rumbling in her chest. Anger at what? Who? Her brother? ‘If he didn’t die I wouldn’t be alone. All of this is his fault.’ It felt easier to direct what she was feeling towards someone who went where she couldn’t follow, than to face the truth of the matter. ‘I hate you, I hate you! You just had to be kind.’ Angry tears blurred what little vision she had under the blankets and it took everything she had not to sob. Though unintentional, the conversation had brought up some raw memories and emotions kept unsettled beneath the surface. She couldn’t manage a reply to Techie, only hold her silence so that she didn’t make a sound to indicate her moment of weakness.
At a loss for what to do, Techie stares hard at the bundle of Nao under the covers with wide eyes. Whenever Techie was upset and couldn’t sleep, Matt often would rub his back and give him a warm hug. They’d fall asleep together like that and Techie’s chest would ache with love. He felt safer like that; protected. But there was no way he’d do that to Nao if she wasn’t okay with it.
“Nao?” he asks, quietly. “L-Listen… I might be having a hard time falling asleep t-tonight. Can I, um, cuddle a little closer, please? So I can f-feel safe?”
Making it seem like Techie needed comfort instead of Nao seemed like a good idea. For a kid she had a lot of pride.
Techie melts into her embrace, grateful. “Th-thank you, Sarah. Dragging all this n-nasty stuff up makes me feel like sh-shit. I don’t want to think about the p-past anymore!” He clutches at her as though his life depends on it.
Sarah blushed and cupped his cheeks “then maybe we could think about the future, fiancé” she giggled, giving him a passionate kiss.
This brightens him up considerably. Between enthusiastic kisses, Techie asks, “What do you want our w-wedding to be like?”
“B-Billiam?” Techie couldn’t stop the helpless laugh that slipped past his lips. That nickname was a first! He took in the woman’s appearance and scrunched up his brows in thought once the giggles dissolved. Hardly anyone approached him unless they knew Matt or wanted him to do their shift. She didn’t look like a tech, at least. “Are you… Matt’s f-friend?” Putting his toolbox aside to clear space on the workbench for her, Techie gave her a small, lopsided smile.
This… sounded lucrative. Stars above, Techie needed that money. The flat rate of a paltry few credits for the Order, regardless of the hours he put in, weren’t enough. After sending off the majority of his wage to his kids on Mega City One, he had hardly enough for anything else, and asking Hux was the out of the question. His brother pulled enough strings to get him a new life, and he wasn’t about to abuse that.
He blinked at Kess for a moment, eyes wide. When he spoke, voice lowered as well, he said, “You m-make it sound like th-this’ll be an… underground… operation. Is it? Illegal, I m-mean?” Techie was no stranger to this type of work. Anything for his family… Dirty money kept their stomachs full and the medical bills paid just as well.
TechieHux 