Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Technoblade owes Dream a favor!” Tommy had cried to anyone who would listen after he left the prison, “Dream’s going to escape!”

He had begged Sam to kill Dream, pleading with the Warden in fear. “Dream is going to escape! Nothing you have will keep him in.”

The Warden had brushed him off, citing the numerous security measures of the prison. 

“You don’t need to worry, Tommy. Dream won’t be leaving here anytime soon.”

Sam had fatally misjudged the tenacity and patience of a certain pig-man. 

“Phil, I think I need to tell you something.”

“Yeah, mate?”

Technoblade sighed, “you know I owe Dream a favor right?”

“I do.”

“What would you say if- hypothetically speakin’- I told you that he wants to use it to get my help in breakin’ him out of the prison?”

There was silence. 

“I would tell you that you can do anything you want, but I would warn you that this sounds like a terrible idea. You’ve heard what he’s done, Techno. Once he’s out- well, we have no idea what he’ll do. Yeah, he’s on good terms with us, but what about everyone else? We were just getting settled in with the Syndicate, this will throw a wrench into everything you were trying to mend about your reputation.”

Techno sighed again, “you’re right, Phil.”

Neither spoke for a few seconds.

“Phil, I… I have one other question to ask you.”

“Of course, mate.”

“Do you trust me?”

“For you, Techno?” Phil smiled and placed a hand on the other man’s shoulder, “the world.”

Worry crept into the warrior’s voice. “I’m going to test that.” 

“I trust you, Techno. I promise.”

“Then I need your help.”

“Anything.”

“We still have Withers, right?”

Phil raised his eyebrows. “Where are you going with this, Techno?”

The next day came faster than anyone would’ve liked. 

Ranboo came up the stairs to his neighbors' homes and knocked on the spruce door, past which he could hear frantic noises of some sort of preparation that stopped as soon as they heard the knock. 

Phil appeared in the doorway, opening it only enough to show a sliver of the inside. Ranboo wondered if he was trying to hide something. He knew that the older men had different beliefs than him, but he had hoped that if they were going to do anything drastic, they would’ve at least told him. He was part of the Syndicate, didn’t that warrant something?

“Oh!” Phil seemed surprised to see him, “good morning, mate. Didn’t expect to see you so soon- I wanted to talk to you actually.”

“Oh, of course.” Ranboo backed away as Phil left the house, shutting the door behind him so that he and Ranboo were alone on the porch. 

“Techno and I are going on a trip today for some more totems,” Phil looked wistfully at the door, “he needs it. Gotta get a little friendly bonding in, eh?”

Ranboo had noticed that the pig-man had seemed more on edge the last few days, though he didn't know the true reason, and agreed, “I think that’s a great idea, Phil.”

“So I was wondering, Ranboo, you think you’d be up for monitoring our stasis pearls so that we can get back quickly?”

Ranboo was eager to help, “yeah! Yeah, I can do that.”

Later, when Ranboo waved goodbye to Phil and Techno leaving the Syndicate’s base, he failed to notice that Technoblade hadn’t thrown an enderpearl into the bubbling water. 

“This is certainly going to be a shitshow.”

Techno laughed, downing a potion of water-breathing and preparing to dive off the top of the prison into the water below. “Don’t get caught. I’ll see you on the other side?”

“I won’t see you, mate, but good luck.” 

Technoblade gave a mock salute and swan-dived into the sea, disappearing under the prison. 

Phil smiled sadly, “and goodbye, old friend.”

Sam bolted up from his desk, feeling the resonance that any player feels when a Wither is spawned. It felt like a giant gong had just been wrung, sending its vibrations to every corner of the server, no matter how far. 

… except he knew it was close. 

Grabbing a trident, he started running. The Warden hoped that this time he would be able to catch whoever was causing him all these problems. Someone to blame. Someone to punish. Between the TNT incident that had caused Tommy to be locked in the main cell with Dream and the kid’s subsequent death, Sam had a lot of rage to spare for whoever thought it was funny to test him. 

By the Withers, he had only one person in mind. 

Meanwhile, Techno continued to mine at the floor of the prison, pausing every few minutes to drink some milk, feeling the mining fatigue fade in and out. 

He had gotten through a few layers the night before, not much, but just enough that he was willing to risk, hoping that he wasn’t going to hit one of the observer blocks that would alert the guards. 

By the time they became a problem, Techno hoped to be long gone. 

He also hoped that the vague directions Dream had given him were right and that he wasn’t about to punch a hole into Sam’s bedroom or bathroom or somewhere equally as awkward. 

Layer after layer, Techno peeled back the walls of Pandora’s Vault. 

He felt Phil continue to summon Withers. Hopefully, they would distract the guards if he so needed. 

So much of this plan depended on dumb luck. 

Techno would’ve preferred a more concrete one, but this was the only plan he thought would work. Plus, there was still the endgame. The ace up his sleeve. 

He continued to mine. 

Dream was sitting criss-cross in the center of his cell when he felt the first Wither be spawned. 

Sure, he had hoped Techno would’ve gotten right on his request, but it had only been a day. It was so much sooner than he had ever expected. 

The prisoner almost cried with glee. 

He was going to be free! 

And if the Withers were any sign, this was going to be one hell of a prison break. 

Dream waited, grinning in anticipation. 

Oh, the server was going to get its judgement day alright.

Everyone was going to be sorry for what they did to him.

And he wasn't going to be sorry for what he would do to them. 

Pop!

Techno felt his pickaxe finally puncture into something other than obsidian and sighed with relief. 

Then promptly splashed a potion of fire-resistance onto himself as lava began to pour out of the hole. 

Dream had been right on. He had broken into the bottom of the main cell’s lava room. 

Readying two more splash potions, Techno held his breath and swam into the lava-filled room. 

“You! Stop what you’re doing!”

A figure in a black cape whipped around to face the Warden. 

Sam almost stopped breathing when he saw that the figure wore the same terrifying smiley-face mask that Dream was so famous for. 

“Stop in the name of the law!”

Sam heard the figure start laughing, but couldn’t tell who it was. The person began running the length of the roof of the prison, spawning in another few Withers along the way. 

“Technoblade is that you? Whoever you are, you don’t know what you’ve done! You need to stop! ...Please!”

“Hullo? Is anyone alive in here?”

“Techno!” Dream leapt to his feet, seeing the other man’s head appear through the lava door. “I can’t believe you did it!”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Save your praises for later, Dream. For now we’ve gotta get out of here before the guards come.” Techno came fully into the cell and splashed both of the potions onto the obsidian floor. “Fire-res and water-breathing, follow me.”

The rivals swam out of the cell together, exiting the prison through Techno’s tunnel. 

Badboyhalo pressed a few buttons on his communicator and heard Sam’s voice on the other end of the line begin shouting, “We’ve got a breech!”

“I know, Sam! We got summoned here by an observer block.”

Sam’s static-like-voice came out of the communicator, “wait… that means-”

“Yeah, someone’s broken into the main cell!”

Ranboo felt his communicator buzz in his pocket and opened it to a message from Philza. 

<Ph1lzA> Hey! We’re done here, so call us back as soon as you can, thanks!

Huh. That was a quick trip, Ranboo thought, making his way back into the Syndicate base. 

He flipped Phil’s stasis chamber’s lid and saw the man appear in a flash of purple light. 

“Thanks a bunch, Ranboo,” Phil said, pulling himself out of the water. “I’ve got a few new totems,” he held up three, “Techno got two.”

Ranboo smiled, moving over to Techno’s pearl, “awesome. I hope you guys had fun.” He put his hand on the lever that would take Techno back home. 

Phil looked like a kid with a new toy as he grinned and said, “oh, most definitely.”

Ranboo didn’t respond because his gaze had landed on the bubbling water, “uhhh, Phil?”

“What is it, mate?” Phil squeezed some water out of his kimono. 

“Techno didn’t leave a pearl.”

“What?” Phil rushed over, and, seeing the empty water, began to laugh, “oh, he’ll just have to take the long way back then, I suppose.”

“Where are we going?”

“Listen, you never said what you wanted to do after getting out of the prison, Dream.” Techno sighed, “we’re leaving the area because I don’t want you to get caught immediately and then rat me out. I’m trying to fix my reputation here.”

“Aw, has the legendary Blade gone soft?”

“Of course not,” Techno’s smile was all bared teeth, “you say that again and you’ll learn how much I’ve changed. ”

“So, what’s the plan? If you give me a weapon, I’ll help fight off anyone who tries to stop us.”

“I’ll give you a weapon soon. We’re currently on the way to a nether portal, gotta get out a few chunks, otherwise it would just link to one of the prison portals. Nether travel will allow us to get to my base in the arctic a lot faster, I’ve got some extra weapons and armor there for you.”

“Pog.”

Techno laughed, “I’m just reciprocatin’ what you did for me. I remember the armor in the Final Control Room- saved my life. Anyway, once we’re there you can leave and we can never see each other again.”

“So quick to get rid of me, Techno?”

He laughed despite himself, “oh, no, because you’re such a joy to be around.”

Dream smiled playfully and turned to face a glowing nether portal a few yards in front of them, “is this it?”

“Yep. You ready to be a free man?”

“Oh yeah.” Dream’s smile grew sinister as he walked through the portal without any more prompting. Techno smiled too, but his was a smug smile you might give someone you had just beaten in chess. He followed right behind Dream. 

“Where the fuck did he go!”

“Language!”

“But Ant is right, where did Dream go? Who broke him out? How did this happen?” Sam fell to his knees, continuing softly, “how could I let this happen?”

Dream came through the portal expecting to feel the heat of the nether and see its deep red color theme. 

Instead, it was the opposite. 

Warm sunlight caressed his pale skin, being as such from being in the prison so long, and the world was filled with blue. The beautiful pale blue of a clear, sunny sky. 

Dream had never heard of a nether portal bringing someone to somewhere else in the overworld. Was it a glitch?

He felt Techno come through the portal too and then heard the portal shatter with the sound of breaking glass. That wasn’t supposed to happen… right? Or was Technoblade making sure no one could follow them?

“Techno?”

Dream turned around and saw Technoblade’s smug smile. His blood ran cold. 

The self-called “god” backed away a few steps and suddenly saw that he wasn’t standing on dirt, but rather on stone bricks. Around the edge of the pathway was nothing. Literally nothing. 

Dream stared into the void. 

“What have you done!” Dream almost screamed, suddenly wishing for his overpowered axe so that he could decapitate a certain pig. Dream’s attention returned to Techno who was still standing in front of the broken portal with the most shit-eating grin Dream had ever seen. 

“Well, you see, Dream.” Techno held up a finger like he was a teacher explaining something to a child, “you never specified what you wanted me to do after breakin’ you out of the prison, so I made the decision for you.”

“Wha-” Dream turned around in circles, desperately trying to rationalize what had happened. 

Technoblade came by his side and laughed, yelling triumphantly, “welcome to Hypixel Skyblock, Dream!”

Chapter Text

“Welcome to Hypixel Skyblock, Dream!”

For a few seconds, Dream just stood there, frozen in shock and rage at having been outwitted by a sentient piece of bacon. 

Then- against all rational thought- he decided that the best course of action was to run directly at Techno. Did he think before he acted? No. Did he consider for a second that instigating a fight on a very small island in the sky probably wasn’t the best idea? Also no. 

Techno slowly had been realizing as he looked out over the Skyblock world that something was very wrong, where were all his things? But he couldn’t fully consider the extent of the mess they were in because he saw Dream running at him. “Dream!” Techno shouted, feeling the other man slam into him, throwing them both over the ledge without giving him any time to react. Though he wouldn’t admit it later, this animalistic attack caught Techno completely off guard. He hadn’t been expecting Dream to just go for it.

Technoblade managed to separate them mid-air, but by that time it was too late, he was already falling too fast to recover.

There were no sick enderpearl clutches, no thousand IQ strats, just two idiots hurtling into the endless abyss. 

Ting!

Ting!

Two respawn bells rang out at almost the same time as Dream and Techno felt themselves be teleported back up to the main island, clearing their inventories and tossing them roughly onto a patch of grass. 

Feeling like he had just had the wind knocked out of him, Dream started coughing, trying to regain his breath. He heard Techno wheezing in the grass next to him. 

“Oh my god, Dream.” A long, gasping laugh, “this is too funny. I can’t breathe, oh my god. How do you laugh like this?” A few wheezing coughs from Techno. “There are no canon lives in Skyblock, nerd, you can’t kill me.”

Dream crossed his arms and, feeling particularly eloquent, went with, “fuck you.”

Which just sent Technoblade into another bout of hysterical laughter. 

Dream’s hands twitched, wanting to strangle the stupid pig over and over again, but he realized its futility almost immediately and just stewed in anger instead.

“I can’t believe it worked! You’re such an-” Techno suddenly froze, feeling a weight missing from his head. “Oh no.”

Dream sat up, “whadda ya mean, ‘oh no’? You’re the one who planned this! We’re stuck here! Together! It cannot get any worse than it is already! You literally freed me from a prison, AND THEN BROUGHT ME INTO ANOTHER PRISON!”

Technoblade snickered, “gottem.” His eyes landed on Dream as he said with surprise, “wait, your mask’s gone.”

Dream’s hands went instinctively to his face and felt that he did indeed not have his comforting smiley mask. He was almost self-conscious for a second and then remembered that no one was going to see him here… besides Techno. He looked at the man in question, smiling smugly despite himself, “your crown’s gone too.”

“I’m aware,” he drawled, standing. Techno still wore his signature white blouse, black pants, and deep crimson cloak that he was famous for, but the gleaming, golden crown he had been so proud of had vanished. Dream looked back down at himself and saw that he wore the orange jumpsuit he had been given in prison, though it was much cleaner than it had been before he had died. The blood, dirt, and general grime it had taken on in the obsidian box had disappeared like they had never even happened in the first place. 

Dream got up himself and suddenly noticed where they were. 

It was true that they had originally come through a nether portal onto an island of stone bricks, but now- after the respawn- they were on a minuscule patch of dirt with a single tree on it. If Dream squinted, he could barely make out what looked like the nether portal on an island in the distance. The island they were on currently was made up of a few dirt blocks and some grass, one tree, and a chest sitting a few feet from Techno, who was beginning to look more and more annoyed as each second passed. Though Dream didn’t know yet, Techno had realized what was wrong with the island. 

“Tell me how to get back.” Dream walked over to Techno, attempting to pin him against the tree, but the other simply dodged. 

“No,” Techno laughed. 

“Fine, I’ll just figure it out myself.” Dream paused, almost trying to walk away until he remembered that, no, they had about twenty square feet shared between them, there was nowhere else to go. He changed tactics, “at least tell me what made you look so annoyed earlier.”

“Oh, I don’t know, Dream, maybe it’s because you had the bright idea to yeet us both into the void!”

“Oh, wow. Stop whining. We’ve killed each other many times before-”

“That’s not the problem, Dream.” Techno’s tone grew serious, and the unexpected switch made Dream feel compelled to listen, “I’m not gonna lie, the plan was going to be to keep you on my Skyblock island- farmin’ potatoes with me and stuff- until you could face a proper trial. However, in my inventory- which has been conveniently cleared, might I add- along with all my netherite armor and other expensive items that I’m upset about losin’, I had a flint and steel to re-light the portal so that I could decide when you were ready to go back.”

Dream glared at him, “what, so you were just going to keep me here, locked up at your own whim? Farming potatoes? ”

“Yes!” Techno emphasized his next words, “but now- without the lighter- we’re both stuck here. With no way to leave.”

Dream rolled his eyes, “it’s your island, surely-”

Techno interrupted him, “-and that’s another problem. This isn’t my island.”

“...What?”

“Tell me, Dream,” Techno said, pacing the width of their tiny patch of land, “do you see any potato fields around here?”

“No, but-”

“Exactly. This isn’t my island.” Techno’s eyes bored into him, “it’s yours.”

Dream’s eyes widened. 

Technoblade moved closer to Dream, coming to a standstill inches from him to stare at him dead in the eyes. Though his words were explanatory, they were said like a threat. “It’s your Skyblock island,” he repeated, “you were the first one to go through the portal, so it’s taken us to a completely new world. Cobblestone generator, one tree, the whole shebang. We. Are. At. Square. One. And the only way for either of us to get out of here, is to beat it. So if you ever want to leave, we’re gonna have to work together- no matter how much we hate it.”

“Oh… fuck.”

“Okay, okay, can everyone settle down here for a few minutes?”

The hubbub of conversation slowly began to die down. 

Quackity yelled from the audience, “who gave you the power to call a server-wide meeting like this?”

Sam turned to the group of people assembled in front of him, “no one, but-”

“Oh, good. So we can leave, then.”

There were mutterings from the crowd and a few people got up to leave, seeming bothered that the Warden had taken their valuable time. 

“Dream’s escaped!” Sam suddenly yelled, losing all patience and decorum. 

Chaos erupted among the gathered players. 

“What?”

“I said we shouldn’t have trusted him.”

“How?”

But loudest of all was Tommy, “YOU LET HIM ESCAPE?”

“No, but-”

“Sam, how could you?” Puffy was looking at him with a broken gaze. 

The Warden slammed his fist into the table, “all of you need to listen to me!” The room fell into shocked silence. “We can get to blaming people after!” He took a breath, continuing more gently, “what I want to point out is that I called a server-wide meeting, meaning that everyone should be here.”

Sam saw Phil’s eyes narrow suspiciously. 

“And I can’t help but notice,” he continued, meeting Phil’s stare unflinchingly, “that a certain anarchist isn’t here with us today.”

Surprisingly, it was Ranboo who spoke up, “Technoblade couldn’t come because he isn’t here. There was a problem with a pearl stasis chamber, and he’s stranded a few thousand blocks out.”

“And you believe that?”

Phil frowned, “I know that you all didn’t particularly like Techno, but it wasn’t him. I was with him on the day of the break-in. We were off totem hunting, and Ranboo can vouch for us.”

Sam continued to push, “do you have any proof? It’s oddly convenient that Technoblade would just happen to be MIA when the SMP’s greatest criminal also happens to have escaped during the same time frame.”

“Ranboo saw us that morning.” Phil explained tiredly, “I asked him to watch our stasis chambers and bring us back when we messaged him. Techno must’ve just forgotten to throw an ender pearl into his. That’s the whole story.”

Sam watched the older man for a few seconds and then surrendered. “Okay, I believe you, but is there any chance that Techno may have used the outing as a cover to raid the prison, knowing that you’d defend his absence?”

Phil glared at the creeper-hybrid. “Techno would’ve told me, and I’m not lying to you.”

Sam didn’t notice the way that Ranboo’s eyes had narrowed like he was carefully thinking something over. 

Sighing, the Warden turned to the only other piece of information they had about the mysterious prison-breakers, “we did find something that might help.” He nodded at Badboyhalo, who held up a torn black cloak and mask that looked like one of Dream’s. “The guards and I found these at the crime scene, so if any of you know who might have had one of Dream’s masks, or is missing a cloak. Let us know.” Sam’s eyes seemed to glow with anger, “because whoever they belong to allowed Dream to escape, and must face punishment.”

Sapnap and George looked at each other, knowing that Dream wouldn’t have given a mask to just anybody. It certainly looked like a real one. They could list the number of people who had access to Dream’s masks on one hand. 

Ranboo’s eyes landed on Phil, who was still watching Sam, oblivious to the enderman-hybrid’s scrutiny. 

“In the meantime,” Sam continued, “I want everyone on the lookout for Dream. I implore you to immediately notify everyone in the world chat if you happen to see him,” his gaze moved to Phil and Ranboo, “or if you know anything at all.”

Foolish yelled from the back, “if you see something, say something.” He earned a few laughs. 

The meeting slowly dispersed, a few worried, whispered conversations lingering in the air. 

A few people remained after, glancing pityingly at Sam. 

“We’re gonna find him, Sam.” Punz said, placing a gentle hand on his friend’s shoulder. 

“I hope so.” Sam looked off into the distance, “but he could be up to anything. We have no idea what dark machinations he’s planning.”

The dark machinations that Sam feared were currently materializing in sinister plans to save as much dirt as possible from the abyss as they transformed the sky island into a cobblestone platform. 

Truly the plan of an evil genius.

“Shit!”

It wasn’t going well. 

Techno was laughing, “Dream, I told you if you dig that way we’re gonna lose dirt. Remember, if it becomes the void’s we are not gettin’ it back… ever.”

They had been working in relative quiet for a few hours, though Techno could practically feel the constant rage rolling off of Dream. Everything the speedrunner did had been violent, from mining stone to re-planting trees. He had been avoiding Techno too- well, as much as he could with their limited space. Techno could guess that if they had been on the Dream SMP, Dream would’ve killed him permanently a long time ago. 

“Fuck off, Technoblade.” Dream said through gritted teeth, continuing to shovel dirt, but did adjust in accordance with Techno’s advice. 

Techno stopped working and just stared at his rival, who had revealed a white tank top underneath the top of his orange jumper, whose sleeves were now tied around his waist. Man, he looked the role of a prisoner alright. 

Technoblade himself had neatly folded and placed the luxurious red cape off to the side, opting instead to roll up the sleeves of his white dress-shirt in order to try and keep his get-up clean- as clean as possible at least. 

After a few seconds where Techno continued to stare at his rival, Dream angrily looked up and hissed, “what?”

“Nothin’, I just never knew you as one to swear a lot,” Techno shook his head, turning back to the cobblestone generator he was working at. He added under his breath, “god, I hate this.”

Techno saw Dream pause, press his lips together like he was considering something important, and ask slowly, “then… why did you do it?”

“What?” Techno looked back up, wiping sweat from his brow. 

“Techno... why did you do this? Did you think you were being noble or something for sacrificing yourself to contain me?” Dream’s questions sounded like they were coming from a place of anger, or maybe a taunting jab at Techno’s morality, but Techno saw something else in Dream’s eyes. In the eyes that were usually hidden behind a mask. 

Techno suddenly wondered if Dream had never learned to hide his emotions properly because he had never had to. The mask protected him. Without it, well… a whole new side of him was on display. It was strange seeing him so unknowingly vulnerable.

Huh, Dream really wanted to know, didn’t he? There was a sort of desperate confusion in his eyes as he waited for an answer. Techno didn’t know what to make of it.

“Gotta be careful with that second half,” Techno huffed, trying to ignore the revelation that had just occurred in his brain, “it makes it sound like you think I did this because I’m a good person.”

Dream raised his eyebrows, “you’re not?”

Technoblade laughed, “sure, I’ll preach about anarchy and justice- an eye for an eye and whatever- but I don’t believe I’m a good person.”

The speedrunner shrugged and started digging again, “then, I don’t understand. You gave up everything for something that you’re obviously uncomfortable with. I can tell, Techno. You don’t want to be here almost as much as I don’t want to be here.”

“True, true,” Techno sighed, “I’ll admit it… but there are more important things.”

“...Like?” 

“Well,” for the first time Technoblade really took a minute to consider what he had done, “I didn’t do this to protect the server. I don’t care about the server.”

“But you care about Phil, right?” For a second, Techno saw the manipulative Dream again; he heard the slight inflection in Dream’s words that made anything he said sound like a threat- like he could use it against you at a moment's notice. Throughout most of their time on the sky island, Dream had seemed too tired or too angry to go for his signature underhanded tactics. Techno remembered some of what Tommy had told him about exile- albeit it was very little, the kid hadn’t ever really been open about it- but Techno had assumed that being stranded with Dream might’ve been similar. It honestly was kind of sad. When Techno looked at Dream, he just saw a very tired, very misguided soul. 

Techno sighed, not even bothering to try to hide his attachment to Phil- that had been what Dream had called them, right? Attachments? Weaknesses? He looked at the other man who was shoveling dirt like his life depended on it. 

Maybe it did, Techno mused, speedrunner mentality or whatever. 

“Yeah, I do care about Phil, but he isn’t why I did it. At least not fully.”

Dream’s eyes returned to him, burning with a fire Techno couldn’t place, “stop deflecting the question and answer it then. Why did you do it?”

Techno set down the pickaxe and pulled himself back up to the main island, sitting down on the edge of the grass to rest and letting his legs dangle over the edge. To Techno’s surprise, Dream joined him.

Technoblade’s rival was breathing heavily, Techno reasoned it was because the guy hadn’t done much physical labor during the time he had been in prison. So much had changed since they had dueled each other many, many months ago. 

Techno watched Dream look vacantly at the setting sun. 

Another sigh escaped him as Techno finally said, “I did this because I thought it would be the best option for me. ” Dream’s eyes remained on the sunset, but Techno saw his head tilt slightly to show he was listening. “It wasn’t a ‘noble sacrifice’ or whatever you called it. It was all selfish. See, Dream, I’ve actually been trying to fix my reputation during the time you’ve been imprisoned. Maybe try not to be so violent, ya know?” Dream smiled slightly. 

“Like you could ever be a pacifist,” he said mockingly, but his voice was soft. 

“Unlikely, I know.” Techno smiled too, continuing, “but I thought- no, I knew- that the second I helped you escape, everythin’ that I’d worked toward would be erased.” He paused, watching the sun. The break in conversation was almost long enough that Dream had been about to get back up, stopping as Techno said, “this plan was… it was an escape… of my own.”

Dream blinked at the warrior, surprised. 

This time, Dream was the one looking at Techno while the latter focused on the sky. 

“I knew that getting caught doing something like this,” Technoblade said, voice continuing with a rare intensity, “would be the end for me. For Phil too for that matter… no matter what we did, how strong we were, justice would come for us. For Ranboo, for Niki.” Dream saw Techno clench and unclench his fists. “I couldn’t do that again… it would’ve been the butcher army, but so much worse.” He took a breath, “so when I noticed the little loophole in your request, I took it.”

Techno finally met Dream’s eyes and spoke again, “coming here instead? It would fix everything… I could just avoid any repercussions for my actions. There would be no consequences. I’d be gone, which- to be honest, Dream- people are probably gonna be pretty happy about. I know I’m not well-liked.” He smiled. “You’d get your wish too, no more prison. I also wouldn’t owe you anymore, though I assumed you’d be mad.” He sighed, “and yes, Dream, the server would also be protected from you.” Dream saw something rare in Techno’s expression, genuine care. Techno might not think that he cared for anyone on that server, but Dream could tell otherwise. “Now, I don’t disagree with some of the stuff you’ve done. Destroying L’Manberg was our magnum opus, and I don’t regret working with you on that.” He smiled cruelly, “but don’t mistake our friendship of use for anything more. We worked together because it was mutually beneficial. I am still strongly against tyrants, Dream.” Dream felt like he was being threatened and then remembered that he probably was. Techno had certainly proven, time and time again, that he was ready to go against anyone he deemed to be a threat to freedom, no matter their prior relationship. Techno’s smile was all teeth as he finished, “if I ever- ever- decide that you’ve gotten too high on your high horse, I will not hesitate to kill you.”

Dream laughed nervously, “but you can’t kill me here, Techno.”

His rival’s smile only deepened, “then I’ll make you wish I could.”

Dream swallowed. 

“We should get some sleep,” Techno’s face returned to looking out over the void, “we’ve got a long journey ahead of us. And as they say, the journey of a thousand miles...”

Dream finished the quote softly, “begins with a single step.”

They sat there as the first stars appeared in the vast, darkening sky. 

Dream took a breath, “one more question.”

“Shoot.”

“Why Skyblock?”

Technoblade smiled, saying his words slowly and deliberately like he was giving a speech, pausing in between each sentence, “I think Skyblock- at its core- is the ultimate challenge in resource management. You spawn on a tiny island in an empty universe. All you have is a tree, some supplies, and some dirt to stand on. You have to treasure every dirt block because if one falls into the void there’s no way to replace it.” Dream smiled, thinking of the way Techno had yelled at him as the first dirt he had tried to move had fallen into the void. “And as you carefully navigate your absurd circumstance, you gain a new appreciation for the few things you have as you meticulously use them to their fullest effect. With nothing but some ice, lava, and saplin’s, you slowly transform this empty expanse into a world of your very own.” Dream remembers starting the server; he remembers building the community house. He remembers making the Dream SMP his own. He remembers being happy. Sure, messing with Tommy and the rest of the server had been fun, but had he been happy? How long had it been since he had felt joy? Real joy. Not whatever intoxicating obsession had infected him in the meantime. He shook his head to clear it and realized that Technoblade was still talking, “Skyblock teaches us that no matter how ridiculous the odds may seem, within us resides the power to overcome these challenges and achieve something beautiful.” He paused, looking at Dream once more, “that one day, we’ll look back at where we started- and be amazed by how far we’ve come.”

For a moment, neither could say anything. Then, Dream looked away with a haughty puff of a laugh. 

He pretended like Techno’s monologue hadn’t made him introspective, “very sentimental,” he said mockingly, “coming from you, Blade.”

“Shut up, nerd.”

There was a knock at the cabin door.

Phil grabbed his sword, fearing it was Sam or one of the others coming to question him further. 

It was Ranboo. 

But his expression didn’t make Phil any more relaxed than if it had been the Warden at the door. 

“We need to talk,” Ranboo said simply, brushing past Phil into the house.

Phil sighed, closing the door and following Ranboo into the cabin. “Yes, I suppose we do.”

Chapter Text

The tundra had been quiet that night, but- to be honest- Phil had been expecting some resistance... though not from Ranboo. 

Phil put on a polite smile, closing the door to Techno’s cabin, “I was just about to make some tea, would you like any?”

“Uh, sure.” Ranboo made his way over to a couch in front of the fireplace and sat down.

Nodding, Phil began prepping a teapot full of water and placing it on a rack above the fire. “You doing okay after today? I’m sorry that you had to defend Techno like that-”

“Phil.”

“They were very accusatory- and I know that you sometimes get stressed, and I’m sorry-”

“Phil.” 

Phil turned back to Ranboo who was looking at him with the most skeptical disbelief the man had ever seen on someone’s face. 

“Ranboo?”

“Phil.”

They just stared at each other, neither willing to back down. 

Ranboo finally sighed, snuggling into the couch and wrapping a fur blanket around himself, “Phil, I know that you and Techno didn’t just go to get totems.”

Phil turned away and busied himself by filling teabags with the necessary leaves. “You saw the totems in my hands when we got back. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“I’m not stupid, Phil!” Ranboo yelled, “you don’t just forget to throw an ender pearl into your stasis chamber. Techno wouldn’t have forgotten.”

Phil tried to laugh it off, but it came out forced even to him. “You haven’t known Techno as long as I have, mate. Techno may be very conscientious when it comes to battles and planning, he is also notoriously bad with remembering the little things.”

He heard Ranboo sigh again with exasperation. “I’m bad with remembering the little things. Not Techno.” He paused, then, “okay, but even if that is true, how do you explain his disappearance? Why hasn’t he sent you a message? And you know what? I agree with Sam. It’s very convenient that Techno and Dream both happen to be missing at the same time.”

“That proves nothing.”

“You didn’t deny it.”

“Okay,” Phil turned around toward Ranboo with what he hoped was an innocent and tired expression, “I will deny it then, if that will make you happy.” He took a breath, saying carefully, “Techno and I did not let Dream go free.”

With an uncharacteristic assertiveness, Ranboo responded stubbornly, “I don’t believe you.”

Phil had been about to defend himself further when, at that moment, the teapot started to whistle and Phil hurried over to take it off of the fire, pouring its contents into two small mugs. 

As he came and sat next to Ranboo, handing the other a mug of steaming water, Phil said, “Then, ask me anything. Maybe I can clear it up for you.”

Ranboo took the cup and looked at Phil suspiciously like he was expecting a trap of some kind. “Okay… Tommy said Technoblade owed Dream a favor, you wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

Again, Phil tried to keep his expression passively relaxed, “not really, no. He may have mentioned it, but it’s still up in the air for all I know. Dream wouldn’t give that sort of power over Techno up easily.”

“Wouldn’t you consider a prison break worthy of cashing it in?”

Phil shrugged. 

Ranboo watched him with heated intensity. 

Laughing nervously, Phil raised his eyebrows and asked, “why do I feel like I’m being interrogated?”

A pleased smile appeared on Ranboo’s face, “oh, it’s because you are,” he said cheerfully. 

“Come on, Ranboo.” Phil began to grow even more nervous, the kid seemed like he knew more than he was letting on. “You know me. Do you seriously think that we’d help possibly the biggest tyrant on this server out of his containment? It goes directly against the Syndicate’s purpose.”

“I don’t know why you did it, but I know you had something to do with it.”

Phil frowned, “do you have any proof? Or are you just jumping on the ‘let’s accuse Techno’ bandwagon because the guy isn’t here? Ranboo, they’ve never liked Techno, you can’t trust ‘em.”

“I know I can’t trust whatever you’re saying.” Ranboo anxiously took a sip of the tea, continuing, “because unlike the rest of them, I do have proof.”

The older man froze. “What?”

Ranboo realized that he had struck gold. “Oh, you thought I wouldn’t put the pieces together, did you?” Ranboo smiled at Phil smugly, “where’d you get that mask, Phil?”

Phil began to sweat. “Ranboo, I already told you, I had nothing to do with Dream’s-”

The enderman hybrid angrily set down the mug and gestured animatedly while he said, “why do you keep trying to hide it? I’ve known since the meeting. I haven’t told anyone because I trusted you, and I thought that my silence would prove that you could trust me.” He took a deep, calming breath. “Phil, we’re supposed to be on the same side here.”

“I thought you didn’t like sides?” Phil returned fire. 

Ranboo whipped around, “don’t you dare deflect!”

“Okay,” Phil tried a last gambit, hoping that Ranboo had been bluffing about the proof, “tell me what you know then, so I can explain how you’re wrong.”

Ranboo stood, pacing as he listed his evidence, “first, the timeline matches up exactly. You asked to be recalled minutes after the break-in. Secondly, the totems you showed me could’ve easily been planted. And third, Techno had one of Dream’s masks. I remember because he told me the whole story about how he had been given it after defeating Dream in the duel.”

“I mean, your memory’s not the best-”

“Phil!” Ranboo practically hissed his words, “I know what I was told, and the mask is currently missing from Techno’s trophy wall!”

Phil blinked, knowing a lost cause when he saw one, and put his hands up in surrender, “fine.”

“...fine?”

Phil sighed, “no one was supposed to know, at least not for a week or so.”

“What?” Ranboo paled, backing away, “I was… right? You helped Dream, the literal boogeyman of this entire server, escape his deserved punishment? Phil, what have you done!”

“No, no, no.” Phil sighed again, running his fingers through his hair and feeling particularly ‘old’ at that moment. “Sit back down, Ranboo. It’s not what you think it is.”

“It’s not what I think it is?!”

“Sit.” His voice was commanding. 

Ranboo shuffled over and sat down firmly. Then, in a softer, worried tone, “are you going to kill me?”

Phil suddenly burst out laughing, “what? No. Absolutely not.”

“But I figured it out-”

“Ranboo, I’m not going to kill you.” Phil said in disbelief, “Prime, why would I do that?”

Ranboo looked away sheepishly, “I don’t know. I just didn’t think you’d be one to help Dream escape.” He continued pleadingly, “Phil, you’ve got to tell the others where they are. I know Techno owes him or whatever, but Dream’s evil! I mean it! He’s a danger to everyone on the server.”

“I agree.”

Ranboo continued to ramble, “I know Techno might be friends with-” he cut himself off, “wait.” His thoughts looked like they were racing at a hundred miles a minute. “You agree? ”

Phil shrugged, nodding lightly, “I do. Dream’s a threat.”

“Then WHY,” Ranboo looked confused and angry, “did you help him escape?”

Phil couldn’t keep a smile from tugging at the edge of his mouth, saying while trying not to laugh, “because we didn’t help him escape, we just… relocated his prison.”

Ranboo blinked at him. “What the heck does that mean.”

“I mean that Dream isn’t free. I didn’t lie to you when I said that Techno and I didn’t let Dream go free.” He started smiling despite himself, Techno’s plan really was clever... and fucking hilarious. Phil continued, to the amazement of Ranboo, “I’m not going to deny that Dream did call in his favor to get Techno’s help to try and get out of the prison, but Techno knows he’s a problem just as much as I.”

“What did you do?”

“Like I said, we relocated him,” Phil laughed. 

“To... where exactly?” 

Phil was trying so hard to remain somewhat composed as he whispered, “Hypixel Skyblock.”

For a few seconds, Ranboo just stared at Phil. Then he started breathily laughing, saying incredulously, “you took the greatest threat this SMP has ever known, and trapped him? In Hypixel Skyblock? With Technoblade?”

Phil nodded. 

Relief rushed across Ranboo’s features as the hybrid started giggling. “That- that is the funniest thing I’ve heard all week. Oh!” Ranboo grinned, continuing to laugh, “please tell me Techno’s making him farm potatoes with him.”

“That was the plan, yes.” Phil laughed along with his tenant. 

Ranboo was almost crying as he continued laughing hysterically, “suck it, Dream! What I wouldn’t give to have seen his face!”

“I’m sure it would’ve deserved it’s own meme.” Phil took a few more sips of his tea. “It was all Techno’s idea. I only helped by spawning a few Withers around the prison.”

“Man,” Ranboo had relaxed considerably, probably because he had assumed the worst when he had thought Techno, Phil, and Dream were working together, “that is so funny.”

“Now you’re in on the secret, you’ve gotta keep it.”

Ranboo looked at him with a sly smile, “well, I’ll probably forget it anyway.”

Phil laughed. 

Snow had begun to fall outside of the cabin, and the pair watched the snowflakes drift to the white ground through the windows. It was nice. Especially for Ranboo, who had just discovered that the force that had been making his life a living hell recently was gone. Dream was gone. Dream was gone and probably farming potatoes, wearing flannel like a mountain man or something else equally as entertaining. Ranboo laughed at the thought. 

“Were you planning on keeping him there forever?”

Phil almost spat out the sip of tea he had just taken, coughing instead, “absolutely not. Techno would rather die than have that much social interaction. The plan was to keep him there for around a week- which is conveniently the amount of time it might’ve taken him to get back here on foot, you know, seven days travel in the overworld for one day of nether travel- and then, after the week was up, Techno would contact me and we could start working out a long-term plan.” Phil considered something, then said, “you can help with that actually. Our idea so far is to bring him in for a fair trial. Since he’s in Hypixel right now, technically he’s free of the crimes committed here. He would need to be extradited back for another trial.” Phil shrugged, “a first trial? I guess he didn’t get much of one in the first place. I think Techno was also hoping that his and Dream’s absence from the SMP might settle things down a bit, both for the server itself and for Dream.”

Ranboo took a few sips of his own tea, realizing that had grown bitter since he hadn’t taken the teabag out yet. He removed the soaked bag and said, “maybe. We can always hope.” 

They watched the snow continue to fall gently. Ambiently, the fireplace crackled, and, sitting there with the warm blanket wrapped around him, Ranboo felt more at peace than he had in a long time. 

“How do you think they’re doing?” Ranboo asked suddenly. 

“Knowing them?” Phil snorted, “probably not well.”

Things were indeed not going well. 

“I’m cold!”

“Then maybe you should’ve thought about that before gettin’ thrown in prison!”

“I was literally in a room encased in lava, Techno! They’re not going to give me a jacket!”

The rivals glared at each other in the twilight. 

Techno had settled beneath the tree, seated with his back leaning lazily against its trunk. He had recovered his cloak again and had it laid on top of him like a comfy blanket. 

Dream was standing a few feet away, pacing the island while rubbing his hands together in a desperate attempt to gain any warmth. 

“It’s literally not even that cold.”

“YOU LIVE IN A SNOW BIOME.”

Techno smirked, “at least I have a house.”

“You-” Dream groaned, “I hate this,” he said hopelessly, “I hate this so, so very much.”

“Just go to sleep, Dream. We don’t have real beds, so we’ve gotta make due.” Technoblade said with a yawn, “you can yell at me more in the mornin’.”

Dream watched as the pig-man closed his eyes and readjusted his position. 

He watched. He waited. 

After a few minutes, Dream crept over and tried lightly pulling on the edge of the cloak. There was no reaction. He pulled harder. 

Dream jumped back as he heard Techno say suddenly, “Dream, you touch it again and you get thrown into the void.”

“I’m cold! That cloak is big enough for like four people!”

Techno’s eyes remained closed as he deadpanned, “not my problem.”

Dream continued to pace the island, eventually curling up next to the lava part of the cobblestone generator. The ground wasn’t that comfortable, but it wasn’t any worse than his cell had been. 

He sighed and looked up into the vast sky. There were so many stars. 

Dream didn’t remember when was the last time he had even seen the night sky. 

It was beautiful. 

He had missed it. 

Sure, he was still basically in another prison, but at least he had trees here, and grass, and beautiful, beautiful stars.

He sighed again and curled further into himself, falling asleep despite the rough conditions. 

At some point in the middle of the night, Dream woke up shivering. In addition, there was a skeleton walking around on the platform they had been working on that he quickly dispatched, but the effort made him much more awake. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to fall asleep again if he was uncomfortable. The skeleton dropped one bone though… which was… yeah, Dream didn’t know what the positive was here. He rubbed his arms, trying to generate some friction-heat, putting the bone away for later. Maybe he could use it to grow another tree.

It had grown considerably colder since the sun had disappeared (which made no sense in the first place, Dream thought, where does the sun go? He can literally see the entire sphere of space from their island). 

Techno was still sleeping peacefully under the tree, though Dream saw that the thick, red cloak had been pushed aside slightly so that more than two-thirds of it was just sitting on the grass next to Techno. 

Dream looked back at the spot where he had been sleeping. He looked at the cloak. 

This was a bad idea. 

This was a very bad idea. 

But he was tired, and it wasn’t like Techno could do anything about it. The worst-case scenario was that the pig-man threw him off the island. 

Dream stood, sneaking over to the side of the tree where the excess cloak was laying. Techno hadn’t reacted to the skeleton or Dream’s approach, so Dream hoped that he was deeply asleep. 

Creeping closer, he lifted a corner of the cloak. 

No reaction. 

He lifted the red fabric even more. 

Still nothing. 

Dream positioned himself against the tree at a ninety-degree angle from where Techno was sitting. It was far enough away that Dream hoped Techno wouldn’t notice he was there, because he assumed that he would be awake before the lazy pig. The cloak’s edge also reached just far enough that Dream could wrap it fully around his body. 

It was really soft and comfortable. He’d have to ask Techno where he got the fabric from, it might be nice to get a jacket of the same kind. 

Dream frowned. If he was ever able to get anything like that again. It wasn’t like he could just buy new clothes. 

His current options were to either stay stranded in the Skyblock world, or risk returning to the SMP and getting thrown into the prison again. 

He didn’t want the second option. 

Dream looked longingly at the broken nether portal on the distant, floating island. He might’ve made an escape attempt tonight, but the cold had been unbearable and he was tired from the stresses of their first day. 

Maybe tomorrow night. 

All it would take was wood and a bit of lava. 

Then…

Then he really could be free. 

Dream fell back asleep with a smile on his face, thinking of all the things he would do once things were back to normal. Who he would make pay. 

And maybe murdering and cooking a certain rival of his also crossed his mind. 

Mmmm… bacon…

Techno woke up slowly at first, his back feeling stiff from the awkward sleeping position. However, he was jolted awake when he realized that there was a weight on his shoulder. 

At some point in the middle of the night, Dream had actually managed to steal some of his cloak and was now sitting next to him. 

With his head resting on Techno’s shoulder.

“Dream,” Techno began with forced patience, “if you don’t get your head off of me this instant, you’re not goin’ to have one anymore.”

“Five mor’ minutes.” Dream muttered, readjusting himself and definitely not moving his head. He didn’t even bother opening his eyes. 

“Dream.”

“Mmm.”

“Dream!” Techno finally just ripped the cloak from the other man, sending him sprawling into the dirt. 

The former god blinked up at him sleepily. “Hey.”

Techno could only stare, “hey you.”

Dream actually looked like he was just going to go back to bed as he shut his eyes again. 

This? This was the man the entire SMP was terrified of? Homeless green man? Mr. ‘five more minutes’ of beauty sleep?

“Alright, that’s it.” Techno walked over to Dream- which was really only a distance of about three feet- and grabbed Dream’s ankle, dragging him over to the edge of the island. "I warned you." 

“Wait, what are you doing?” Dream sounded a little more worried, but his words were still said groggily. 

Techno let go of his ankle and pushed him off of the island with a small nudge of his foot. 

“Techno!”

The man in question just laughed as he watched the other fall into the void. 

Once Dream had faded out of sight, Techno stretched and took a deep breath of the morning air. 

Ting!

Again. Standing on the edge of an island. With another person behind you that likely hates your guts. 

Not the best idea. 

…Which Techno realized after feeling a sharp kick to the small of his back that sent him careening off of the island himself. 

“Dream!”

This time Dream was the one who was laughing as he watched Techno fall with crossed arms, looking back up at Dream with amused disappointment. 

Ting!

Dream expected to get a pissed-off Techno returning, so he readied himself for a fight, but saw that the respawned pig-man was laughing. 

Techno met his eyes, saying sarcastically, “oh, so that woke you up? Maybe I’ll start every day then by just puntin’ you off of here. It certainly brightened my mornin’ to hear your high-pitched scream.”

“I’d rather not.” Dream really did not want to be shocked awake by hitting terminal velocity every morning. 

Techno gave him a malicious smile, “then don’t fall asleep on me again, capiche?”

“Noted.”

“Good!” Techno clapped his hands together, “now let’s get to work. Another hard day’s ahead of us.” He picked up the pickaxe with vigor. 

Dream sighed, considering his muscles that were still sore from yesterday’s labor. This was the absolute worst. 

Although…

It was better than prison. 

It was better than whatever torture Quackity would’ve had planned for him. 

To the sounds of Techno mining, Dream picked up the shovel and began to dig.

Chapter Text

“Hell is other people.” 

At one point Dream would have disagreed with this bold statement, thinking instead of his isolated time in the prison for those first few weeks without a single visitor. Hell was no one. Hell was time spent alone with his thoughts, unable to act on any of them. 

It had been frustrating. He had never lost in anything so completely before, and that feeling of absolute defeat had almost ruined him. 

It was all Tommy’s fault. 

Dream had been so angry for the first few days in the prison, but the futility of complaining to an unsympathetic obsidian wall quickly mellowed him out. Time became less about planning his revenge and more about focusing on not losing his mind. Though, looking back, Dream is not so sure he succeeded in that. 

That fucking clock. He was disgusted by the joy he had found in it because it was the only changing thing in that cell. At least it had colors and gave him some sort of semblance of control. 

It had been pathetic really, throwing the clock into the lava as a way to gain Sam’s attention like a child breaking their favorite toy only to cry to their parents immediately after. 

Hell had been no one, but then there had been Tommy. 

There had been Bad. 

There had been Sapnap. 

...And Quackity. 

I will be here every day making your life hell!

Dream didn’t want visitors anymore. They had only made his confinement more hellish. Quackity had known what he was doing.  

“Hell is other people.”

Dream agreed with it now, though he would have made one adjustment. 

Hell is Technoblade. 

Hell is being stranded on an inescapable, floating island with your- rival? Once friend? Team chaos partner? Enemy? Regardless, the man who practically kidnapped you and now acts like everything is fine. 

Dream couldn’t kill Technoblade, he would just respawn. 

He couldn’t manipulate him, Techno would always just say “ok” and go back to work. 

He wanted to scream into the void, but he couldn't even do that because Techno would probably push him off the edge again for ‘content.’

It was just so frustrating.  

He couldn’t do anything. 

The island with the nether portal was far enough away that it would take a few days of resource gathering until they could even hope of reaching it with a bridge. 

So, until then, Dream was stuck in this personal hell with a pig who was currently… farming?

It was still early morning, but Dream had already decided to take a break. His arms were burning from the simple exertion of cutting down a few trees from the farm they had set up on another platform. Techno had dryly commented something about not staying in shape in prison, which Dream sadly agreed with, but Dream also couldn’t remember the last time he had done anything physical like this. 

Fighting, yes. 

Working through agricultural labor? He had no idea the last time he had made a farm. Digging, plowing, tilling; they had never been his thing. 

Strangely, they seemed to be Techno’s. 

Dream had seen him fight, he had even been an opponent to Technoblade’s skill with pretty much any weapon the man could get his hooves on. If you were to ask him, Dream would probably say that Technoblade was a natural warrior. 

But watching how delicately Techno was creating their farm made Dream think that it was his natural ability instead of fighting. It was fitting that Technoblade had managed to get pulled into a potato war of all things. 

It seemed like second nature as Techno carefully tended to the small patch of dirt he had moved to the edge of the water-side of their cobblestone generator. The water seeped into the dirt that Technoblade was now sifting through, and the dark earth hung on his arms as if it was the blood of his enemies. 

Dream had seen Technoblade after a victorious massacre; he had seen the bloody grin often upon the other’s face. 

Now, seeing Techno covered with dirt- the blood of the earth- Dream couldn’t help noticing the similarities in Techno’s two outlets. 

He was smiling as he began working the soil, but it wasn’t that savage smile from battle, but rather a peaceful, gentle twinkle behind his eyes. Technoblade hadn’t spoken to Dream the whole time he had been working, which Dream didn’t completely hate- it was nice to get a break from the bullying- but it was somewhat boring. 

Although, there was something almost meditative about watching Technoblade farm. As Dream sat there, under their tree, watching, he grew more and more discontent with his own inactivity. 

Against every part of his brain that was screaming that he was going to regret this later, Dream stood up, walked over, and asked a question before he could talk himself out of it. 

“What are you doing?”

Techno looked up from the dirt, blinking at Dream in amused disbelief, “did you hit your head when we were escapin’?”

Dream let out a long-suffering sigh, “okay, I guess I can see that you’re making a farm. The question I meant to ask is why.”

“So we don’t starve to death before day five?” Techno lifted the end of his phrase like he was asking a question. Squinting, he continued, “are you sure you’re okay, Dream?”

“I’m fine.” Dream clenched his fists and said quickly, almost worriedly, “do you want help?”

Techno’s eyebrows went up a good few inches, “help. You… want to help… me… farm.”

Dream nodded, finally regretting this. This was dumb and stupid and Techno definitely was going to make fun of-

“Okay.” Techno said to a very surprised Dream with a shrug, offering a hoe, “just till the ground a bit so we can plant some seeds later.” He went back to carding through the dry dirt in a pile on the side of the makeshift farm. 

Dream just looked at the tool in his hands for about half a minute. 

Techno paused again, “...you do know how to do that, right?”

“Yeah,” Dream said hotly, glaring at Techno, “what did you think, I was raised in a barn?”

Technoblade snorted, “if you were raised in a barn you’d be better at farmin’ than you are now. Stop starin’ at the hoe and get to work.”

“Wait,” Dream laughed, “I was looking at you, so does that mean you’re my h-”

“Dream.”

“Okay, okay. I’m going.”

And so they worked. 

Every once and a while Techno would lean over to Dream and correct something he was doing, but Dream found it strange that there was no mocking tone to his words. They were said as statements of fact like Techno was teaching him rather than looking for a new way to make fun of him. A few times Techno even guided him through the actions, showing him how to best use one's hands to till or how to plant the seeds so that they could easily break through to the surface. 

Time went by very quickly as Dream found his attention fading in the monotony, but it never became boring. It was grounding in a way to feel the repetitive motions of the hoe and the comforting softness of the dirt beneath him. It was a far cry from the cold, hard obsidian that his cell had been made out of, which is why he figured that he had liked just sitting with his legs in the cauldron of water. If he closed his eyes, he was just barely able to think that maybe- for a single, breathtaking second- he was sitting at the edge of a lake, listening to the bubbling of a stream instead of lava and cheerful bird calls instead of paralyzing silence. 

At one point Dream took off his shoes and worked barefoot, sometimes pausing to just feel the ground under them. He saw Techno watching him, but the other man said nothing, continuing his own diligent, almost reverent, work. 

It was really… nice.

If he had been back in prison, Dream guessed that it might have been time for Quackity’s promised daily visit. Even though the day was very warm, Dream shivered, thinking of what that might have meant for him. He shook his head. 

This still sucked. Dream still hated it.

But he couldn’t ignore that little voice in the back of his head whispering how this was so much better than what could have been. 

Whose torture was worse? Quackity’s or Technoblade’s?

Dream had begun to think that this farming wasn’t torturing at all. Besides, he had asked for it hadn’t he? It was calming and a wonderful physical distraction from the turmoil that was his mind. 

And Techno had been… nice as well. 

It was strange. 

Although he had been mostly silent, Dream didn’t think he’d heard a real insult from the pig-man since they had started.

He never did for the whole time they worked together. 

It was afternoon by the time that Dream finally decided to take a rest, having completed several rows of tilled soil and planting the beginnings of a wheat farm. Technoblade agreed after making a comment about how Dream had a sunburn because Dream’s skin was almost as pink as his own. Dream had placed a hand on his forehead and felt unnatural heat. Oh yeah, definitely a sunburn.

With a sigh, Dream walked over to their tree and laid down in the shade. The temperature dropped abruptly a solid ten degrees from the transition, making him notice that he had been overheating slightly as it cooled him down. 

Dream focused on the gently swaying branches of the oak above him, listening serenely to the almost musical breeze blow through its leaves. The grass underneath him felt like an incredibly soft mattress compared to the obsidian he had slept on for a few months now, and, though soft moisture still clung to the grass from the morning dew, he didn’t mind. 

He looked up to see Technoblade gathering what looked like stalks of straw from around the island, but they were likely just particularly long grass stems. Dream wondered for a moment what his rival could be doing, but then just decided to ignore it, sure that he’d find out soon enough. 

Dream also didn’t miss the quick glance from Techno as the man walked over to the edge of the island, sitting down with his legs dangling over the edge. 

A single breathy laugh escaped Dream. Technoblade did that a lot because for some reason he seemed to really like the edge of the island- maybe it was the view- but there was no doubt that the glance at Dream had been to check and see if the other was planning on pushing him off. It had become almost a tradition- an inside joke- to just send the other flying off the edge at every opportunity. 

Dream made no effort to get up, so Technoblade relaxed and even turned his back to Dream. 

Huh. 

Dream never would have thought he’d do that.

After taking one last glance at Technoblade, who seemed to be doing something with the stalks that looked like knitting, Dream closed his eyes and tried to take a nap. The previous night hadn’t exactly gone well, and the fatigue was starting to catch up with him. While making their farm, Dream had been able to ignore how tired he was in favor of just zoning out through the work, but he could certainly feel it now.  

Sleeping in Pandora’s Vault had been an escape. 

Sleeping here? An escape too, but it was one he liked. It was… comfortable. 

Dream fell asleep to the wind pleasantly rustling the leaves. 

After rolling on his side, Dream was woken up by something stabbing into his leg. 

He muttered a muffled curse and removed the culprit from his pocket. It was the bone from last night. 

With a yawn, Dream sat up, realizing that he was no longer in the shade. He also saw that Technoblade had built a rather precarious, unfinished bridge from the island, and was currently sitting on the very end of the pier that bobbed up and down like a very long diving board. His hands still moved, weaving whatever he had begun earlier.

The sun had moved considerably since he had fallen asleep, nearing the horizon once more. Thus, rather than the calm blue of the day, the sky was now lit up with vibrant oranges and reds. 

The farm had also been finished at some point, obviously by Technoblade, and a few small sprouts were already peeking through the soil. Dream had never personally held a Skyblock server on the Hypixel network but had heard that seasons and plant growth may have been adjusted. Plus, Techno seemed to be an experienced farmer, though Dream didn’t think that was the only thing at play with the plant growth. 

It wouldn’t have made sense for Techno to have farmed 500,000,000 potatoes in nine months naturally. Not that Dream was complaining- this just meant that they might be able to actually have some bread in the near future. 

Though he hadn’t realized it, while he had been thinking, Dream had absentmindedly been running his fingers gently over the grass. 

What was it people said about loss? Absence makes the heart grow fonder? 

Well, it was something like that, Dream thought as he watched the grass wave in the breeze that had intensified closer to the sunset. 

Whatever it was, Dream was incredibly grateful for the grass, for the tree, for the soon-to-be wheat. He hadn’t realized how much simple things like that could mean. 

Colors too. Literally anything other than black, red, and purple made him almost breathless. The sky, the water, they were so beautiful. 

Dream sighed, he was getting emotional. 

He was getting attached. 

When he had claimed that he had separated himself from all attachments, Dream hadn’t exactly been wrong, but he had ignored the other attachments that sometimes came with simply being human. 

The need to be around plants, the need to see the sky. 

And that’s not even touching the psychological side of things. 

Dream closed his eyes and just let the breeze blow through his sandy blonde hair. 

Freedom. 

“The best kind of prisons are those you don’t want to leave,” Techno’s rumbling voice said and Dream opened his eyes to see the man standing next to him. 

Dream realized, “oh, did I say that outloud?”

Technoblade chuckled, “yep. I found it funny that you’d even consider this freedom, though I’m sure it was better than whatever was goin’ on in that prison.”

“It is better.” Dream looked at the grass again, avoiding Techno’s searching gaze. It wasn’t pity in his rival’s eyes, it wasn’t anger either. Just a sort of quiet curiosity that made Dream incredibly uncomfortable. 

No, uncomfortable was the wrong word. 

It just was so unexpected. 

Everyone had viewed him as the villain so what difference did it make for him to act like one? Even Technoblade had only ever viewed him as a business partner… right? Why did he seem to care now? Was it just because they were stuck here and he had nothing better to do?

“So, as I was sayin’,” Techno sat down in the grass next to him, “the best sorta prisons are those that you don’t want to leave. Too bad that isn’t an option for us, but, hey, at least we got lucky in the fact that our prison here is actually a pretty decent one as far as prisons go.”

Dream laughed, “it’s still prison.”

“True,” Techno shrugged, “but you’ve gotta suppose that there was a reason you ended up there in the first place.”

Dream didn’t respond, sulkily playing with the grass instead. 

Techno cleared his throat, “so, as we’re goin’ to be stuck here for the next week or so, and you’re pale or whatever from bein’ in the prison so long…” he trailed off, adding like an afterthought, “huh, they didn’t even take you on walks? Did you really not get to see anythin’?”

“No, they didn’t take me for walks. I’m not a dog, Technoblade,” Dream said angrily. 

“Yeah,” Techno continued, “but you still need somethin’. Drive a man mad in a place like that.”

Dream frowned, “I’m sure it would, but I’m not a man.”

Techno laughed, “oh, sorry. I’ve gotta change your title from homeless green man to homeless green god. ”

“Ha, ha,” Dream said with all the mirth of a funeral attendee. 

“So, what I was tryin’ to say,” Technoblade said, “is that bein’ here you’re gonna need to figure out a way to work in the sun without murderin’ your skin, because I am not bein’ the only farmer here. I’ve had enough plantin’ and harvestin’ for the rest of my natural life.”

Dream smiled, “but Technoblade never dies?”

He laughed again, “that is what I am known for.” Techno readjusted, pulling something closer to him that Dream couldn’t see. “Basically, I made you somethin’ that might help.”

Dream raised his eyebrows as Technoblade handed him a woven straw hat. 

Ah, so that was what he had been working on. 

It wasn’t half bad actually, the craftsmanship was great considering the materials he had to work with. But it looked stupid. He would look stupid wearing it. 

“No offense, Techno, but this is the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“I can always throw it into our universal trash can that is the infinite void if you don’t want-” Techno moved a hand to take back the hat. 

“No, I want it.” Dream possessively pulled the hat close to his chest. 

“Oh?”

Dream reluctantly sighed, “yeah. I guess it might help with the sun.” The back of his neck and arms had begun to physically burn now, and the sensitive skin was painfully red. 

With a hum, Techno’s eyes turned to the sunset. “Day two,” he said softly, “everybody give it up for day two.”

Dream put his head into his hands, “god, it’s only day two.”

Technoblade laughed. 

“Techno…” Dream began, putting the hat aside, “thanks.”

A gentle smile grew across Techno’s face that Dream couldn’t explain for the life of him. “No problem.”

Dream suddenly got an idea. 

“I didn’t tell you, but there was a skeleton that I killed last night. It dropped a bone. I was planning on using it to grow a tree for the tree farm or help with the farm, but I have another proposition.”

Techno raised his eyebrows slightly, “go on.”

“Ok,” Dream rushed through his explanation because it felt childish, “so I know you said you wanted to move all of the dirt so that the farms could be most efficient- and I know you’re not going to like this- but I want to keep some of the grass here.”

“Sure.” Techno said indifferently, “I mean, technically it’s your island, dude.”

“So I wanted to use the bone to make bone meal and then grow some flowers.”

“Flowers?”

“Yes.”

Technoblade started laughing loudly, “flowers, Dream?”

He blushed, trying to justify it, “I didn’t have them in prison and I-”

“Dream,” Techno turned to him, “I’m not judgin’ you- okay, maybe just a little, but that’s not my fault, this is too funny not to laugh at.”

Dream opened his mouth to retort but Technoblade continued. 

“I… understand, I guess, the reason. I just think you’re harmin’ your villain, scary guy reputation.”

Dream narrowed his eyes, almost yelling a fiery insult back, but deflated with a heavy sigh instead. He pulled his knees to his chest and said quietly, “I don’t want to be here. I hate you. I hate this stupid place. I want to be back on the SMP doing-”

“Doing what? Manipulatin’ another minor?”

He flinched, he actually flinched. “I don’t know what I want to do. I just know I don’t want to do it here.” Dream laughed softly, his voice breaking imperceptibly, “I just thought a flower might… brighten this place.”

Techno was doing it again, just staring at him. Like Dream was some sort of puzzle that needed solving. Dream had seen that strategic mind working in battle, it had been amazing to watch, but being on the receiving end was much more intimate. Terrifyingly intimate, like all of his secrets and weaknesses were on display and Technoblade was simply reading them from a book. 

Finally, his rival looked away and said simply, “I think it’d do you some good. Taking care of something rather than destroyin’.” A cloud seemed to pass over Techno’s dark eyes as he continued, “at least, that’s what it was like for me in retirement. I tried.” He returned to meeting Dream’s gaze, but the probing quality from before had vanished. “It was nice to take care of the turtles and the bees. Carl too. Maybe you’ll find some peace like I did.”

Dream turned the bone over a few times in his hands. “Maybe, but it didn’t work out well for you, did it?”

“No.” Technoblade sighed, “but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try it if you think it’ll make you happy.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes, listening to the wind and watching the sunset. 

“Can I have a rock?”

Techno leaned towards the cobblestone generator and removed a small stone from the side. “Here.” 

Dream placed the bone down and began to grind it into a fine powder. It was like he had felt while farming. Repetitive movements. Breathe in. Breathe out. 

A sort of calm. A kind of quiet. 

The melodic sound of the stone against the bone. The soft cracks and hollow sounds of the abrasive back and forth. 

Breathe in. Breathe out. 

Techno just watched. 

Soon enough, there was a small pile of white chalk-like powder in front of him. 

Dream glanced at Technoblade who looked unimpressed. 

Picking up the bone meal in a fist, Dream waved it over a patch of grass doing the ritual that everyone seemed to know, though where it had originated was a mystery. Green sparkles popped and fizzed from wherever a piece of the bone landed, bringing life with them. 

The grass grew considerably, though no flower seemed to come with it. 

“Come on.” Dream whispered. 

He berated himself for a moment. Why was he so invested in this? It was pathetic. Dream was not pathetic. He was the mastermind. He did not have an attachment to a flower that didn’t even exist yet. 

But Dream continued anyway under his breath, “please.”

The universe answered his prayers with a tiny yellow flower. 

Technoblade roared with laughter. “You grew a weed!”

“It’s a dandelion.” Dream said tightly. 

“That’s a type of weed, Dream.” Techno looked like he was trying to hold back more laughter. “You know what? Maybe it’s fitting because you’re a weed too.”

“WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?” Dream shoved Techno into the grass, but it only made his rival laugh harder. Dream rolled his eyes and looked at the dandelion. 

With a small smile and a gentle caress, he said to it, “I promise I’ll protect you from the mean pig-man.”

Techno kept laughing. “You gonna name it too?”

Dream felt his face go red, “maybe.”

“You know,” Techno sat back up, still grinning, “for a guy who doesn’t like attachments, you sure make them easily.”

“I’m not attached to the flow-”

“So, if I stepped on it-”

“NO!”

Technoblade leaned over his shoulder with a smug smile, “What are ya gonna name it, Dream?”

“Shut up.”

Techno only laughed again.

Dream scowled. 

Hell was most certainly, most definitely, Technoblade.

Chapter Text

The next two days were largely uneventful on the Skyblock island. At least, Dream thought so. The changes that were happening weren’t physically evident- more on the emotional side- but time brought them along just the same. 

Sleeping was easier because- along with the addition of the small dandelion- Dream’s use of bone meal on the ground had provided them with thick grass which they used to fluff up their makeshift sleeping area. 

Strangely, neither of them seemed to mind it much. Technoblade seemed used to sleeping in less-than-optimal conditions, and Dream was just thankful it wasn’t obsidian. The soft grass almost felt like a proper mattress, though Dream wondered if he even remembered what it felt like to sleep in a bed. 

He hadn’t been in the prison that long, but it was certainly long enough to skew his perception of what was ‘normal.’

The problem with human perception is that it is primarily based on, by definition, perception. One is constantly comparing and contrasting pros and cons in order to make educated decisions, but one never knows if their conclusions are objectively correct.

However, using this knowledge, a person is able to manipulate situations so that they seem better than they are, which is what Dream felt like he was falling victim to. He knew enough about the principle, he had used it himself before. 

Dream remembered Tommy’s exile. Sure, he hadn’t treated Tommy well, but- comparatively- Dream was a saint. He had played off of the boy’s desire for any sort of interaction to get on his good side. 

It had almost worked. 

But then there had been that stupid pillar and subsequent escape. 

(Dream didn’t want to think about that. Dream didn’t want to think about how far he had pushed without realizing it.)

Then, little Tommy had run to big brother Technoblade. 

He knew from the beginning that their partnership wouldn’t work out. Tommy was simply too loyal to L’Manberg to fully join Techno. 

Dream had been right. When he saw them at the attempted Green Festival, the fractures in their relationship had been plain. It made it easy for Dream to worm his way between them to get Techno’s help on Doomsday- though that was something he had had no doubt in. Dream had first noticed the slight cracks in their ‘business partnership’ when he had confronted Tommy at the portal. 

When he had refused Technoblade’s offered use of the favor. 

He wondered where he would be now if he had accepted the deal right then and there. 

(He wondered where Tommy would be now, whether he would even be alive.)

None of this speculation mattered in the end, they were simple what-if scenarios that would get him nowhere. 

What mattered right now was figuring out a way to escape the island that wouldn’t allow Techno to follow him or just bring him straight back. The only possible option he had landed on was waiting until they had enough blocks to reach the nether portal island, waiting until Techno was asleep, and then building across himself, alone, and hoping to whatever god was listening that he would escape undetected. 

Their block stockpile was steadily growing. It seemed that they would have enough blocks to reach the island by the fifth or sixth day. There were several piles of cobblestone around the island and at least a stack of wood from the very productive tree farm Technoblade had built to the south of the island.

Speaking of which, there had been a few expansions to their small world, namely the tree farm, a better sleeping area, and a large platform to the east which they used to farm mobs during the night-time. 

It had been easier to sleep, but Dream kept getting awoken by nightmares and it seemed that Technoblade did too. Whenever they found themselves restless, both would head out to the platform and kill mobs to relax. 

A consequence of this was that when one of them was awake and the other was asleep, they could often tell what the other was dreaming. 

Dream noticed that the pig-man would sometimes mutter in his sleep or even thrash about, whatever it was, it never seemed good. 

(He wondered if his dreams ever leaked into reality like that. He wondered what Techno thought. He wondered what he gave away.)

It was strange, really. The cycle they had found in this crazy world. 

It had started on the third night, the night after Dream received the hat. Since the Skyblock island did not have a clock like his prison cell, Dream couldn’t be sure what time it had been, but the moon had been near the middle of the sky, so he could assume it had been near midnight. 

He had woken up after another dream- nightmare really- about Quackity… torturing him. 

(The sounds would often overlap in terrifying synchrony. He would hear someone screaming for Sam, though he could never tell if it was Tommy’s voice or his own.)

Dream woke up in a cold sweat. 

When he sat up that night, he hadn’t been planning anything specific, mostly he was just wanting to get up and do something to distract himself from his own thoughts. His eyes landed on the empty grass bed next to his. Technoblade was gone. 

He eventually saw the man in question off on the mob platform, doing some sort of choreographed fight sequence with a long stick. 

There were no mobs on the island currently, only him, twisting and twirling, fighting imaginary enemies. 

Dream slowly looked over at Technoblade’s cape which was laying in the grass next to the man’s ‘bed.’

At Dream’s request, Technoblade had allowed him to keep some of the original grass and dirt intact, which was also where they had made their beds. Techno had said something about prehistoric humans and the comfort they gained from sleeping on natural ground, but Dream hadn’t really listened. 

The ‘beds’ kept him warmer than he had been the first night, but the night air by itself was still chilly and Techno wasn’t exactly wearing an insulating shirt. 

With a sigh, Dream got up and picked up the cloak, slinging the heavy fabric over his shoulder and making his way over to the mob platform. 

Technoblade saw him approaching and fell into a sort of relaxed poise, where Dream couldn’t tell if he was truly tense or not. The long stick was being held at his side- not in a particularly threatening manner- but somehow it still seemed like an active weapon. 

“Couldn’t sleep?” Technoblade drawled, and Dream noticed that despite the air of activity around Techno, the man was actually very tired. There were dark circles under his eyes that were only made more prominent by the shadows the moonlight cast across his face and, in addition, his simple two-word question had sounded more like a lazy yawn than a fully conscious statement. 

“I see you couldn’t as well.”

Techno shrugged, slowly moving his eyes to the cape still hanging over Dream’s shoulder. “What’re you doin’ with that?”

“you seemed cold,” Dream sighed, holding it out to Techno.

He snorted, “put the cloak down.”

“But then I’ll be cold.”

“Look,” Techno said, twirling his stick around, “if you’re gonna complain about the cold, either go back to bed or pick up a branch.”

“What.”

Technoblade nodded at another long stick that was sitting at the edge of the platform. Dream eyed him suspiciously but slowly put the cloak down and picked up the stripped branch instead. It looked like Techno had used an axe to take the bark off of the stick so that it now looked like a bo staff. 

Dream had barely picked it up when- thwack!

Evidently, Techno’s invitation to pick up the stick was also a warning as he immediately raised his own to hit at Dream, who blocked a shot over his forehead by instinct alone. 

“Hey!”

Techno grinned, his body-language saying he was much more awake, “I’m bored.” The staves remained locked above their heads in a contest of strength.

“It’s twelve a.m.!” Dream said indignantly, breaking apart and stepping back, “it’s not the time for whack-a-dream!”

“You blocked it just fine.”

Dream narrowed his eyes, “block this.” He swung at Techno’s legs, attempting to knock the other off of his feet. 

Technoblade easily stopped it and raised his eyebrows at Dream. “You really want to do this?” A sly grin spread across his face, “at twelve a.m.?”

He made up his mind, “there’s always time for whack-a-pig.” He attempted another hit which Techno blocked again, laughing. 

Despite himself, over the next hour or so where the rivals continued to spar, Dream found himself smiling and laughing much more than he had in a long time. Without even realizing it, Dream’s thoughts slowly drifted away from the anxiety of the nightmare that had started this whole thing. The calm, rhythmic sounds of wood against wood were his only focus. 

When it was over- both of them breathing heavily- Technoblade simply nodded with a small grin, picked up his cloak, and returned to the mainland without another word. 

Frankly, Dream had to admit that the nonchalant way in which Techno had approached the whole thing- from the gentle invitation to distract himself (which Dream knew now was intentional. Technoblade had definitely planned this, why else would he have made another stick?) to the casual banter in which they had engaged while fighting, made him feel so much more at ease with the pig-man. For example, if Techno had tried to get Dream to talk about his lack of sleep, or if he had made it into an issue to be analyzed, Dream knew he wouldn’t have said anything. It was humbling, realizing that Technoblade had outwitted him. Dream did feel better, that stupid pig had figured him out. Curse the man for being so infuriatingly comforting. 

The exercise had relaxed him, distracted him, and tired him out so much so that Dream was finding it difficult to keep his eyes open. 

As he made his own way back to the main island, Dream saw that Techno was already curled up in bed, hugging his cloak like a security blanket, and wished he had his communicator so he could take a photo. This was prime blackmail material right here. 

Dream laughed quietly and laid down in the grass, staring up at the night sky. 

There were so many stars. 

He couldn’t exactly describe the feeling he had whenever he truly took the time to appreciate all the things he had on the island- like the stars, the grass, even the other occupant. 

Techno didn’t need to do any of this. 

Well, Dream thought, maybe he felt guilty for stranding them in the Skyblock world. Maybe he even felt guilty for tricking Dream in the first place. But he certainly hadn’t needed to spend hours weaving a hat or spend time sparring with Dream in order to distract him from his dark thoughts. 

Regardless of the reason they were there, Dream was thankful for the little things. For the flower growing out of the ground a few feet from him, for the charitable hat made by an enemy, and for the simple beauty of life itself that had been lacking in that prison. 

Dream fell asleep with a sour taste in his mouth as the last thought that crossed his mind was the fact that he would likely be leaving the island in a few days. 

He wasn’t sure why he didn’t feel as excited as he thought he would have been at the prospect. 

“Wakey, wakey, it’s almost noon and I am goin’ to kill the flower if you don’t get up.”

Well, that certainly shocked him awake. 

“TECHNOBLADE! Don’t you dare!” He sat up and turned to the pig-man who was standing over the dandelion with a lazy grin. 

“Relax,” he said, raising his hands placatingly, “I wasn’t plannin’ anything. I’ve been workin’ all mornin’ and you’ve just been snorin’ there. I had to get you up somehow, sleepin' beauty.”

Dream reacted the only way he knew how, humorous deflection. “You think I’m beautiful?”

Technoblade rolled his eyes, “you’re a very strange individual, Dream.”

“So… you’re not going to hurt the flower?”

“No, I’m not that terrible of a person.” Technoblade considered something, “though you really need to come up with a better name for it than ‘the flower,’ it sounds kinda dumb.”

“You’re dumb,” Dream said, crossing his arms. 

“What are we, back in preschool?” Techno laughed, “you need better comebacks.”

“Shut up.”

Techno just laughed again. “Come on,” he offered Dream a hand, “I’ve got an idea.”

Dream allowed himself to be pulled up from the grass, also picking up his straw hat and putting it on his head, “what are we doing?”

“Okay, I’m worried that I’m gonna accidentally step on your flower friend,” Technoblade explained, leading Dream over toward the cobblestone generator, “so we’re gonna make a flower pot for it.”

“Oh.”

His rival grinned, “think of it as arts-and-crafts time with Technoblade so that he doesn’t make you cry by accidentally murderin’ the only thing you love.”

“I wouldn’t cry,” Dream said contemptuously. 

“Good, because I would have no idea how to deal with that.”

Dream shook his head but smiled. There was something caring about the act, no matter where Technoblade’s motivations were coming from. 

They sat down and Techno motioned to a pile of wet clay sitting near the generator, “I’ve gathered enough from around the island, we’re lucky we had enough for this, to be honest.” He leaned his chin against his fist and watched Dream, “and you’re not leaving until you make up your mind about a name for that weed.”

“Not a weed.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s a weed, Dream.”

“Well, just like how you don’t like being called a weapon,” Techno flinched, and Dream continued protectively, “the dandelion doesn’t like being called a weed.”

Techno scowled, “flowers don’t have feelings.”

“Neither do pigs.”

His rival narrowed his eyes, but Dream ignored the glare. 

The clay felt nice in his hands, especially on the parts that were slightly sunburnt still. Technoblade eventually just sat there next to him, opting to lean against the cobblestone generator and take a nap while Dream formed the flower pot. The straw hat worked wonders, it had a large enough brim so that his neck and a significant portion of his shoulders and back were shielded from the sun. 

Randomly, they would bounce names off of each other. Techno usually kept his eyes closed but would offer ideas if he had them, most of which were just variations of ‘weed.’

“You sound like Tommy with how much you’re talking about drugs.” Dream said at one point, which shut Techno up for a good while. 

After one too many mocking suggestions, Dream finally said, “if you’re not going to tell me a real idea for a name, please just stop.”

For a second it looked like Techno was just going to make another snide comment, but then something flashed over his face and he opened his eyes. “I… have one actually.” His words were said with careful indifference, though Dream could see right through it. 

“As long as it’s not weed, you’re probably good.”

Techno chuckled, “it’s not weed.”

Dream nodded at him to continue, putting the finishing touches on his clay pot. 

“You know how I like to give things… let’s say- symbolic meaning?” Dream detected a hint of worry behind his voice like he was concerned about what Dream would think. Was he really that self-conscious?

He tilted his head at the pig-man, “like how you call Tommy Theseus?”

“Like that.” Technoblade furrowed his brows, “I was thinkin’-”

“That’s your problem, you were thinking. ”

Techno laughed, “you’re an idiot, Dream.”

“Who has the preschool-level comebacks now?” Dream grinned, waving a hand, “but continue, please.”

“I was thinkin’ ,” he repeated, “about the myth of Pandora’s Box.” Techno’s eyes lit up as he continued, “in the myth, Pandora opens the box and lets out all these evils on the world. Like I almost did when I released you, but luckily I wasn’t as ignorant as Pandora about what openin’ the box would do, so I brought you here.”

“Gee,” Dream said sarcastically, “I love being compared to the root of all evil.”

Technoblade grinned, “you’ll get over it.” He dove back into the story, “but the important thing is that evil wasn’t alone in the box. The box contained one other thing dangerous to humans...” he paused dramatically. 

“And what’s that?”

“Hope.”

Dream blinked at Technoblade in surprise. “Hope?” He said incredulously, “a danger? ”

His rival shrugged, “the gods always had problems with humans gettin’ too prideful, so I’m sure they saw hope as a threat. People are incredibly powerful- incredibly foolish too- but very powerful when hope is the thing fueling them.”

“Huh,” Dream said, contemplating the pot; it looked good enough. Now the only thing left to do was leave it to dry in the sun. 

“I think…” Technoblade said slowly, something incredibly personal in the tone of his voice, “I think you need a little hope in your life, Dream.”

“I don’t,” he said hastily, “I’m not in the Vault anymore. I’m not the evil in Pandora’s Box, I don’t need hope.” Then, after a tense moment, he sighed and repeated quietly, “hope.”

It sounded nice. He hated to admit it. He hated how it felt to even consider being hopeful again. He had hoped Techno was going to break him out of prison. He had hoped that he was going to get revenge on the people who had betrayed him. 

(He hated how Techno had said exactly what he needed and was refusing to admit.)

He looked over at the tree and grass, his gaze landing on the flower gently swaying in the breeze. 

“Hope.” 

(He wondered what he should be hoping for. For revenge? For freedom? For peace?)

Another moment passed. Something broke in Dream. Something clicked into place. Something repaired itself. 

“Hope,” he said again, slowly beginning to smile, “you know what? I think that’s a good name.”

“I’m a genius!” Technoblade exclaimed. 

Dream snorted, the introspective moment shattering. “God,” he placed the finished pot on the ledge of the cobblestone generator, turning to Techno, “I hope I never have to talk to you again after getting out of here.”

“And here I was,” Techno said in mock despair, gasping, “thinkin’ we were just becoming friends.”

“Keep dreaming, Techno.”

“Were those puns?”

A small smile, “maybe.”

As the sun continued to beat down on them, they spent the rest of the day working on the small farm. Like before, it was grounding. Relaxing. He was at peace with the world and was unknowingly beginning to make peace with himself. 

But Dream couldn’t stop his thoughts from circling again and again to his plan of escape. Over and over and over. 

It couldn’t be long now until they had enough blocks. 

He was almost free. 

A quiet whisper rose from deep within him. (So quiet that he could almost pretend he didn’t hear.)

...Did he really want to leave?

Chapter Text

On night four, they fought again. However, this time it was Technoblade who woke up second. 

He was surprised, honestly, to look over and see Dream performing tricks with the wooden staff, hurling it up into the air and catching it in a way similar to what Techno had seen him do with his axe. It felt performative, almost show-offish, but Dream’s face was passive. Techno even noticed that his eyes were shut, so he couldn’t possibly have known Techno was watching him from the main island. 

Then, who was this ‘performance’ for?

Small beads of sweat ran down Dream's face even though the night was cold, and the top of his orange prison jumpsuit had been opened and tied around his waist as he had grown accustomed to wearing it pretty much whenever he wasn’t sleeping. White tank-top, bright orange jumpsuit, and that dumb straw hat that Techno tried really hard not to laugh at even though he had been the one to make it. Without the mask and lime-green outfit Dream had become so famous for, he almost looked… normal. 

It had also been interesting to see the change undergone by Dream’s physique during the time in prison. Dream had seemed just a little too small in that cell when Techno had first pushed through the lava, but he had brushed it off as the expected wear-and-tear from living in a place like that. Seeing Dream on the Skyblock island was different. Techno had begun to notice small things- they had seemed inconsequential to him at the time- that when taken in all together, suggested a much more worrying truth. 

First, it had been the way Dream grew exhausted much faster. Sure, Techno hadn’t really known the guy, but he still knew that the Dream he had known wouldn’t have been panting after cutting down a single tree. This had spurred on the somewhat humorous question of whether the prison guards had taken him on walks. 

Dream had said no, growing defensive over the comparison that he would need a minder to go on such a simple thing as a walk. 

That answer had made Techno worried, and since then he had taken to unconsciously watching Dream for any other irregularities that might give him a clue as to what exactly happened in that prison. 

The second thing that had come from this examination was the acknowledgement of some physical changes. It was clear to Techno as he had fought dream on the mob platform the previous night, that the man had lost a considerable amount of muscle. Whereas before, Dream had had broader shoulders with muscles to match a lifestyle of fighting, they were lankier now, giving him a more angular, almost skeletal, appearance. Techno hadn’t had the courage to ask what Dream had been eating in prison, mostly because he felt that his own unhealthy habits did not permit him to judge another’s. 

Then, he had remembered the scars. 

It had been a quick escape, so Techno hadn’t really been paying attention to Dream as they swam through the water and then journeyed through the forest to the nether portal that had brought them here. He remembers now, though, looking back, the strange way Dream had run beside him, leaning heavily on one side and pressing a hand on his stomach every once and a while, almost as if he was covering a wound. There had been those stains on his outfit as well, too dark to be dirt or sweat, just enough of the red that he knew it was dried blood. 

But whose though? Techno remembers Ranboo saying something about Dream murdering Tommy in prison, if it had happened at all. Huh. He should probably bring that up with Dream sometime- if for nothing else then at least to congratulate him for finally managing to rid the server of the kid with the most plot armor Techno had ever seen. 

Regardless of the blood, there had still been indications of actual harm to Dream, but Techno didn’t know when they had occurred. Without the mask, he could see some scars snaking across the man’s face, more than before, and Dream had been limping slightly as he had gone through the portal, Techno following him. Techno wondered what, if anything, had happened to his leg. It seemed unexplainable, considering that there hadn’t been anything in that cell which would have injured him. No manacles, no ball and chain to restrict his movement. 

It was a mystery that Techno didn’t particularly care enough about to go out of his way to solve but couldn’t help wondering about. 

What was he going to say? Sorry I didn’t come to save you sooner? Oh, let me help you to heal?

The respawn had fixed much of the issues anyway, and Dream seemed to be gaining muscle back, slowly but surely, because of the manual labor it required to keep the island running. 

Techno made up his mind to join Dream over on the mob platform, gently grabbing onto Dream’s staff after a jab to get his attention. 

The man’s eyes snapped open, momentarily being filled with a visceral panic Techno had never seen before until he seemed to recognize Technoblade and relax. But Techno hadn’t missed the way his fingers had tightened around the stripped piece of wood or the way Dream had leaned back as if his fight or flight instinct had immediately settled on flight. Yeah, it wasn’t a new thing for Dream, who fled consistently to avoid fights he knew he couldn’t win, but there was always an air of calculation to his tactical retreats. Not this time though, it was just pure fear. 

Techno, though he wanted to ask many things, just tilted his head and settled on, “you up for sparrin’ with a partner tonight?”

Dream shrugged, backing up and moving into a typical fighting stance. 

Picking up a stick of his own, Techno moved in and they began to dance. 

It was beautiful in the same way fight scenes from movies are, like everything had been planned out beforehand and they were just moving to premade directions. Dream added a considerable amount of ornamentation to his own routine, flipping and twirling far more than was necessary. 

Show-off. 

They continued in silence for a while, the only sounds being those of the night and of the staves. 

Dream was unfocused, his actions more reactions than conscious choices. Techno just watched passively, wondering what the man’s mind was really on. 

“So,” he finally said during one round, blocking a hit at his ankle, “I’ve been keepin’ track and as of now, it seems that we’ll have enough blocks by the end of the day tomorrow.”

Dream dodged a blunt stab at his chest. “Ah.”

A few more shots were traded. 

“What is…” Dream disengaged, and Techno relaxed. “What is your plan for…” he was breathing heavily, trying to recover, “after… when we can leave.”

“Sorry, but I’m still not lettin’ you go off on your own. We’re staying together where I can keep an eye on you and make sure that you can’t go back to the SMP and cause problems... for now.” Techno paused, suddenly wanting to try something new to see how he would react. “I’ll probably just escort you to another prison where you can await a proper trial.”

Another pause. 

Dream’s eyes were on the floor as he said simply, “okay.”

(What on earth did that mean? Techno couldn’t understand the tones he had heard in that one, single word. Okay what? He wasn’t mad? Or even trying to make an effort to change Techno’s mind?)

“We’ll figure it out.” Techno raised his eyebrows, seeing Dream blink tiredly. “For now I think you should go to bed, try and get some sleep. If we want to stay on schedule then you’ll need the energy to work tomorrow.” 

Again, Dream’s same one-word response sent Techno reeling. 

“Okay.” 

The man set down the staff and returned with Techno to the main island where he sat down on the grassy bed and rubbed his temples. Then, sighing, closed his eyes. 

Techno just watched in awe. 

None of this had made sense. 

He used to have a plan. 

He had planned for how he might keep Dream in line. 

How he might make sure that Dream wouldn’t escape. 

He hadn’t planned for the man himself to seem to have almost no interest in escaping. 

Techno thought again of the detachment in Dream’s eyes as they had dueled that night. Something had been going through his rival’s mind, he certainly wasn’t just going to roll over and die. 

No, Dream was planning something.

Waiting for an opportune moment to strike. 

Techno was a fool for ever thinking anything else, he couldn’t believe he had almost fallen into lenient comfort. Dream was smart, Dream was patient. 

Dream was a manipulator, and Techno knew that he shouldn’t relax for a second. 

But he was confused. 

Nothing that he had expected of his rival had happened. 

Had something changed?

Well, he knew the answer was yes, but he didn’t know how or why. When he looked at Dream when the other thought no one was watching, Techno saw a person he had never met. 

Someone who he could not predict. 

What had changed?

How had it changed?

...What had happened in that prison?

The next day passed without incident. 

Dream was quiet, never initiating a conversation but going about his work with a diligence Techno hadn’t seen yet. Sure, his rival had practically thrown himself into working on the farm, using it as a distraction from who knows what, but this was different. Dream had gone about the tasks so far with a sort of care, a sort of effort reserved for those that put one-hundred percent into everything simply because they could not accept any less of themselves. But now, on the other hand, Dream’s gathering of resources on day five was feverish, a stunning combination of adrenaline and excitement but also something darker, something that almost looked like worry. 

(Techno wondered what the man was worrying about.)

The Dream Techno knew would be planning an escape method, maybe even making tools to try and fight Technoblade, or maybe hoping to restrain Techno somehow so that he could escape on his own. 

Again, Techno was confused. 

He was stuck between knowing that Dream was planning something, but having no idea what it was. 

(Was it wrong to wonder if maybe he was off entirely, and Dream had just accepted his fate?)

The stockpile was finished at the end of the day just as the first stars began to appear in the night sky. There hadn’t been much conversation, and even when Techno tried to goad Dream into a debate about swords versus axes, the man was silent. 

“Dream,” he finally said, “what’s up with you?”

Dull green eyes stared back at him. “Nothing? What’s up with you?”

“You’ve been acting weird all day, I know somethin’ is happenin’ up in that brain of yours, unless you’re gonna claim to me that you actually don’t have one-thousand IQ.”

Dream gave him a small smile and sat down in the grass. “I’m just- worried, I guess.”

“About leavin’?” Techno joined him and leaned against the tree near their sleeping area. 

“I mean- not really.” His eyes lit up humorously and he said jokingly, “I’m worried about Hope. What’s Hope going to do when I’m gone?”

Techno snorted. “I knew you were goin’ to get attached to that flower.”

“I-” for a second it sounded like Dream was going to deny it, which is what Techno would’ve expected, but instead he frowned. “I guess I am,” he admitted. “Hope is… a pretty flower.”

“Hope is a weed.”

Dream laughed and shook his head, but it seemed to carry less energy to it than there would have been normally. 

“You can take Hope with you, ya know.” Techno stared at him, continuing to needle at the strange wound that was Dream's past with the prison and looking for any reaction, “to have a little friend with you when you go back into Pandora’s Vault.”

Dream tensed and shook his head quickly. “I don’t want Hope in there. There’s no… sunlight.”

“You might be surprised, dandelions are pretty resilient.”

Quietly, “Hope shouldn’t have to go through that.”

For a second, Techno heard another undertone to Dream’s words and he wondered if Dream was still speaking about the flower. It seemed that what he really had been saying was that no one should have to go through that. 

Techno wasn’t sure what to say, so he just sighed, after a moment, adding, “we should head to bed, we’ve got a big day tomorrow. I don’t want to bridge at night in case we keep fallin’ a bunch.”

“It’s not like we would die though.”

“True, true.” Techno shrugged slightly. “But we could also lose blocks that way by makin’ a bridge we can’t really see. If you really want to try it tonight, I’ll give it a shot.”

“Nah. I’m good waiting one more night.”

“Alright, then.” Technoblade laid down in the grass bed. “Good night, Dream.”

“Night, bacon.”

Techno chuckled. 

Then, as a thoughtless, complete spur of the moment thing, he said, “you know, Dream, I think I’ll miss this.” He was too busy staring at the stars to notice Dream recoil at the words as if he had been struck. 

He didn’t respond. 

Technoblade sighed and turned over onto his side and tried to fall asleep, knowing that if Dream tried anything tonight, it would either wake him up or Dream would fail. 

He wasn’t worried. 

He should have been. 

At some odd hour of the night, Dream finally heard Techno’s breathing slow and knew that the pig-man had fallen into REM sleep. 

He stood, slinking over to the stash of wood and cobblestone they were going to be using to bridge. 

If he took it now, he could make his own way over to the portal and escape. 

Dream took one last look at Technoblade’s sleeping form and bolted, taking the blocks with him. But first, he made sure to pick up the iron bucket that had come with the island and scoop up a bit of the lava. 

Cobblestone went first in a precarious line stretching out from the island as Dream laid one piece after another, pausing after every noise to check if it had woken Techno up. It never did. 

Soon he reached the midpoint, having switched over to wood to make sure that the center of the bridge didn’t collapse. Cobblestone was heavier and could be supported by the island, but the wood would need to support his full weight while only depending on the cobblestone. 

The wood would bend and sway like a long diving board, but Dream managed to keep his balance. 

With each block that was placed, his excitement only grew. After a while, his hands even started to shake and his breaths quickened with his heightened adrenaline. 

He was going to be free. 

Free. Free. Free. 

He was so happy. 

(He felt sick.)

Quackity was so dead. 

And Tommy was going to be right under his thumb again, the poor kid would probably be so terrified to see him that he’d break right then and there and Dream could get on with the plans that had been so rudely interrupted by Technoblade. 

His mind kept going back further, following the chain of events. 

The plans interrupted by Quackity.

The plans interrupted by… 

By… Punz. (Or that was how it had seemed. How he had made it seem.)

By Sapnap. 

If he truly wanted to know who to blame he had to come to terms with what had happened in that underground base when everyone had come to defend Tommy and Tubbo… from him. 

"You should’ve paid me more."

Was that it? He suddenly thought. Was that it, then? Money?

Had there never been anything more?

(Had he never been anything more to Punz? Why out of everything had Punz chosen to say that Dream wasn't worth more than some diamonds to him? Surely... surely there wasn't a part of Punz that really thought that, right?)

Dream grit his teeth and continued building, ignoring the sensation growing in the pit of his stomach. 

Block after block after block. 

His hands shook, but now that was just because of the adrenaline. The light, happy feeling that had preceded it was gone. 

He wanted it back. 

Was it because he was scared? 

Dream clenched his fists. 

Scared of what?

He kept building, the nether portal was so close now. 

No! He wasn’t fucking scared.

What was there to be scared of?

The obsidian of the portal gleamed at him mockingly in the moonlight, a harsh blue in opposition to the red and purple he was used to. 

The world of blue. 

Of green. 

Dream kept working, switching over to cobblestone as he finished the last section of the bridge. He almost collapsed with relief as he felt the ground shift into stone bricks as he stepped onto the island. 

It had been five days. 

Five hellish days on this prison of a Skyblock island. 

(Not hellish.)

He was going to get out. He was going to go back to the SMP to…

To… 

It didn’t matter. 

(It did matter.)

Dream placed some wood around the portal and covered different pieces in lava praying that at least one of them would light. 

His eyes twitched back and forth between the kindling and the main island. Technoblade’s form still laid in the grass under the tree, unmoving. 

His eyes caught something else too. 

A flower. 

Sitting in a flowerpot. 

With a hat propped up next to it. 

The flower appeared to wave at him. 

Dream turned his back to the other island, refusing to look at Hope. It wasn’t as if the flower had feelings. 

(He ignored his own contrary claim from the day before.)

"Flowers don’t have feelings."  

"Neither do pigs."

He wanted to punch something. 

Where was his happiness? Where was the joy he was supposed to be feeling at finally being able to return home?

(That last word came with difficulty.)

His gaze returned to Hope as if being pulled by a magnet. 

Hope. 

The flower swayed. 

He had hope for the future, right? For all the things he could do once he was free?

Except… 

Except he would never be free. 

Dream remembered Sapnap’s words.

"I don’t think it’s gonna be Tommy, it’s not gonna be Techno, Dream. If you break out of this prison, it’s gonna be me who takes your final life… and that’s not because I have any resentment towards you or anything, it’s because this is where you need to be, dude. You have to stay here, okay?"

Suddenly, Dream wanted to cry. 

He hadn’t- he-

Dream started violently clenching and unclenching his fists, pacing the island in a fury. 

He hadn’t stayed in prison. 

He hadn’t stayed in prison because it wasn’t where he belonged. He was... he was being tortured for fucks sake!

But even if it was where he 'belonged,' he was the villain, right? He was allowed to break out. To be evil.

Morality was fucking dumb anyway. 

There is no good and bad, just what someone is and isn’t willing to do. 

Morality is subjective, and Dream didn’t care what the others thought about his actions. He didn't care if people thought that he had gotten what he deserved. (He tried not to listen to the part of himself that was wondering if they were right.)

He heard the wood begin to crackle, but there were still no flames. 

Breathing became more difficult as his chest tightened with... something. Dream had no idea what he was feeling and didn't even want to know. Now wasn’t the time to be thinking, to be feeling.

But there was still that squeezing feeling around his heart. 

His eyes watered. 

“Stop it,” Dream whispered between gritted teeth, “stop it.”

Even if he was looking at the possible options from a completely utilitarian perspective, there was no good option here. 

Dream felt like someone had just punched him in the gut as he stood there, breathlessly, and realized the truth. 

No matter what happened, he was dead. 

If he returned to the SMP, pretty much everyone would be on his case, and Sapnap had promised to-

He could always fight Sapnap-

He couldn’t kill him-

Dream wouldn’t kill Sapnap. 

Which left him with the options of either letting Sapnap or any of the others kill him or what was more likely was that they would simply throw him straight back in prison. 

Dream started hyperventilating. 

He couldn’t go back there. 

He might rather Sapnap kill him, at least his friend might make it painless. 

A tear fell down Dream’s face as he realized what he had said. 

His friend. 

A quiet laugh escaped him. 

Fuck. 

Fuck this whole thing. 

He couldn’t even succeed with getting rid of his attachments properly. 

Sapnap had abandoned him.

(Dream had abandoned Sapnap.)

Dream was supposed to hate him. Dream did hate Sapnap. 

(Dream was terrified Sapnap hated him.)

If he ran away, used the portal, and decided to just run… 

No. 

Sapnap, George, Bad, someone would track him down. 

Hell, maybe even Ant would get him again with those fucking potions of harming. 

There was no choice here. 

There were no good options. 

He was going to die, or he was going to suffer and wish he was dead.

He started laughing, slapping a hand over his mouth as the laughs slowly transformed into something like sobbing. 

Snap!

His thoughts were broken as Dream felt as a breeze of air shot past him and whipped around to face a glowing, purple portal. 

The swirls of the portal’s surface were mesmerizing. 

He took a step toward it, reaching out. 

Warm tear tracks still fell down his cheeks, illuminated purple by the nether portal. 

He reached farther, leaning forward and stumbling towards the obsidian frame. 

(For a second, he felt overwhelming panic at the sight of the hard, black stone as his mind threatened to send him back to the prison, back before Sam updated the cell with crying obsidian. Back when he had hoped to light a portal in the cell by setting the lectern on fire.)

The tears running down his face looked quite like the tears of crying obsidian with the purple light reflecting off of them. 

Centimeters away from touching the portal’s surface, Dream stopped. 

He stood there, reaching out, suspended in time for what felt like an eternity. 

Why did he stop?

Dream’s breaths were shallow as he waited, frozen. 

What was he waiting for?

Suddenly, like a bolt of lightning, Dream made a decision. 

The decision hung in his mind for a moment, relief, happiness, fear, anger, and self-loathing fighting for authority over his soul. 

The moment passed.

Dream shattered. 

It was as if he was a marionette, and if, all at once, the strings holding him upright were cut. 

He crumbled, broken, onto his knees.

The portal hummed. 

Freedom was inches away from him. 

And Dream buried his head into his hands and sobbed.  

When Techno woke up the next morning, he rolled over and stretched, saying gently, “good morning. It’s bridgin’ day.”

There was no one in the other ‘bed.’

He sat up quickly, twisting and turning around to try and locate his companion. 

Hope and the straw hat still sat innocently next to the bed, and for a second Techno thought Dream might have just gone over to the farm or the mob platform, but then his eyes found the start to the bridge. 

Technoblade jumped up, sprinting over to it and running across. He saw the portal was alight in the distanced and hurried, a multitude of different explanations and plans pouring through his head. 

He was calculating every possible thing that could happen and planning out solutions. 

Techno would follow Dream into the portal, track him down and-

He slowed. 

There was something else on that portal island. 

And again, Techno was overwhelmed with complete shock as he arrived at the portal, his pace having changed from a frantic sprint into a hesitant walk. 

Sitting at the base of it, with his knees pulled up against his chest and arms wrapped tightly around them was Dream. 

Techno approached curiously, making his movements louder so that Dream would notice him. 

Dream’s eyes were open, staring at some arbitrary point in the distance, but gave no sign that he saw Techno. 

“You know,” Techno began, crossing his arms and looking down at Dream who was still staring blankly forward, “I would be lyin’ if I said that I didn’t expect you to try and escape.” He raised his gaze to the portal. “What I didn’t expect was you to actually succeed, and yet… not go through it.”

Dream blinked slowly, giving Techno the first indication that the man wasn’t just a statue, but did not say anything- not at first. 

Instead, he stood, giving the whole thing far more ceremony than it needed. First, he slowly straightened his legs, then moved onto his side, and finally pushed himself off the ground with his arms. It almost looked difficult for him. 

Dream paused, looking at him for a moment, then simply walked past Techno back towards the main island, muttering, “I’m going to build a house.”

“HEH?”

He turned around and rushed to Dream’s side as the man made his way over the thin bridge. “Dream- you can’t just-” Techno sputtered, “Dream-”

“I’m not stopping you,” Dream said quietly, his voice sounding very tired. “Go through the portal, call Phil, work out whatever you were planning to do with me. Come back and grab me later.”

“A house, Dream?” Techno yelled over Dream’s shoulder because they couldn’t be side-by-side on the narrow one-block bridge, “you- what? What are you… do you think I’m going to fall for that?”

Dream met Techno’s eyes for the first time by looking over his shoulder and just tilted his head. “I’m not going to leave. If I was planning on escaping I would have done so already.” He turned around as if that had answered everything. 

“You can’t just-” they reached the main island and Dream went over to their supplies and picked up a stone axe, heading for the tree farm. “Dream, you can’t just say that without any sort of explanation!”

“Well, I just did.” Dream walked up beside the trunk of an oak tree and readied the axe. 

“Dream-”

Thwack!

“What-”

Thwack!

“Dream!”

Thwack!

Bark was sent flying by his chop.

Dream’s eyes glowed with manic light as he looked up and hissed, “what? What, Technoblade?” 

It would look threatening, Dream standing there with the axe, glaring at him, had Techno not noticed the tormented expression he wore. Maybe it should have made him more terrifying, being that he looked incredibly unstable, but Techno just felt concern. 

(He wasn’t scared of Dream, he was scared for Dream.)

When Technobalde did not respond, Dream turned back to the tree with a shake of his head.

Something became abundantly clear to Techno. 

Dream hadn’t been cutting the tree just for use. His chops were too hurried, too violent. 

...It was like he was trying to hurt it, trying to take out his anger on something. 

Dream raised the axe for another chop. 

“Dream?”

Technoblade did not miss the way Dream almost flinched after each swing. He did not miss the fear and self-hatred in Dream’s eyes.

Suddenly, one thing was very clear. 

The axe moved. 

“What happened in that prison?”

His swing stopped millimeters from the trunk, but Dream’s eyes remained on the axe, his whole body frozen, strained by the position. 

The shudder to his voice made it sound like he was balanced on thin ice, one push could send him under. “What?”

Technoblade took a step forward, repeating gently, “what happened in that prison?”

“Nothing.” Dream’s hands began to shake, and he moved back into a ready stance. He did not meet Techno’s searching gaze. 

“Well, there’s gotta be somethin’, you’re- I don’t know, different. Ranboo said that Tommy-”

Thwack!

The axe slammed into the truck with force, cutting him off. He saw Dream go stiff. 

“Stop talking.”

Techno shook his head. “No.” 

Dream raised the axe toward him, a definite threat, but Techno still did not move. “It’s none of your business, and I will kill you to make you stop talking if you keep pushing.”

“And I will respawn and ask again.” Techno crossed his arms. “I’m not leaving you alone on this island until I understand why you didn’t escape when you had the chance.”

Turning back towards the tree, Dream looked away and continued to work. 

Thwack!

“Dream, you can’t just ignore me.”

“Watch me.”

Thwack!

“Dream, you need to tell-”

Thwack!

“Dream, what-”

Thwack!

“Dream.”

His hands gripped the axe tighter, and his chops became more and more erratic. 

Thwack!

“Dream.” Techno’s voice was soft. 

Thwack!

Techno just waited.

Thwack!

Dream couldn't keep doing this for long, especially not when considering the excess energy he was using for each chop. It was hardly the efficient way, and Techno was once again reminded that Dream was using this as an outlet. 

But an outlet for what?

Thwack!

“Dream…” 

Thwack!

Dream finally said something, “stop.”

Thwack!

“What?”

Thwack!

“Stop talking to me.”

Thwack!

“I-”

Dream shouted, though it was more like a scream, “stop acting like you fucking CARE!”

The next swing was particularly intense. 

THWACK!

Dream took a few shallow breaths as the axe fell limply to his side. Techno just stared at him. Then, softly, his eyes on the ground, Dream said bitterly, “stop acting like you fucking care about me.”

“I do-”

“Don’t you dare.” There was venom to Dream’s words as he shuddered, clutching onto the axe like it was a lifeline. “Don’t you fucking dare.”

“I do care about you.”

Dream shook his head over and over, denying the words he had just heard, “no. No, you don’t.” He looked as if he wanted to run, but there was nothing but void behind him. 

Techno took another step forward. “Dream, what happened to you in that prison?”

His knuckles went white on the axe, but he still did not answer. 

“What did they do to you in that prison?”

Dream shattered anew. 

He lifted the axe and Techno raised his hands to shield his face, thinking that the next blow was for him, but Dream aimed for the tree, all of his pent-up frustration going directly into the movement of the axe back and forth. 

“I was alone for weeks!”

Thwack!

“I started talking to myself.”

Thwack!

“I started seeing things and hearing things.”

Thwack!

“I was visited by my friends and enemies only so that they could mock me or tell me how evil I was. How I deserved what happened to me.”

Thwack!

“One of my best ‘friends’ threatened to kill me.”

Thwack!

“I murdered Tommy Innit.”

Thwack!

“I watched his blood drip from my hands.”

Thwack!

“I watched, and I laughed.”

Thwack!

“I didn't feel bad, I felt good.”

Thwack!

“I learned that I had all the power in the world, I learned that I could revive people.”

Thwack!

“Quackity decided to use me for that power.”

Thwack!

“And so every day-”

Thwack!

“He would come into my cell-”

Thwack!

“And torture me.”

Thwack!

“I would scream, and I would beg. No one ever came.”

Thwack!

“I couldn’t escape.”

Thwack!

Dream hiccuped, his breath catching in his throat. 

“But you know what hurt the most, Technoblade?”

Tears started to drip down his face, and, oblivious, he let them. 

Thwack!

“What hurt the most was that I couldn’t stop hearing over and over in my head that this is what I deserved. I heard Tommy scream. I heard myself scream. I didn’t know which was which.”

Dream was rambling now, barely talking to anyone, too engrossed in his own confession. 

Thwack!

“I started to believe it.”

Thwack!

“I started to wonder if this was what I deserved, and then I started looking forward to Quackity’s visits.”

Thwack!

“Because the pain he inflicted-”

Thwack!

“Just served as a distraction from the mental pain that I was already in. He could never hurt me more than I was suffering already.”

Thwack!

“I felt like I was dying, feeling sick every day because I was being ripped apart by my own fucking conscience that I wasn’t even supposed to have.”

Thwack!

“I STILL DON’T EVEN FUCKING BELIEVE IT!”

Thwack!

“I still don’t believe it.” Dream was shaking. “I don’t feel bad, but I do. I feel like I should feel bad, but I don’t. I can’t-”

He raised the axe again. 

Thwack!

“At least when I was screaming, when I was being tortured, I didn’t have to think about anything else. I didn’t have to feel anything else.”

Thwack!

“And, I hate-”

Thwack!

“-myself-”

Thwack!

“-for getting to that point!”

THWACK!

“So, no-”

He raised the axe a final time, and Technoblade saw the fatigue take a hold of his weak arms. 

“I DON’T WANT TO FUCKING GO BACK!”

Thwack.

The hit barely made a dent in the tree, but it was enough. 

Dream dropped the axe and melted to the floor, sobbing, not caring that Techno was watching him. He did not have the energy to care. 

The tree fell. 

Techno’s cloak blew gently in the breeze as he frowned. 

Dream continued to weep, curling back into that sitting fetal position like how Techno had found him in front of the portal. 

With a quiet sigh, Technoblade sat next to him, placing his hand lightly on Dream’s back. 

He felt Dream’s chest heave as he choked out sob after sob. 

“And don’t you dare,” Dream’s whisper was muffled as he had buried his face into his knees, “don’t you dare tell me that you think I deserved it. I don’t care if you’re right. I don’t want to hear it.”

A long silence.

“...I wasn’t going to say that.”

His voice came out strangled. “What, then?”

“I was going to say I’m sorry.”

Dream went stock still. 

“Look, Dream.” Techno sighed, “I know I can’t speak for everyone on the server, but you’ve always been a friend to me. Yeah, I didn’t exactly trust you completely, but you didn’t trust me either. Regardless, I know that you’ve got some heart in there because you’re one of the only people who has treated me with kindness.” He paused, knowing that Dream was listening. “You’re one of the only people who has looked at me and not seen a monster, and I… I am incredibly grateful for that. The least thing I can do is return the favor.”

A pause. 

“I do care about you, Dream. You’re not a monster.” Techno smiled ever so slightly. “Now, I can’t say that you’re a good person, but neither am I. And I can say that if my self-imposed exile to the arctic has taught me anythin', it’s that people can change.” A breeze blew past his face reminiscent of his home. 

“People can change, they just need the space to, an environment that promotes healing.”

Techno thought of the obsidian box he had found Dream in. 

“Not whatever was goin’ on in that prison.”

Phil, Niki, and Ranboo’s faces flashed across Techno’s mind. 

“You need people too. People who see the good in you before you can see it yourself. Even if there isn’t any good in you at all, maybe… maybe those people are what make you good.”

He thought of Ranboo’s kindness. He thought of Niki’s friendship. 

He thought of Phil’s stubborn loyalty, no matter what came between them. 

He recognized how they changed him. Changed him for the better. 

“I... Dream, I see good in you. I see a glimmer of hope in Pandora’s Box.”

He saw the casual conversation after their duel, the way Dream’s face had lit up when he realized someone else was as interested as him in tactics. 

Techno remembered Dream’s jokes after the Manberg-Pogtopia war. He remembered their sparring. It was so nice to have someone who could match him, someone who could really understand. 

Smiling, he thought finally of Dream attempting to ‘secretly’ build a house on his property, knowing full well that Techno was watching. 

“I really am sorry to hear what happened, though I know that means nothin' to you.” Techno rubbed his hand into Dream’s back, and the man relaxed slightly but still did not look up. “I… I promise you, Dream- and this has nothin’ havin’ to do with the favor. This is just on me.” He leaned down and tried to meet Dream’s eyes. “Dream, I promise to try and work out a solution where you don’t have to go back in there.”

Dream slowly raised his head, but his shoulders remained hunched over defensively. “Why?”

“Because I know you,” Techno snorted. “And I do care about you- which I will keep sayin’ till you believe it- and I know that there has to be another option. You’re gonna lose your mind in that prison, you almost did already. I’m pretty sure there’s gotta be a human rights violation in there somewhere.” They met each other’s eyes and Techno smiled. “I can’t say that you’re undeservin' of a punishment, but there is a distinct difference in between punishment and torture, and this has obviously crossed that line.”

A long pause. 

Eventually, Dream finally sat up, leaning his head fully into his hands. “I don’t know what to say.”

“A thank you might be nice.”

Despite himself, Dream laughed. He shook his head.

“Oh, I get it. You’re too overwhelmed with my pure benevolence for now. I will accept your undyin' gratitude later.”

He laughed again. “Fuck off, Techno.”

Technoblade smiled and removed his hand from Dream’s back. 

“We’ll figure it out, Dream.”

Dream blinked slowly, taking it all in. Then, he said, “I can’t say what I’m going through right now…”

“You don’t need to.” Techno’s voice was surprisingly gentle and honest. “I’m not expectin' you to change in a day, I’m not expectin' a confession of evil and repentance, though I have seen a change already on this Skyblock island, so I have hope for the future. I just need to know that you’ll stick around, so that we can work it out together.”

“I…” Dream thought of the moments of peace he has found so far. He remembered Techno’s concern for his sunburn, and he unconsciously looked over at the hat and at Hope. 

Hope is a strange thing. 

Kindness, especially when it feels underserved, is a powerful thing. 

“I can’t say what the future will bring… but for now,” Dream looked over at Techno, “I think I’d like to stay here. Your words- they mean a lot to me, though I can’t explain how right now. I…” he paused, and a sigh escaped him. “Thank you, Techno.”

“We’re both people who everyone else sees as a monster and it’s become so ingrained in us that I think we’ve begun to see ourselves as monsters too.” Techno looked wistfully out into the void. “But maybe, just maybe, if we have enough hope, and each other, we’ll look at our reflections… and see a person.”

People are above the government. 

I’m a person!

Yeah, you are! But so are we!

Discs aren’t people!

“Albeit, we might see a very messed up person,” Techno continued humorously, breaking Dream’s train of thought, “but a person nonetheless.” He smiled softly. “You alright, Dream?”

“I…” Dream trailed off, feeling the staggering exhaustion in his system finally rear its ugly head. He hadn’t slept, and then the episode with the axe had certainly taken any energy left out of him. The expulsion of emotions had left him feeling incredibly drained. “I’m okay now… but I’m tired.”

Techno seemed to think for a second, then, “take a nap. I’m goin’ to make some bread.”

Dream perked up, “we have enough wheat?”

“Yep.”

“Finally!” Dream tried to stand but almost fell over on his weak legs. 

Techno also stood and caught him, smiling. “You need some help crossin' the street, grandpa?”

Dream groaned. 

They made their way back to the main platform, Dream leaning on Techno the entire time and blushing. 

“Take a nap, dude. You need it.” Techno says, letting him down into the grass. 

Dream laid down under the shade of the tree and looked over at Hope. 

I do care about you, Dream. You’re not a monster. 

He wasn’t sure what emotions he was feeling, but Dream felt better than he had before.

(Though he didn’t know, it was a mixture of gratitude and love, but not in the way one might usually think of. It wasn’t the love for another. It was the love of life itself, of the trees, of the grass, of the flowers and the water. A fulfilling love, which produced that beautiful feeling of hope for a better future. It may not happen soon, it definitely won’t happen overnight, but everything would be alright in the end.)

Dream felt whole for the first time in a long time. 

Techno had moved over to a wooden board and started to try and make dough. 

Closing his eyes, listening to the wind blow through the tree's leaves and the sounds of Techno working, Dream slowly fell into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

Chapter Text

“Hey, Dream.”

“Mmmh?”

Techno kicked the man’s arm. “Nap’s over.”

Dream's eyes remained firmly shut as he muttered, “aren’t you the one who told me to rest?”

Sighing, Techno said, “the bread is ready.”

Dream finally opened his eyes, sitting up blearily. Techno was standing over him holding two small loaves of bread in his arms. “Can I have one?”

“No,” Techno snorted, continuing sarcastically, “I woke you up so that you could watch me eat.” The warrior dropped a loaf into Dream’s hands anyway and sat down beside him in the grass. He ripped off a piece of his own bread and chewed it. 

Dream poked the firm crust, squinting at it. “I feel like this is poisoned.”

“Come on, would I do something like that to you?”

Dream blinked at him. “Yes.”

“Nah, Dream,” Techno laughed. “It’s good. We literally had a bondin’ moment this morning, so you’re no longer on my ‘to poison’ list.”

“You have a hit list?” Dream asked, taking a bite of the bread. It was still warm and surprisingly good considering their limited supplies. And probably not poisoned. 

“Eh, it’s for clout.”

“Of course it is,” Dream laughed. 

They ate for a little while in silence, during which Dream slowly remembered the morning’s events. He wasn’t sure what to think of them honestly. The breakdown had come from a place of weakness and exhaustion, and he knew that if Techno had come to him any other time and tried to get him to open up about his time in the prison, he wouldn’t have said a word. But Techno had seen him lose it and had been there for him, so what did Techno think of him now? 

“How is the bread?”

“Uh, five out of five stars,” Dream said. “The bar is pretty low, it's only gotta be better than prison food.”

“What was your prison food?”

Dream made a face and muttered, “raw potatoes.”

Techno just laughed at him. 

A few more minutes passed. From the location of the sun, Dream could guess that it was likely sometime around noon, which meant he had been asleep for a good couple of hours. He was still sore, and there was a weakness to his muscles that came with an expulsion of emotions that strong. However, also coming out with the burst of emotions being bottled up like that, was an intense feeling of peace. He felt better, though Dream had no idea why, and that fact in itself was starting to make him worried. At first, he wanted to think that he just wasn’t supposed to feel better in the first place, but then it moved to a belief that he shouldn’t be feeling anything at all, and finally to the inevitable conclusion that he had no idea what he was feeling and to who or what he was feeling it toward so it just became a jumbled mess of confusing emotions that left him feeling slightly nauseous. 

Techno had… pitied him? Was it pity? Care? None of it made any goddamn sense. Technoblade didn’t care about people. Or, if he did, it never lasted. Sure, Techno had cared about Tommy, but Tommy had… no, Dream had manipulated the situation so that Tommy was left with no choice but to betray Technoblade. So it would have made sense for Techno to hate Dream, not to care for him. Not to go out of his way to say those things to Dream. Tension was born in Dream’s heart from the simple statement of you’re not a monster. He had told himself the same thing at one point, Dream had come to peace with what he was, but now it felt wrong. It felt wrong to want to agree with Techno. Was it that somewhere, deep within him, he didn’t believe it? Dream remembers Tommy saying the opposite to him after Doomsday. Tommy had firmly said that Dream was a monster for what he had done. He had accepted it then with a simple ‘ok.’ But did he? Did he accept that he was a monster? Or did he still believe that monsters didn’t even exist in the first place?

In the end, his thoughts always circled back to the claim that none of it mattered. When he had started this whole thing- this whole game- Dream had made sure to promise to himself that he would always maintain a detachment from it all. He would remain distanced to anything and everything that happened, and therefore nothing could touch him. 

Nothing and no one could hurt him. 

(Nothing and no one could help him either.)

That’s the problem with separation.

Dream could so clearly see the threads of attachment Tommy had created, that controlled him, which had alerted Dream of his own weaknesses. The connection to Sapnap. To George. To everyone else. He had known that if he was going to go through with his plan, if he was to remain in control, he would need to remove all barriers. He would need to have no reservations. 

Although he had certainly tried to cut all his threads, all Dream had successfully done was ignore them. 

They were still there, tugging against his soul. 

Dream was numb to them. 

(It was more like he wanted to be numb to them, but nevertheless, repression is a powerful force, powerful enough to allow Dream to remain in willful ignorance. However, it would not keep the threads silent forever.)

As he looked back at what he had done, all he could think was how much had changed and yet how nothing had really changed at all. 

He was still the villain. 

Technoblade was still… Technoblade. In a weird place in between antihero, morally gray, and antagonist that somehow worked. 

What were they together? 

Enemies? 

Friends? 

Rivals?

Dream could barely think above the ever-present confusion at the whole situation let alone actually reach a conclusion about why things had gone as they did. All he could really know was that he was overwhelmingly grateful for Technoblade- and that he would never tell the other man that. 

There was also the fact that they now held a large physical distance from the SMP. Here on Skyblock, everything from before felt almost meaningless. Dream had put so much work into making sure he was in control, making sure that everything was perfectly in line with his plan, it had almost been a relief to escape that. 

That feeling of relief was strange too. 

He remembered feeling something similar during his first week in the prison. 

It had made him so angry. He had paced that cell in a feverish line for days, coping with his own powerlessness. Throughout it all, he had never been powerless.

His first thoughts had been of promised revenge and destruction, raging hate for the world and its inhabitants, but then his treacherous mind had thought simply: but it is much easier in here.

He hadn’t needed to do anything. He hadn’t needed to fight or scheme, he could just be.

But he had wanted to do something, right?

(Did he?)

He wanted… revenge. 

No, that wasn’t it. 

Rage and vengeance hadn’t been the emotions controlling him. Over time, it had felt more like he was forcing himself to feel those things. To create a reason for his actions… an excuse? 

He had a right to be angry. 

He should be angry. 

But he wasn’t. 

So why wasn’t he?

He felt so tired. So tired that feeling any strong emotion was an effort in itself, almost as if that prison cell had sucked out all the life from him. Everything just felt so trivial, so worthless, and he had begun to wonder if all that sacrifice, of his attachments, of his friends, all the damage it caused, was even worth it at all. 

As the days had worn on in the prison, Dream had quickly lost track of time, space, and everything in between. Existence had become its own ball and chain. 

There had been a little spike when Tommy had visited. Dream remembered the charge that had run through him when he had reeled Tommy in like a fish on the hook. Joy, was it? Or the sort of energy an addict might get when they succumbed to their cravings? He felt really good for a second, then, the charge would leave with a strong, bitter aftertaste that made him feel sick. But in the end, it never felt real, just another faux image of the feeling he was chasing.

What feeling was that again?

What did he want?

“Were you being serious when you said you wanted to build a house?” Techno’s almost psychic words pulled him from that introspective place Dream found himself falling into more and more often the more time passed on the island. 

“I was actually.” Dream cleared his head with a small shudder and took off another chunk from his bread. “I’m not really sure why though, I think I was just struggling with… whatever was going on this morning.” At the moment when Techno had found Dream at the base of the portal, all he had been thinking was that all that mattered was spending one more hour, one more minute, one more second on the Skyblock island instead of going back to the SMP. Now, Dream felt lost. He still wanted to stay there, but every time he got close to admitting it, something else within him would protest. “I’m not going to leave, if you’ll still let me stay here. I don’t want… I don’t think I want to go back just yet.” 

Techno just shrugged. “Fine with me. I promised you we’d work out somethin’ other than me just extraditing you back.” He made a sour face. “To be honest I think you’re right to be worried, they’d probably just put you straight back into the prison, and I don’t think that’s a good option for anyone. What I was goin’ to say was that if you really wanted to go all out building a house- making a home here- then we’d need to get more supplies, especially if you also don’t want to be eating bread for however long we’re here.”

Dream choked for a moment after hearing the word ‘home’ come out of Techno’s mouth, but that revelation was quickly pushed aside by the end of his statement. “Wait, what do you mean ‘more supplies’?”

“Well, the portal’s open now.”

“I thought we agreed not to go back to the SMP?”

Techno froze. A second passed. 

“What?” Dream asked hesitantly. 

“Dream,” Techno started cautiously, “where do you think that portal leads?”

Dream blinked at him. “Back to the SMP? You know, where we came from?”

Another beat, then a long sigh from Techno. 

“Oh my god.” Techno pinched the bridge of his nose. “I said I brought you to Hypixel Skyblock.”

“What does that have to do with- wait...” Dream’s eyes widened as it clicked. “Oh no.”

Technoblade laughed slightly. “Okay, so it’s probably for the best that you didn’t go through that portal unsupervised. You’d get lost within minutes and then I’d get a call from Simon, like ‘hey, come pick up your wanted criminal. He’s wandering around the hub like a lost puppy’.” Techno laughed at the image formed in his head from the comparison. 

Dream rolled his eyes. “So… the hub is through the portal? And we can just… get stuff there?”

“Oh, this is gonna be fun.” Techno’s eyes were practically glowing as he smirked at Dream. 

His rival laughed nervously. “I don’t know if fun is a good way to-” Techno grabbed Dream’s hand and pulled him up. “Techno!”

“Look at it this way,” Techno explained as he led a reluctant Dream over the thin bridge made during the previous night, “because I don’t know how long it’ll take to work out a reasonable solution to your problem, we’re going to be here a while. Why not make the best of it?”

“Yeah, but I don’t know if-”

“Come on, Dream! It’ll be fun! You can buy pretty much anything there.”

“Wait, buy?”

Techno grinned. “Ah, yes. Didn’t you know? I’m kinda rich here.”

“You’re WHAT?”

“Eh, I’ve gotta few million dollars tucked away- or I could just steal from Deo. Anyway there’s enough to cover some basic supplies so that you can start building up your own island.”

“I don’t know if- wait, a million? But- why- Techno-” they arrived at the portal and Dream wrenched his hand away and crossed his arms stubbornly. “Why.”

Techno’s smile faded a bit as he turned to face Dream. “Whaddya mean ‘why’?”

“Why? Why are you-” Dream gestured wildly. Techno just raised his eyebrows at his rival. Softer, Dream finished, “why are you doing this? Why are you trying to help?”

A gentle smile slowly replaced Techno’s excited grin, and he shook his head at Dream. “We literally just had this talk. Number one,” he held up a finger with each reason, “I do care about you, and if this is something you want to do, why not? Number two, we’re both stuck here, so I’m as invested in making this place comfortable as you are. Number three, this is the funniest thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“What?”

His smile once again became smug and teasing. “The homeless man is finally going to build a house.”

Dream gaped at him in shock for a moment, then yelled, “I HAVE A HOUSE!”

“Is it the prison, Dream?”

He stiffened. 

“That’s what I thought.” Techno smiled and grabbed Dream’s wrist again to pull him toward the portal. “We’re going shopping!”

“Wait! Techno!”

Dream tried to stop himself by digging his heels into the stone brick ground but he was too late, he already had too much momentum and followed right after Techno through the nether portal.

Immediately, he was accosted with a sudden change in the volume of his surroundings, hearing overlapping conversations and other noises one might expect from a hub or marketplace, and Dream unconsciously took a defensive place behind Techno’s shoulder as they stepped into the center of a large forum-like area. 

A fountain stood in front of them, and around the main square were multi-level buildings. Dream spun in a small circle to take it all in. Banners were flown from some balconies or on tall lamps, but none of them were recognizable to him. Every few seconds someone would jostle past, bumping into him, and some would spare him a glance, others would keep moving without another thought, but rarely he heard a muttered “sorry” before they would inevitably keep walking. 

There were some who stood on the porches of the buildings and were shouting out fast-paced auction information to a crowd of onlookers. Wherever he looked there were just more people or more things to take in. 

Dream finally turned back to Techno who was smiling at him. “So? Welcome to the Hypixel Skyblock hub, what do you think?”

“It’s sure… something.” He would’ve said more, but currently, he was too overwhelmed to think anything above just wow.

Something made a dinging noise and Techno jumped, taking a brick-like phone out of his pocket. “Oh, pog!” he said, his smile widening, and tapped the screen a few times, “my communicator is connected again.”

Dream suddenly remembered the loss- or more like confiscation- of his own communicator. “Do they make replacement comms here?”

“I’m sure they could find you something if you wanted, but who are you gonna be communicatin’ with, Dream?” Techno raised his eyebrows like it was a joke. 

It stung for a second as Dream realized the answer was no one, but he gave a smile anyway, saying, “as I recall you once saying: don’t pry into my personal life.”

Technoblade shrugged, finally taking a moment to take in the hub himself and sighing deeply. “Man, it’s been a long time since I’ve been here, but it seems that nothing’s really changed.”

Dream’s attention flitted around the space like an easily distracted butterfly, landing first on what looked like an adventuring party who seemed to be going over their equipment, next to a group of stalls where people were peddling crops and other augmented food items that Dream didn’t even know how to begin to understand, and finally to a group of people who looked like cosplayers and he noticed that one of them looked slightly like him, stylized obviously, but he appreciated the effort. Although many of the people in the hub seemed to be wearing the mask of a man Dream could not name, maybe someone else had risen to fame while he had been spending most of his time on the SMP. The appearance of the cosplayers also called into question his own get-up which he thought for a moment might seem odd- it wasn’t every day someone just walked around in prison garb, right? But to Dream’s surprise he could hardly say that he was the strangest looking person in the hub, and to be completely honest he looked almost normal with nothing but orange pants, a white tank-top, and a straw hat that made him almost bend in with the locals. Techno fit right in as well, though he looked very simple having left his more regal red cloak back on the island. Dream supposed it might be lucky too, that their unconventional clothes might keep them from getting recognized themselves and word getting back to the SMP about both of their locations. 

And that was another plus about staying here, Dream suddenly realized. As long as they stayed within Hypixel’s bounds, they were subject to Hypixel’s laws, and so far he hadn’t broken any of those on Hypixel’s lands, so therefore he couldn’t be prosecuted. In addition, if any of the inhabitants of the SMP wanted to bring him back against his will, Hypixel’s staff might even step in to protect him, or at least offer him a fairer deal then he might get back home. 

(Dream’s throat closed up for a second as he thought the word ‘home.’) 

“Alright, we’ve got a goal here,” Techno began methodically, “try not to get too distracted. Main things: one, we gotta get some different food. Two, some building supplies. Three, maybe some variety of fauna, some saplin’s, maybe some flowers too, to spruce up the island a bit if we’re going to be staying there more permanently. I would say that we could start hirin’ some minions to get stuff for us, but I worry that your puny brain might explode if I went into that too soon.”

“Minions?”

Technoblade sighed. “Yeah, I was right. We’re starting from scratch here.” He nodded his head forward and continued, “follow me, I’m gonna show you around. Most people get a little overwhelmed when they first start.”

And so Dream followed Techno as the pig-warrior took him on a tour of the hub, showcasing all of the different buildings, the different shops, and the beautiful scenery. He pointed at the majestic peaks in the distance and explained how a family of spiders had taken up home there, and adventurers were routinely called in to exterminate them, telling of his own escapades in the den. They saw a few different portals that Techno explained led to sub-dimensions, going into depth about each, though Dream quickly forgot the specifics in the tidal wave of information he was receiving. 

After a while, they ended up back in the main square, sitting down on the edge of the fountain they had begun at. 

“Oh, and,” Techno pointed in the distance, “when we want to go home. The return portal’s through there, or I could just call in a personal portal for the both of us through my comm.”

Dream just nodded along with it, deciding to go with the flow of wherever Techno ended up taking them. 

“Got all that?”

He just stared at his rival. “Some of it? Yes. All? Absolutely not.”

Techno chuckled. “We’ll just start with the basics this time. Remember the three necessities for this trip: food, supplies, and plants. Oh!” He pointed to his temple a few times knowingly. “We should also grab some water or lava if we want to expand. Extra water if you might want to make a pond.”

“That sounds nice.” Dream was still processing the whole thing, but terraforming the void into a livable world sounded fun. He missed building, even though he knew he was terrible at it, and he remembered how fun it was to explore the SMP in the beginning. Just this time he would be creating the world he was to be exploring. 

(For a moment something lit up inside him, something possessive, offering this as an opportunity to control the world itself. He had signed off using most of his admin abilities on the SMP to that entity calling itself DreamXD, but he missed being able to mold the world under his fingertips. This time, however, everything would have to be done manually, but for some reason, the challenge only excited him.)

“I didn’t know you were a builder, Blade.”

Techno burst out laughing, a high-pitched thing that Dream had learned he reserved usually for the company of his close friends. He remembers hearing Technoblade laugh like that around Philza or Wilbur, maybe even Tommy, but never himself. 

“I am definitely not.” Techno was still laughing. “If you go into this with any sort of expectations about my advice, you’re going to be disappointed.”

“Well, I’m not good at it either!”

Techno continued to laugh. “Oh, great. We’re going to build the most horrible atrocity of a house that the world has ever seen. Maybe then I’ll understand why you’re homeless.”

“I am not homeless,” Dream clarified again. “And if I was, I’ll have you know that I was the one who built the Community House.”

“You mean that building that people keep blowing up because it’s so ugly?”

“That’s not why they’ve been blowing it up! Wait- has it been blown up more?”

“How would you know, you’ve been in prison. It’s nearly out of canon lives.”

Dream groaned and his rival just laughed at his pain. 

Finally, “alright, come on,” Technoblade said, standing, “let’s figure out what vegetable you’re going to have a monopoly over.”

“What?”

Techno grinned at him. “Oh, nothing.” He turned and began to walk through some of the stalls. 

“Technoblade, what does that mean?”

The other man never answered his frantic question but instead started to question Dream on what he wanted. 

It must’ve been a few hours as they meandered through the market, picking out different tree saplings and other supplies. Techno would work him through the different options, pointing out and explaining the special items specific to Skyblock. They even ran into a few rarer items that would spawn other islands near their main one, making expansion easier. Techno cringed away from one that would spawn a roofed forest, refusing to give any other reason for his displeasure other than “bats, lots of bats.”

In the end, they picked up enough water to make an infinite source (because Dream had begun to grow attached to the idea of making a pond and fishing despite the teasing he knew it would prompt from Technoblade) some other plants and wood, and eventually moved on to the crop sellers. 

Techno made a beeline for the raw potatoes and held one up to Dream to which he shook his head vehemently and hissed, “if you so much as bring a single one of those back to the island, I will end you.”

“Okay, no potatoes then,” the warrior smiled smugly. “We could do… beetroots? Those are kinda rare.”

“If we’re going to be farming, I want something we’ll actually eat.”

“What, you’ve got something against beetroots?”

“No one enjoys them.”

“I do.”

“Why would you-” Dream whipped to face a grinning Technoblade. He frowned. “You don’t like them, do you? Are you seriously just trying to annoy me?”

“To be fair, it’s very easy.”

“I regret everything.” Dream sighed. “Why did I want to stay here again?”

“You’ll miss our witty banter.”

“There is nothing witty about it. You’re about as dumb as a rock.”

“Coming from the guy who got locked up in prison because of two teenagers.”

Dream just rolled his eyes but froze when they landed on another vegetable. “How about carrots?” He said suddenly. 

Techno shrugged and nodded. “Sure, though I’m going to pick up some more wheat seeds and maybe some other things for variety. We can always come back here if we want an actual prepared meal too now that the portal’s open.”

And so they loaded a bunch of carrots into their inventories and prepared to head back to the Skyblock island, which Dream was surprised by how happy he was about that. It could just be because he couldn’t wait to get away from the crowd of people that congregated in the hub, or whether he was actually excited to return to the island. There was definitely some of the second option, as all of the prospects for building and expansion had sparked hundreds of creative ideas that he was currently turning over and over in his head, and he felt… happy at the possibilities for the future. 

He had hope.

They had been about to leave when Dream was approached by one of the uniformed people they had seen patrolling the area. Earlier, when Dream had voiced concern at the strange guards, Techno had brushed him off and something about maybe being part of the new mayoral initiative, but said that usually, he didn’t worry about the politics of the Skyblock world, being an anarchist and all. 

“Excuse me, sirs.” The uniformed one interjected. 

“Yes?” Techno said, packing a few seeds into a pouch tied around his waist and appearing uninterested in whatever the person had to say. 

“You both seem new here, so you’ve been given some slack, but there are rules in place which the both of you have not been following.”

“Rules?” Techno asked, finally looking up and glancing at Dream who shrugged like ‘why should I know anything about this?’

“Well, mainly, it’s the fact that you’ve been dealing with some of the sellers without the proper masks.”

“The what now?” Though it was very subtle, Dream noticed Techno tense, and his hand flick to his waist, right to where he might’ve sheathed a sword if he had one. “On whose authority?”

The uniformed person stood up straighter and recited, “by order of the new Mayor, Dante, each patron of a shop or otherwise business must wear an approved Dante mask in order to be allowed to be a customer of that said establishment.” 

“A Dante Mask? And the people elected this guy?”

The guard stiffened and said firmly, “you will show the proper respect to the Mayor.”

Dream suddenly realized that all the masks of that one guy he had seen earlier hadn't been regular cosplays, they had been state-mandated cosplays. 

Techno stepped forward. “I’ll show-” Dream put a hand on Techno’s shoulder and, surprisingly, he stopped. 

“Where might we find this Dante?”

The guard pointed at an elegant building with columns. “In City Hall, and you best not be causing any trouble for the Mayor now, otherwise we’ll have to step in.” They cracked their knuckles.

Dream almost laughed at the small threat, and he saw Techno roll his eyes. The uniformed person obviously had no idea who they were talking to. 

“Come on, Dream.” Techno said, turning around with a flourish, “let’s go say hello to this Dante fellow.”

“Right behind you.”

The rivals fell side-by-side, equals with one shared goal. Dream couldn’t remember the last time he had been on the same side as anyone, the last time he had walked beside someone like this. Rivals. Partners. 

As they walked Technoblade explained the governmental system of Skyblock, side-tracking into a tirade about how all governments are inherently corrupt, to which Dream actually listened. Outside of the tension between them on the SMP, Dream found himself agreeing with a lot of the points Techno made. 

“And especially in a system like this where there are no checks and balances, the people need to be smart with whom they put in charge. Funny story, Skyblock players are idiots and probably voted for this nerd because they were bored, and look where that got them!”

It was interesting to hear about the simple democracy in place, and it was even more interesting to hear Technoblade pick it apart. He explained the boons, how the cabinet worked, and virtually everything about the various benefits and detriments that could come from a good or, inversely, a bad Mayor with almost infinite power over the Skyblock world. 

“And Dante has goons? That’s my thing!”

Dream tried to hold back his laughter at seeing his rival get so worked up about this, though he supposed he should’ve expected as much from the anarchist. Techno had been so staunch about L’Manberg’s destruction, but that had been because he had a personal grudge with them, this time seemed to be just because ‘Mayor Dante’ had created a dumb rule. 

“I mean- forcing everyone to walk around wearin’ his face? How prideful can a man get?”

Dream and Techno ascended the stairs together and walked in on an argument. Or, well, multiple arguments. 

Near the front of the lantern-illuminated room was a man with blonde hair wearing an expensive-looking black suit with golden buttons and an equally bedazzled hat to match. They assumed that this guy was the so-called 'Mayor Dante.' A person in a blue t-shirt was yelling at him while a line formed behind them, suggesting that the room was filled to capacity with people bringing complaints. 

Techno quickly surveyed the room and then turned to Dream, “I’m not waiting in that line. It seems like they’ve got complaints covered.” They both flinched as one of the other players raised their voice and had to be escorted out by one of the goons. 

“Yeah.” Dream agreed, “there’s nothing we can do today.”

“Ugh.” Techno covered his face for a moment in exasperation. “I hate democratically elected tyrants.”

“We could always just stab him-”

“And then we would immediately be stabbed.”

“But we wouldn’t die,” Dream reasoned.

Techno looked at him. “No, but we would be thrown in prison. Are you really ready to go back so soon?”

Dream paled. “Nope. We’re gonna stick with your plan… which is…”

“Avoid the hub as much as possible,” Technoblade said, pushing the double doors open and walking back out into the sunshine. “Start a revolution or somethin’, but I ain’t doing that today. Or tomorrow. We’re gonna build a house first.” He sighed, “I can’t even leave for a few months without everything falling apart. Skyblock players really are the worst.”

“You realize that includes you, right?” Dream walked beside Techno, realizing that he had remembered some of what Techno had said as he knew they were heading back to the portal that would return them to his own island. 

“It includes you too now, Dream.”

Dream blinked as that thought came crashing down on him. A soft, “oh.”

Technoblade grinned, placing a hand on his rival’s shoulder as they reached the glowing purple nether portal marked with a ‘return’ sign. “Welcome to Hypixel Skyblock, Dream.” They met each other’s eyes and Dream noticed something genuinely warm to Techno’s smile as he finished, “for real this time.”

They stepped through the portal together. 

Dream was not tricked like he had been when escaping the prison. 

He did not refuse to go through like he had the previous night. 

Techno did not need to pull him.  

Dream took the leap of faith all by himself, his face lit up with excitement, joy, and hope.

Hope for the world of possibilities laid out before him, and for once he didn’t look at them for what they could give him. There was no cold calculation in his mind, no sneaky manipulative thoughts, just a hope for all those things that he never thought he’d be able to experience again after he was locked away, the trees, the grass, the world itself. Farming, fishing, planning a dumb revolution with a rival, all the little things that made him happy despite it all. Just living brought a smile to his face. 

(He hadn’t been living in that prison. He had been as good as dead.)

But this, this world of floating islands and kind rivals, was his resurrection. 

A second chance at life. 

Life was an experience. Not a game to be played. 

And he was going to live.

Chapter Text

“Ranboo, where’s Technoblade.”

“Uh… on his way back.”

A pause. 

“Have you spoken to him?”

“...Yes.”

Another pause. 

“It shouldn’t take more than, what, six or seven days for him to return home? That is, if you’re being truthful.”

Ranboo was silent. 

“Ranboo, I shouldn’t have to tell you what’s at stake here-”

“No, I get it. You have nothing to worry about.”

“Good, because if I found out that you were lying…”

The unspoken threat hung in the air for a second. 

“I understand.”

“Alright then, Ranboo. I’ll be back. Tell Technoblade when he arrives that I’d like to speak with him.”

Ranboo sat alone on the steps leading up to the joint home of Technoblade and Philza, writing with a pen that was scratching across the pages of a book in his hands. 

This morning marks a week since Technoblade and Dream have ‘disappeared.’

He paused after the first line, unsure where to go next, then began again. 

Sam cornered me yesterday and asked about Technoblade’s absence. I told him what Phil said: it would take roughly a week for him to return. 

Sam said that he would come back and check for Technoblade soon. I need to tell Phil about that. 

Phil said that Techno was going to ‘get in contact’ with him at some point today. I do not know what that means, but I hope that they can figure something out. 

I have not told Tubbo. 

Ranboo sighed, tapping the pen against the page of the book a few times impatiently. One of Techno’s polar bears lumbered over and looked at him. He gave it a scratch behind its ears, and the bear leaned into the touch. 

“You’re not so scary,” Ranboo smiled, “are you?”

The bear looked at him with a glance that seemed to say ‘I could kill you if I wanted to.’

Ranboo finally saw the tag that read ‘Baba’ around the polar bear’s neck. “Do you miss Techno too, Baba?”

The bear grunted and walked away, curling up a few feet from him and placing its head onto its massive white paws. 

“Yeah, I don’t know what to do either.”

He turned back to the journal. 

I have not heard the Dream Voice since the actual Dream’s ‘disappearance.’

I do not know whether this means that Dream really has been speaking to me or if my stress has just gone down knowing he is far away from here. 

There is also the possibility that the Voice is not truly gone. 

Regardless, I will stay vigilant. I must remember that Dream is the reason for all of this, which is why he was locked up in the first place.  

I only hope that Philza and Technoblade are able to work out a solution because as it stands now, we’re in a very dangerous position. Skyblock is only a temporary fix.

I do not know what they had planned originally, but Phil has asked for my input. 

I do not know what to do. 

Ranboo paused once again, pressing his lips together anxiously as he wrote a short, final line. 

I am scared. 

“Oh, hey Ranboo.”

He jumped, slamming the book shut and whipping around to face Phil who had come up the other set of stairs behind him. 

“Sorry, mate, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Ranboo let out a long exhale. “Nope, you’re good. I’m just a little on edge.”

“Still, I’m sorry.” Philza joined him, sitting down on the steps. “How are you doing?”

He took a moment to think. Then, “okay, I guess?” A pause. “I feel better with Dream out of the picture, and I still think this whole thing is hilarious, but I think the weight of what we’ve done has begun to set in.”

“What do you mean?”

“Phil.” Ranboo set down his book, facing the other man fully. “You guys let out the greatest threat this SMP has ever known, sent him to Hypixel Skyblock with Technoblade without a real plan, and haven’t told anyone about it… except me.”

Phil ran his fingers through his hair and laughed awkwardly. “Look, we weren’t sure what we were doing, it was a spur of the moment choice from Techno.” The man took a long breath, growing more serious. “We’re… figuring it out as we go. I just hope that they’re doing alright. And since Techno said that his comm would be disconnected when they jumped, I know nothing about what Dream’s been doing. I’m- I know Techno can handle himself, but I’m worried for him. I’m worried about what Dream could’ve done in a week.”

“This is already looking better than that ‘Dream’s Evil Lair’ thing you built on my property a while back.”

“I am horribly offended that you would say such a thing,” Dream said with mock arrogance, pounding a nail into one of the beams outlining his future Skyblock house. “That shack was a work of art.”

Technoblade laughed. “I’ll give you style points for almost buildin’ one of the walls with diamond blocks.” He looked around for a second for something, then snapped his fingers. “I need another beam.”

“Sure.” Dream stepped away from the in-progress walls and picked up a long piece of wood, handing it to Techno who was perched precariously near what would eventually be the roof of the house. 

Techno took it and said, “I can’t believe I’m helpin’ the homeless man build a house in Hypixel Skyblock of all things.”

The speedrunner laughed and picked up another nail. 

“Sam told me that he’d be back soon to interrogate Technoblade.”

They were still sitting on the stairs to the houses, Ranboo fidgeting nervously and Phil watching the clouds roll by. 

“Hm,” Phil mused. “That could be a problem.”

“Is Techno… not going to come back or something?”

Philza shrugged. “I honestly have no idea. The man has a streak of disappearing for days on end without so much as a note to where he’s been.” He stroked his chin, deep in thought. “I think Techno’s original plan was to find a way for Dream to face an actual trial, surely with the end of Dream just returning to the prison. I think he just wanted the whole thing off of his conscience.”

Ranboo paused for a second, then asked, “I’m sorry, what do you mean by ‘off his conscience’?”

“Well, he was always firm on that whole favor thing, and he and Dream were… somewhat close I guess.” Phil looked off into the distance. “I just don’t think that Techno wanted to hurt him.”

“Dream?”

Phil nodded. “I was with them, Ranboo, on Doomsday.” His forehead creased with some emotion Ranboo couldn’t place. “They were… violent and bloodthirsty yes, but they were also… broken.”

Ranboo reeled from the information silently as Phil continued. 

“They made jokes about how they both had ended up alone.” Phil smiled bitterly. “Techno made a joke about how Dream was the only one who hadn’t betrayed him.”

Ranboo saw Phil’s jaw clench. 

“I don’t think that Techno wanted to betray him right back after saying that. The way he talked about it- just… I know Techno, he put much more care into this than he would have for a simple favor.”

There was a very long pause where Ranboo wasn’t sure what to say. 

“I think…” Phil’s voice was very soft, “I think Techno saw a reflection of himself in Dream. If he really had only been paying back a debt, he would’ve broken Dream out of prison and that would have been the end of it. But I think Techno was worried.” Phil paused and repeated for emphasis, “I think Techno was worried what Dream would do when he was free. It would’ve started another deadly spiral, for him, for the server as a whole even. A war or- something, maybe even something worse, I don’t know. And… I think that Techno did this to keep that from happening. To keep Dream from starting another endless cycle of death and destruction. To give him a fair chance.”

A pause. 

Ranboo hummed, watching a few of Techno’s dogs run through the snow, kicking up flakes as they played. “I think Techno acts more like a hero than he thinks.”

“Oh, god.” Phil laughed lightly, “do not tell him that.”

“You want windows… where?”

“Can I say everywhere?”

Technoblade snorted. 

“What?” Dream asked self-consciously. 

“I don’t know, I just think it’s funny that you’re trying so hard.”

“I just think it helps with the overall aesthetic.”

“The aesthetic?” Technoblade nearly doubled over in laughter. “Cottage-core Dream!”

Dream felt his face go red and turned back to the wall he was currently assembling. “Is it better if I say the windows are so Hope can get enough sunlight?”

Somehow Techno’s laughs grew even louder. 

“And now look at me,” Phil rested his head on his fist as he stared into the arctic tundra, smiling at the dogs, “I’m procrastinating calling him because I’m just as worried as you are about the whole thing.”

“What’s the worst that could happen?” Ranboo said optimistically, not quite believing it himself. 

Phil laughed, “please do not say that. Don’t tempt it.”

A moment passed and Philza stood, offering a hand to Ranboo. He sighed, “are you ready to see what they’ve been up to?”

Ranboo accepted his hand. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Alright, let’s head inside. It’s time to give good ol’ Technoblade a call.”

“If you fall and break your back, I will laugh.”

Technoblade pulled himself back up onto the frame of the roof with a grunt. “Jeeze, I’m so glad I have your support.”

“Hey, I never said we were friends.”

“The feeling’s mutual.” Techno adjusted so that he was in a bit more of a comfortable position on the edge of the half-finished roof. “Pass me those shingles, nerd.”

The rivals slowly transferred the roofing tiles from the ground up to Technoblade who began to lay them on the house’s framework. Everything was going smoothly for a while- though Dream was let down that Techno hadn’t fallen yet- until he heard a buzzing. 

“Techno, you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Another shingle was laid down, Techno paying little attention to Dream who began to search for the source of the noise. 

“A buzzing. Hey, it kinda sounds like…” Dream paused. “You said your comm was connected again, right?”

Techno looked down at him. “I did.”

“I think someone’s calling you.”

“Well, I’m not going to answer it.” The pig-man shrugged, pointing, “it’s over by the tree if you wanna check it out.”

Dream made his way over and picked up the communicator. He hesitated when he saw the caller ID, but yelled back, “it’s Philza.”

“Hm, usually Techno doesn’t take this long to answer. And he knew I was calling.”

“And that means…?”

“Either his comm is still disconnected or…”

“Or?” Panic began to seep into Ranboo’s voice. 

“Or something happened.”

Dream saw Technoblade freeze. “How many days have we been here?”

He thought about it for a second. “Seven days?” Dream said uncertainly, “I think?” Meanwhile, Techno’s comm was still ringing in his hand.  

“Uh, oh yeah,” Techno sounded like he was embarrassed as he laughed nervously, “I forgot that Phil was supposed to call today for a check in.”

“So what do you want me to do?” Dream held out the communicator like it was a live bomb. 

“Answer it.”

“WHAT.”

“I’m going to let it ring for a little while longer, and then we try something else.”

Ranboo started pacing Techno’s living room. “What else is there to do? This is-”

“-not good, I know.” Phil glanced at the blank screen of his communicator. 

“What do you mean, answer it?”

“I know you’ve been in prison for a while now, but did you really forget how to work a communicator?”

“No, I didn’t. But it’s your comm, you answer it.”

“I would like to, but I’m on the roof, Dream!” Techno shouted at him. 

“But-” 

“ANSWER THE CALL!”

In a moment of panic, Dream pressed the accept button. 

“Oh, wait, he answered.” Phil said, watching as the screen turned black for a second and booted up the video feed. Ranboo leaned over his shoulder. 

To both of their surprise, it was not the face of Technoblade that appeared but that of Dream, who looked beyond frazzled and kept glancing back and forth in between the comm and something else offscreen above the camera. Ranboo also saw that Dream was wearing something that seemed to be a wide-brimmed straw hat. 

Phil was the first to react, “D- Dream?”

“Hey, Phil.” Dream looked around distractedly, but his eyes eventually aligned on the screen again and his brows furrowed, adding, “and Ranboo.”

“Uh, hi.”

The camera shook a little as it appeared that Dream was walking somewhere. Ranboo and Phil shared a look. 

“Where is Technoblade?” 

Ranboo knew that Phil’s question sounded more confused than anything, but he also knew the man well enough to hear the underlying worry to the simple question, and Ranboo wanted to know the answer too. 

“He is… indisposed.”

“He’s what?”

Dream eyes met the camera again and seemed to realize what he had said. He adjusted the explanation, “Techno is currently on a roof and didn’t feel like getting down to answer the phone.”

Ranboo watched as Phil blinked in shock at the screen of his communicator. “What the fuck is going on?”

Then, they heard Techno’s low voice in the background, “is that Phil?”

Dream looked away from the camera again and Ranboo assumed that when Dream looked up he was looking at Technoblade. “I already told you who it was.”

They heard Technoblade say something intelligible, the camera angle still only showing Dream’s face. 

“No? I mean- Ranboo’s there- but-”

Techno said something else they couldn’t hear. 

“So? Get off the roof, then.”

Another response. 

Dream looked back down at the screen, saying to them, “Phil? You want to talk to Techno right?”

“Yes? Yeah-” Phil stammered, looking completely bewildered, “ye- Yes? I do?”

Techno’s voice still didn’t come through right, but they saw Dream narrow his eyes in annoyance at something and shout, “I’m not doing that. Either you come down here or I’m hanging up the call.”

Finally, Technoblade’s words were soft but at least they could hear him say dryly, “but it took me so long to get up here.”

“You could jump and I could catch you. Do you want to do a trust fall?”

“Ah, but that would require me trusting you.”

“What the fuck.” Phil whispered under his breath, having obviously not expected any of whatever was going on on their other end of the line. 

Dream looked back down and said, “give me just a second.”

“Wait-”

The screen went dark as they heard Dream set down the communicator on something. 

“Take my hand.” That was Dream.

“I’m like thirteen feet off the ground, Dream. I’m just going to jump and roll out of it.”

“Technoblade, the parkour master.”

They heard Techno laugh. “Of course, didn’t you know?”

A few seconds passed, and then Ranboo heard a loud thump and a snicker from Dream. 

“Very elegant,” The speedrunner teased. 

“I am truly the epitome of grace and beauty.” There was the sound of someone shuffling around and then the communicator was picked up again, but this time it showed Technoblade’s face.

“Hey, Phil!” The pig-warrior was smiling, sweat beating down his brow and Dream standing awkwardly behind him in frame. 

“Techno? What the hell is going on?”

A few different things flashed across his face until he settled on, “uh, we’re here. On Skyblock, ya know. Um… I guess we’re building a house?”

“You’re what?” Phil laughed. 

“We are… building a house.” Techno looked uncertainly back at Dream who shrugged. 

“Okay, why and what the fuck happened to you two, start from the beginning.”

Techno moved the camera and set it down on something, taking a slow step back so his whole body was in frame. “So…” he coughed and made a face. “Actually, Dream, you wanna explain this?”

“I really don’t.” The other man crossed his arms in the background. 

Technoblade sighed and facepalmed. “Short story form is that after we went through the portal, we somehow ended up going to Dream’s Skyblock island and had to start over from scratch. We only got to the hub yesterday because Dream decided to throw us both off of the island and clear our inventories on day one, so I wasn’t able to reignite the portal or anything until two nights ago when Dream bridged over and lit the portal using some logs and a bucket of lava.”

“So you’ve been-”

“Effectively stranded, yes.”

“And how does that lead to you building a house?” Ranboo asked, leaning over Phil’s shoulder to make sure he was in the camera’s range. 

Confusion passed over Techno’s face as he said slowly, finally noticing Ranboo, “hey, Phil? Why is Ranboo there? Dream said that he was, but…”

Phil waved him off with a smile. “Ranboo figured it out immediately, mate. There was no point in hiding it from him.”

Technoblade snorted. “Smart kid.”

“So what’s been going on there? Why are you and Dream-” Ranboo’s voice caught in his throat as he saw Dream twitch a little at his name, “building a house together?”

Once again Techno looked at Dream, and it seemed to Ranboo almost as if he was making sure that the other was comfortable… but that didn’t make any sense. 

Dream finally spoke, looking at Technoblade the entire time, (for support? Ranboo wondered. In fear?) “we’re staying on the island for a bit, thought we might make it at least livable.”

“You have access to the hub, right?” Phil asked, “why don’t you just go to your island?”

Dream looked like he was going to say something, but was interrupted by Techno who started laughing. “That industrial mess?” He shook his head. “Absolutely not. That island was made for one thing and one thing only: farming potatoes. Plus,” he smiled at the other man, “I’ve got to keep an eye on Dream.”

The speedrunner rolled his eyes, muttering, “it’s not as if I’d go anywhere.”

Phil and Ranboo both stopped for a second, then the former began softly, “what does that mean?”

Techno’s eyes widened, and Dream hunched over a bit, his defensive arm-cross somehow intensifying as he looked away. 

“I-” the warrior glanced at his rival. “Uh, we’re staying here, at least for a little while longer.”

“What?” Phil was laughing, but there was strained disbelief to it. 

“Well, we’re gonna stay here because… because-”

“It’s okay, Techno. I got it.” Dream stepped forward and looked directly into the camera, sighing heavily. “Look. I know the SMP is probably all up in arms to chase me down and- and kill me, I guess, and I’m just not ready to return to all that. I- Phil? How is the SMP doing? You know, with us gone?”

Phil looked surprised at the question. “It’s… alright,” he answered. “People were paranoid for the first two or three days, but now it’s settled into a strange calm.”

Dream nodded hesitantly. “Yeah… that’s good. And I know it’s suspicious to say the least, I know that you have no reason to believe me, but I’m not going anywhere. Trust me, when- if- if- when-” he stumbled over the word choice, “ when I come back, I promise you’ll be the first to know. We can work something out.”

“You’re right that we have no reason to trust you, Dream!” Ranboo burst out, “do you even know-”

“I trust him.”

“What!?” Both Phil and Ranboo exclaimed at Technoblade’s statement. 

But most shocked of all was Dream, who whipped around to face his rival. His response was soft, “what?”

The warrior shrugged. “I trust him.”

“Mate.” Phil looked doubtfully at the screen. “You don’t trust anyone.”

“I trust you,” Techno shot back, glaring into the camera. “I trust Ranboo a little.”

“But that’s-”

Technoblade took a deep breath, “Alright, I trust Dream about as far as I can throw ‘im, which actually is farther than you might think because he weighs like nothin’ because of his time in the prison, but that’s besides the point.” Dream just stood there, completely and utterly still as Techno continued, “I don’t trust him, not completely at least. This isn’t idealistic optimism. You know I’m not an optimist, Phil, but…” Techno glanced at Dream who was still watching him with an unreadable expression, “I know I can trust him on this.” He looked back at the communicator’s camera. “Phil, if you trust me, you need to trust us on this.”

“Us?” Phil said coldly. 

Techno nodded. “Us.”

Tension hung between them for a few seconds of silence before Phil relented, sighing, “I do trust you, Techno, and if you think that this is what we need to do, then… I trust you.”

“Phil!” Ranboo hissed quietly, trying to avoid being picked up by the communicator’s mic, “that man is literally the bad guy of the entire server! He has been the antagonist since day one!”

“I know but-” Phil started to whisper back. 

“Ranboo?” Dream’s voice came through the speaker, he obviously hadn’t been quiet enough. “I know you have no reason to trust me, and… and I understand why. I’m not going to ask you to trust me, you’ve already done so much by keeping this whole thing a secret but… I want to ask for a chance.”

“A chance?” Ranboo’s voice was deadly. 

Dream nodded, the brim of his straw hat wobbling with the motion. “I know I have no right to ask this of you, but I… I want a chance. Please, please give me a chance.” 

Ranboo suddenly realized as he watched Dream plead with him that this was not the Dream he knew. Something had changed, something deep, something fundamental to this person he now saw through the screen. There was something vulnerable, something oh-so-human about the word please that came out of the man’s mouth that tugged on his heartstrings, and for a second, Ranboo simply thought he was being manipulated again, with those sugar-sweet words and false promises, but then, he remembered something else. 

He wanted to choose people. 

Dream wouldn’t have been one of the people he chose, but Dream was still a person, someone who was inherently gifted with the ability to change, the ability to grow like a flower, to thrive in new soil. Maybe, just maybe, Skyblock was Dream’s new soil. 

Ranboo sighed, and he could tell all three of the others were waiting on his decision, really listening to him. “Dream, I don’t know if… I don’t know if I can trust you- I don’t think I’m ever going to trust you for what you did to Tommy- and I want you to know that right now.”

He saw Dream flinch almost imperceptibly and paused for a moment in confusion, but continued, “but I’m going to give you your chance. I trust Techno, and I don’t know what you two have been through together, but I trust him and by proxy I trust his decision to trust you.”

Dream’s response felt cliche, it felt like another rehearsed line, but Ranboo thought he could hear a strange truth to it, “I won’t let you down.”

There was silence. Dream shuffled his feet and Techno glanced at him. Ranboo would say that Technoblade looked almost proud for a second. 

“There’s still a problem, however,” Philza began, his voice growing pragmatic, “the server is still looking for you two.”

Technoblade and Dream met each other’s eyes. “Keep it that way,” Techno said. 

“What?”

“Keep them looking for us. If they think we’re planning somethin' on the SMP they’ll never figure out where we really are.” Techno explained, “throw me under the bus, lie about your involvement, I don’t care, just make sure they don’t know what actually happened.”

“Sam is coming over tomorrow expecting to see you,” Ranboo said. “We told him that you were on your way back from a nether totem trip.”

Technoblade thought for a long second. “Tell him I lied.”

“What?” Phil’s voice was laced with concern. 

“I’m sure he’s already suspicious. He probably questioned you already about your involvement, right Phil?”

“He did, and I defended you!”

“All the better,” Technoblade said sadly. “If you act like you knew nothin' about it, then it will seem like a betrayal. He’ll believe you then. He’ll believe that you two had nothin' to do with it.”

“But you… Techno-” Phil shook his head, “what about your reputation?”

Technoblade grinned humorlessly. “Come on, old friend. Did you seriously think it would be that easy?”

“Techno-”

“Phil, if you two can act like you cut all ties with me, if you can make it seem like I lied and betrayed your trust, you will be safe, and that is all I want.”

Phil smiled slightly. “Aw, mate.”

Techno rolled his eyes but smiled as well. “I’ll make it seem like I cut you off too,” he continued logically, “let me know when, and you can call me, acting like you’re wondering where I am, and I won’t answer. It’ll seem like you knew nothing about it and place all suspicion on me.”

“Sam won’t believe that you lied to Phil,” Ranboo cautioned. 

Dream interrupted, “he will if you can play the part well enough. I know… a bit about acting out certain emotions so that people-”

Ranboo looked at him testily. “You can just say you manipulated people.”

He paused, his whole body going rigid on screen. Then, “...I guess that’s what it is, but if you two can manipulate it just right, you can make it seem like a major betrayal, and Sam will believe you. Phil,” Dream said, “if Technoblade really lied to you like that, you would be devastated, right?”

“I suppose so, but he wouldn’t do that.”

“But Sam doesn’t know that.”

Techno nodded. “Do what you need to do, Phil. And you Ranboo, you too, put on a show.”

Ranboo leaned back and crossed his arms. “I still don’t like-”

“Ranboo.” Techno’s voice held that rare sincerity that Ranboo had come to appreciate and respect in the man. “Ranboo, I need you to do this. This isn’t about manipulation. This isn’t about escapin' due punishment. This is to keep both of you safe from the repercussions of my own actions. Neither of you should have to pay for what I have done.”

“Fine.” Ranboo eventually conceded after a tense moment. “But I still don’t like it.”

Techno nodded politely. “Noted.”

“So we’ll lie, and you guys will get to stay there, but,” Phil said, “why? This isn’t a solution.”

“I just need... time.” Dream said, “I’ll work with you all on something more permanent while I’m here, but for now, please let me stay. I need to-” something flashed across his face, “I need to figure some things out.”

“I think we all need to figure some things out,” Ranboo muttered. 

Technoblade laughed and shook his head. “I know this isn’t what any of us expected, but we’ve gotta deal with it now. And we’re going to do it together, right Dream?” He looked pointedly at the other man who was messing with a strand of hair that had fallen into his face (which was completely visible, Ranboo finally processed, Dream wasn’t wearing his mask.)

“Right.” Dream said quietly, “together.”

“Together,” Phil confirmed. 

Ranboo wavered, but after a moment reluctantly joined in, “yep, together. I don’t really have another choice at this point.”

Each pair looked through the screen at the other two. 

Dream and Techno. A world away, building a house together. Sounding more like chaotic brothers than mortal enemies. 

And Ranboo and Phil. 

Ranboo looked at Phil, who was smiling slyly and Ranboo wondered what he had noticed. 

Technoblade clapped his hands together, smirking at the camera. “Well,” he said, “Dream and I have gotta get back to construction now.” He walked up to the communicator. 

Phil’s eyes widened and his grin disappeared. “Wait- Techno-”

“Take care of the dogs for me- and the bears too. Oh, and the bees.” The camera was raised from its stationary position. “Remember, don’t let Sam know what happened.”

“Techno, don’t you dare hang up this call!” Phil warned, “I still need to-”

Ranboo could hear Dream laughing in the background as Techno said cheerfully, “oops! You’re breaking up, Phil! Sorry!” The camera went black, though Ranboo knew that Techno had just covered it up with his thumb. He could still hear Dream laughing. 

“Techno-”

“Stay safe, you two!

“Technoblade-”

“Bye, Phil!”

The call ended and Ranboo burst into laughter himself. 

Phil let out a long-suffering sigh and put his head into his hands. “I’m too old for this.”

Ranboo laughed again but froze when he felt a cold wind blowing on his back and slowly turned around. 

Standing in the open doorway was Niki, who was holding a cake in her hands, staring directly at them with a slightly disappointed and amused expression, but she did not look surprised. 

Phil turned around as well and tensed when he saw her. 

“Was that Technoblade?” She asked wryly, “and Dream?”

“Uh-” Ranboo looked at Phil. 

A pause. 

“Shit.”

Niki’s smile only widened.

Chapter Text

Sam grit his teeth, pulling his coat further around himself in a futile attempt to combat the searing arctic winds. If Sam was being completely honest, he couldn’t believe that Technoblade had chosen to spend his retirement in this awful place willingly. It was freezing and inhospitable. But despite those truths, there was still something cozy about the cabins he saw speckled in the snow in the distance. 

According to Phil and Ranboo, Technoblade should’ve returned sometime today, and Sam was ready to finally get this thing over with. He had no doubt that Technoblade had something to do with Dream’s escape, whether wholly responsible or partially he didn’t know, and he was willing to do almost anything to get answers from the pig-warrior. 

Nothing had happened yet, but Sam wasn’t foolish enough to think that Dream wasn’t planning something, and he’d be surprised if Technoblade wasn’t in on it. 

It was like Dream had vanished from the server completely. No trail ever showed itself, and the only evidence they had as to who the culprit was was the person that Sam had seen on the roof of the prison wearing Dream’s mask- which he still firmly believed to have been Phil. However, the man hadn’t stepped up to claim the mask or the cloak- which wasn’t surprising, of course, why would someone admit to helping the dangerous prisoner escape- but Sam hoped to finally catch them unawares today and wrangle even a piece of the truth from them.

As he neared the cabin, Sam saw that a light was on inside of the cabin on the left, which Tommy said belonged to Technoblade, but the most important thing was that Sam saw the shadows of three figures moving within. 

He took a deep breath. 

This was it.

Sam hadn’t been sleeping well for the past week, most of his waking hours being occupied by either physically searching for any trace of the escaped prisoner or working in the prison itself on compiling weapons and armor for the (what he thought was) inevitable confrontation with Dream. 

One day Puffy had walked in on him standing in front of a giant cork board filled with detailed maps and paranoid notes. Needless to say, she had been concerned for his well-being. And although Sam had to agree with Puffy that this wasn’t good for his health, he still couldn’t stop. 

Sam wouldn’t allow Dream to hurt anyone else. 

He would never forget what happened the last time he had chosen to be “lax” in his security. 

Tommy had died. 

He had let Tommy die. 

(Was it any different than killing the kid himself?)

Tommy had been understandably angry after being murdered in the prison, but no matter how much Sam understood Tommy’s reaction, the whole thing still hurt. Tommy wouldn’t even speak to him. 

(Part of Sam hoped that maybe by catching Dream and putting him away for good this time, he might earn even a smidge of forgiveness from the kid, though he knew that what he had done was unforgivable. He just wanted that horrible, soul-crushing weight off of his chest.)

Sam made his way up the steps to Technoblade’s door, checking once over his supplies. A sword thrumming with the maxed enchantments, an axe with the same, potions of healing, damage, slowness, strength, and many more. He had everything. Finally, his hand moved to the communicator in his pocket and typed a message ready to be sent to Quackity, but left it unsent for now. 

The gambling-man himself had insisted that he come with Sam, but the Warden had refused, explaining that his presence would immediately put Techno on the defensive. While, on the other hand, if Sam went alone, since he and Technoblade didn’t have much of a relationship, there was a higher chance of catching a relaxed Technoblade in a lie. 

Quackity had complained at first but eventually relented, instead making Sam promise to call him at the slightest sign of a fight. Sam wasn’t particularly worried about that, but readied a message all the same. Sure, Technoblade was a feared warrior, but so was Dream, and as far as he knew, they were roughly equal in skill level. Because Sam knew he could hold his own against Dream, he assumed the same for Technoblade. The only thing giving him pause was the allies that the pig-warrior might have. Phil would definitely defend him, but Sam wasn’t sure about Ranboo. 

During the server-wide meeting, Ranboo had corroborated Phil’s explanation, but Sam knew that the ‘totem-hunt’ could easily have been fabricated. Sam wondered how Ranboo would react to learning that his neighbors had lied to him but didn’t believe that Ranboo would still defend them after learning the truth. Ranboo and Dream had never had a positive relationship that Sam knew of, and he would even go so far as saying that they were enemies. Ranboo hated Dream, there was no way that the kid had anything to do with his escape knowingly. 

He raised his fist to pound on the spruce door a few times. 

There had been conversation within the cabin before he had knocked, but it was cut abruptly short as soon as the sound rang out. 

After a few seconds, Sam heard the lock be undone, and the door creaked open. 

Sam had expected to see Technoblade at the door, which is what he first assumed when he saw pink, but was surprised to see that the pink actually belonged to Niki’s hair.

She smiled at him, her expression warm and inviting, but there was something sad and worried behind her eyes. “Sam. It’s nice to see you, why don’t you come in?”

“Oh. Thanks, Niki.” Sam hesitated for a moment before following Niki inside the cabin. His eyes were immediately drawn to Phil and Ranboo who looked to have been having an argument by how fluffed up Phil’s wings were and the concern evident on the enderman-hybrid’s face. 

Phil was pacing back and forth, pausing every once and a while to stop and consider something, then would resume walking. The rug under his feet was scrunched up as if he had been doing this for quite some time. 

There was a palpable tension to the air, an almost suffocating one. 

Sam quickly gauged the emotions on the faces of the others. First, Niki was alert, her eyes constantly flicking back and forth between Ranboo and Phil as if she was looking for something. Ranboo himself looked apprehensive, and he kept fiddling with the edges of his suit sleeves, though there was also something dangerous about the way he looked at Phil and then seemed to unconsciously look at Sam next. Finally, the avian man looked angry, his mouth a tense, thin line and visible stress wrinkles stretched across his forehead. Sam also saw that Phil’s knuckles were white as they clutched his communicator in a tight fist. 

Niki stepped over to Phil and lightly placed her hand on his shoulder, and the tension written across his expression eased somewhat as he smiled gently at her. 

Sam cleared his throat, standing straighter in the doorway. “I assume you know why I’m here.”

“Technoblade,” Ranboo muttered under his breath, and Phil sent a glare his way. 

The Warden paused for a second as he tried to understand that reaction. Then, “you did say that he should have been back by today.”

Phil tensed, crossing his arms and decidedly not meeting Sam’s eyes. “I did,” he said. “As you can see he hasn’t returned, but I’m sure there is a reasonable explanation.”

Ranboo looked like he was going to say something until Phil glared at him again and the enderman-hybrid clamped his mouth shut angrily. 

“Ranboo?” Sam looked at him questioningly. 

“Technoblade isn’t back,” he said simply, but Sam could tell that there was so much more to the explanation. 

He turned his gaze to Niki who shrugged. “I can confirm,” she said, “that Technoblade is not here. So if you’re worried that they’re hiding him, they’re not.”

Sam nodded slowly but also felt the tension in the room grow inexplicably thicker. 

“Have any of you sent him any messages recently as to his whereabouts?” 

That seemed to be the statement the tension hinged around as he saw Ranboo freeze, Phil flinch, and Niki’s eyes turn kindly to the avain man. 

Phil spoke first, “no.”

A beat. 

“Yes,” Ranboo said quietly, causing the other two to whip to face him, Niki’s gaze filled with worry and Phil’s with anger. 

“Ranboo-” Phil’s voice was warning, but Sam interrupted him. 

“What do you mean?”

The enderman-hybrid’s breaths quickened and he hunched over a bit. “Phil’s been messaging him.”

“Ranboo-”

Ranboo suddenly jumped up, growing animated. “Phil! We have to tell him!”

“Tell me what?” Sam said coldly, stepping forward slightly so that he was in between Phil and Ranboo, if for nothing else, at least to offer Ranboo some security against the older man that was looking closer and closer to punching someone. 

“Nothing.” Phil hissed through gritted teeth, Niki’s hand still supportively on his shoulder. “Ranboo doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

“Why don’t you prove it then!” Ranboo shouted from across the room, hiding slightly behind Sam’s frame. “Show him your message history with Techno!”

Phil’s eyes narrowed, but Sam remained unflinchingly between them. “Phil?” He challenged. “If you’re telling the truth then you shouldn’t mind me looking-”

“I do mind, actually.” Phil frowned. “My messages are my business.”

“Not when they pertain to the safety of everyone!” Ranboo yelled. 

“Ranboo,” Niki began gently, sounding almost like she was trying to mediate the fight, “you don’t know-”

“I can’t believe you two are still defending him!” Ranboo took a step forward but stopped just behind Sam’s shoulder. “Phil! He left you!”

The entire room went silent as Phil’s eyes widened in complete shock. 

Sam suddenly realized that this argument had been going on for some time before he had even arrived. Everything was clear to him now, from the tension that had been in the room from the beginning to the confrontational way Phil and Ranboo had positioned themselves in the room to the way that Niki kept going between them to try and maintain some semblance of peace. 

Phil must’ve received some sort of communication from Techno earlier today that painted him in an incredibly guilty light, one that also went against Phil, or at least one that he hadn’t told his close friend of. Ranboo must’ve said something against Techno that made Phil upset and placed Niki as the moderator. 

“Phil, what is Ranboo talking about?” Sam asked placatingly.

As Phil looked nervously about the room, the Warden also realized that the anger he saw consuming Phil wasn’t directed at anyone currently present. It was directed to Technoblade.

Sam hadn’t thought that possible. 

Something seemed to break within Philza as the man sighed deeply and held out his communicator. The Warden just looked at it in surprise for a few seconds, then finally reached out and took it gently from him. 

“Just look at our most recent messages.”

Sam looked down and pressed on the chat marked with Technoblade’s name and scrolled up to the day of Dream’s escape. 

<Ph1lzA> heya, mate. you good? you forget to throw an enderpearl into the stasis chamber?

<Technoblade> I can neither confirm nor deny that

<Ph1lzA> you did, didn’t you?

<Ph1lzA> and you say that IM the old senile one. 

<Ph1lzA> are you stranded?

<Technoblade> yes. 

<Ph1lzA> you get what you deserve

<Technoblade> come on phil. have at least a little sympathy

<Ph1lzA> no sympathy for you. 

<Ph1lzA> are you on your way back?

<Technoblade> ye

<Ph1lzA> how long?

<Technoblade> I think it should be around seven days unless I find a nether portal en route then it will be sooner

<Ph1lzA> keep me updated

<Technoblade> will do. though I don’t know if I’ll always have service

<Ph1lzA> k

[...]

<Ph1lzA> oi, mate. gotta warn you, dream’s escaped

<Technoblade> what? how?

<Ph1lzA> idk. 

<Technoblade> wait do they think we did it?

<Ph1lzA> maybe just a little

<Ph1lzA> you being gone isn’t helping anything

<Ph1lzA> Techno?

<Ph1lzA> hello? 

<Ph1lzA> Technoblade?

<Technoblade> sorry, out of service area for a moment there

<Ph1lzA> you didn’t do anything right? you would’ve told me

<Technoblade> I didn’t. of course I would’ve told you

<Ph1lzA> good

<Ph1lzA> stay safe, I don’t want you coming back with one less life because of a creeper

<Technoblade> Technoblade never dies

<Ph1lzA> uh-huh buddy, keep telling yourself that

<Ph1lzA> need I remind you that you forgot something as simple as throwing an enderpearl in your stasis chamber before going out thousands of blocks? 

<Technoblade> who here died to a baby zombie?

<Ph1lzA> low blow, m8

[...]

<Ph1lzA> might need to do a little damage control once you get back. they definitely think we had something to do with dream escaping

<Ph1lzA> techno, ranboo is worried about you. 

<Ph1lzA> we’re both worried about you

[...]

<Ph1lzA> why did you need to bring milk on our excursion?

[...]

<Technoblade> what? you have to police what I eat and drink now?

<Technoblade> sorry for the late response. been busy

<Ph1lzA> busy doing what?

<Ph1lzA> and why did I find a pearl stasis chamber set up in one of the caves near the prison?

<Ph1lzA> technoblade

<Ph1lzA> techno, there is no way you went out of service that fast

<Technoblade> I don’t know anything about that. I haven’t even been over there recently

<Ph1lzA> before we set off from the main nether portal hub, you disappeared for a bit

<Technoblade> I said I was just grabbing some extra supplies

<Ph1lzA> and what supplies were those?

<Technoblade> extra blocks, a few loaves of bread, just simple stuff

<Ph1lzA> techno

<Ph1lzA> you had time to get to that teleporter

<Ph1lzA> techno, I trust you

<Ph1lzA> but we’re having a conversation about this when you get back. 

<Ph1lzA> techno

<Ph1lzA> technoblade tell me that you’ll talk to me when you get back

<Technoblade> fine

<Ph1lzA> see you soon

[...]

<Ph1lzA> I’m starting to get concerned

<Ph1lzA> techno?

<Ph1lzA> I meant it when I said I trusted you, but this just keeps looking worse and worse

<Ph1lzA> I know I said that we could talk when you got back 

<Ph1lzA> but you need to talk to me now

<Ph1lzA> please just explain what you did

<Ph1lzA> I’ll understand I promise

Unanswered call from <Ph1lzA>

[...]

Unanswered call from <Ph1lzA>

[...]

Unanswered call from <Ph1lzA>

<Ph1lzA> please answer me techno

<Ph1lzA> are you alright? 

<Technoblade> i’m fine

<Ph1lzA> techno, do you not want to talk to me?

<Ph1lzA> you can just say so

<Ph1lzA> techno?

[...]

<Ph1lzA> techno, it has been seven days

<Ph1lzA> any eta?

<Ph1lzA> Techno?

[...]

<Technoblade> I won’t be coming back

<Technoblade> I’m sorry 

<Ph1lzA> whats going on

<Technoblade> sorry

<Ph1lzA> techno?

<Ph1lzA> Technoblade?

<Ph1lzA> techno

<Ph1lzA> what do you mean?

<Ph1lzA> techno

<Ph1lzA> techno

<Ph1lzA> techno

Unanswered call from <Ph1lzA>

<Ph1lzA> answer me 

<Ph1lzA> answer me please

<Ph1lzA> techno just talk to me

<Ph1lzA> we can figure this out

Unanswered call from <Ph1lzA>

<Ph1lzA> techno

<Ph1lzA> techno please

<Ph1lzA> please

[No more new messages.]

Sam looked up slowly from the screen and saw Niki gently wrap Phil in a hug as Sam saw the man start shaking. 

It looked like he was crying as he buried himself into her embrace. 

Ranboo shuffled awkwardly from behind him and coughed, saying softly, “so… yeah. You read what happened.”

“Phil , I-” Sam stumbled over his words for a second, trying to offer some kindness. “Phil, I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

His shoulders shook with sobs. 

“I just thought he would at least tell me.”

“I know, I know,” Niki soothed, squeezing his shoulder. 

(For just a second, Sam thought it was a little too tight for a comfort squeeze.)

Phil abruptly separated from the embrace and Sam saw him wipe his face clean of tears. 

(There were none in the first place.)

“Phil. I know it’s hard, but I need to ask you a few questions.”

The man looked hesitantly at Ranboo who crossed his arms resolutely and said, “Phil, he lied to us. He lied to you. This has gone on for long enough.”

Phil looked at the ground, but nodded slightly. 

“You said you found a enderpearl teleporter near the prison?”

Phil nodded again. “In one of the caves under the front entrance. I was looking for evidence. I thought that if I could find who really did it, you guys would stop going after Techno. I guess I found out the opposite, huh?”

“And you said he had milk on him?” Sam began writing these down in a notepad. 

“He had quite a lot of it actually.”

Sam nodded and bit his lip. “You said he left you somewhere around the Nether hub?”

“I did.”

“And you said that he would have had time to go from the Nether portal to the stasis chamber set up in the cave.”

Phil sounded so nervous as he said, “yes. I timed it. I…” he swallowed. “There was also a redstone timer set up near the 'porter in order to call back its occupant.”

Sam glanced up at him. “And would that timer happen to line up sometime after Ranboo called you back using your own stasis chamber?”

A very long pause, but Phil eventually breathed out a quiet, “yes.”

“Technoblade owed Dream too,” Ranboo said, sitting back down on the sofa and hugging a pillow. “He owed Dream a favor.”

Sam suddenly remembered Tommy saying the same thing when he had tried to convince Sam to kill Dream. 

“Would that favor have been enough to get Technoblade’s help to escape the prison?”

“It was a life debt.” Sam looked at Niki who exchanged a glance with Phil and then continued, “I figured it out after talking with Fundy. Dream saved Techno from execution, I’m sure that would've easily equaled a simple prison escape.”

Sam almost protested that it was hardly a simple prison escape but held his tongue and finished his notes. 

“You know that this evidence condemns Technoblade, right?” 

Ranboo nodded slowly, and Niki’s expression grew sad. 

“Sam?” Phil asked faintly. His voice grew stronger, “if you do find them, please just don’t- don’t hurt him.”

“I can’t promise that.” Sam placed his notepad back into his pocket with finality. “But I can promise that when I catch him, I’ll let you talk to him. I’ll even let you punch him if you’d like. And I’m sorry, Phil. I’m sorry that Technoblade isn’t who you thought he was.”

Phil nodded. 

“You’ll catch them, right Sam?” Ranboo asked. 

“Don’t worry. I won’t let Dream cause any more problems around here.”

Sam could tell that his presence was no longer wanted and moved toward the door but was stopped by Phil. 

“If you need any help, just let us know.”

Sam smiled at him sympathetically. “Just tell me if Technoblade ever comes back here.”

“We will,” Niki said, coming once again by Phil’s side and bumping his shoulder gently.

“Thank you so much for the information. And, I’m sorry again about the way that this had to come to light.”

Sam left without another word. 

He was going to find Dream and Technoblade. 

And he was going to stop them. 

<Technoblade> sooooo… how did it go?

<Ph1lzA> very well. 

<Ph1lzA> Ranboo and I pulled off good cop-bad cop

<Ph1lzA> and dream’s idea about faking older messages worked

<Ph1lzA> good news, we’re off the hook

<Ph1lzA> bad news, sam definitely thinks you did it and may kill you the next time he sees you

<Technoblade> I’d appreciate the challenge

<Ph1lzA> your hubris is going to get you killed one day

<Technoblade> eh, it’d be fun

<Technoblade> chaos, chaos, chaos, anarchy, ya know?

<Ph1lzA> I hate you

<Ph1lzA> how are you guys doing?

<Technoblade> house is almost finished

<Technoblade> Hope is being moved in currently

<Ph1lzA> techno

<Ph1lzA> who’s Hope

<Technoblade> uhhhhh

<Technoblade> dream definitely did not grow a flower

<Technoblade> and dream definitely didn’t name said flower

<Ph1lzA> you sound like you’re having fun

<Technoblade> yes. 

<Technoblade> “fun” is the right word here. 

<Technoblade> i’m having fun watching dream suffer through Skyblock

<Ph1lzA> jesus christ

<Technoblade> wait

<Technoblade> REDEMPTION ARC?????

<Technoblade> homeless man is no longer homeless

<Technoblade> can I get a POGCHAMP

<Ph1lzA> POG

<Technoblade> Ranboo, how did it actually go today? 

<Ranboo> great, except for the fact that phil almost started laughing mid-lie

<Technoblade> oh god

<Ranboo> he got away with making it look like he was sobbing

<Ranboo> but it was way too much

<Ranboo> niki had to cover for him

<Technoblade> I’m glad it worked out

<Technoblade> wait, niki?

<Nihachu> hi techno!!!

[...]

<Technoblade> hallo

<Technoblade> how did you find out about this?

<Nihachu> I walked in right after you got off the call with them. I heard you and dream

<Technoblade> ah

<Technoblade> i see

<Nihachu> you should be thanking me, they would not be able to keep this secret for a day without me

<Technoblade> I will thank you

<Technoblade> thank you niki

<Technoblade> please keep them in line

<Technoblade> I leave the Syndicate in your hands

<Technoblade> and thank you for not snitching immediately

<Nihachu> I just have one request

<Technoblade> what request?

<Nihachu> I want to send dream some stuff, so get him a new comm

<Technoblade> what

<Technoblade> why

<Technoblade> what stuff

<Nihachu> baking recipies

<Technoblade> …

<Technoblade> I should’ve guessed that

<Nihachu> from what I heard from Ranboo, i think it might help him

<Nihachu> he seems to be changing

<Nihachu> maybe baking will be his new passion

<Technoblade> that would absolutely make my day

<Technoblade> very evil man goes through character development after baking a cake, more at 10

<Technoblade> will be sending you his contact asap

<Technoblade> wait

<Technoblade> he’s going to poison me

<Technoblade> niki don’t give him this power

<Nihachu> :)

<Technoblade> don’t like that

<Nihachu> :)

<Technoblade> NIKI

<Nihachu> :)

<Technoblade> YOU STOP THAT

<Nihachu> :)

<TimeDeo> so i heard through the vine that you’re back on Skyblock

<Technoblade> you heard correctly

<Technoblade> nothing special planned however

<TimeDeo> too bad

<TimeDeo> we’ve got stuff planned *for* you

<Technoblade> wat

<TimeDeo> meeting. tomorrow. black market. noon. 

<Technoblade> i’m busy 

<TimeDeo> WITH WHAT

<Technoblade> showing a newbie the ropes

<TimeDeo> THIS IS MORE IMPORTANT

<TimeDeo> what newbie

<Technoblade> may or may not be a certain green man named dream

<TimeDeo> dream?

<TimeDeo> like THE dream?

<Technoblade> yes?

<TimeDeo> BRING HIM WITH YOU TO THE MEETING

<Technoblade> why

<TimeDeo> JUST BRING HIM

<Technoblade> am i not enough for you anymore :(

<TimeDeo> just bring him

<Technoblade> k fine

<Technoblade> we gotta get a replacement comm anyway

<TimeDeo> TOMORROW, BE IN THE BLACK MARKET AT NOON

<Technoblade> alright, alright

<Technoblade> i’ll be there

<Technoblade> and i will see if dream wants to come

<Technoblade> no guarantees

<TimeDeo> this is a matter of extreme importance

<TimeDeo> BRING DREAM TOO

<TimeDeo> WE NEED THE SUPPORT

<Technoblade> support for what?

<TimeDeo> not yet. I’ll tell you tomorrow

<Technoblade> just tell me now

[...]

<Technoblade> fine

<Technoblade> we’ll see you tomorrow

Chapter Text

“Are you sure we can trust this guy?”

Dream and Technoblade found themselves once again making their way through a crammed Hypixel hub as the latter enjoyed a long sandwich and the former found himself too nervous to eat. Dream’s sandwich they had picked up was currently wrapped and placed inside the leather rucksack slung over his shoulder. They were just passing the fountain in the main square, Techno sending death glares at any Dante goon who had dared to approach them, and so far, it had worked as a repellent. 

“I mean- probably?” Techno said, his mouth partially full of the steak sandwich. He took a moment to chew and swallow. “I’ve known ‘em for a long time. I don’t think he’d rat us out, and I don’t even think he knows about what’s been goin’ on on the SMP.”

“Are you going to… tell anyone about what has been going on-”

“Nope!” 

“Okay, cool. I guess that handles it.”

Dream adjusted the pack on his shoulders, feeling it start to slip down the edges of his new outfit. 

They had returned to the hub early that morning, and, after getting an earful from Techno about the two-coin tax that Mayor Dante had evidently placed on island-to-island travel, they had shopped around a bit, waiting for noon. 

Dream had decided to pick himself up a new outfit, worrying that someone might put together the pieces and wonder why he was wearing prison garb. He was especially concerned about the people that Techno said they’d be meeting in a ‘Black Market’ sometime around lunch. So, Dream went shopping. He ended up borrowing some cash from Techno in order to buy a black pair of stylized cargo pants, comfortable shoes, and a new white tank top. The crowning moment, however, was when he found an incredibly soft (even softer than Techno’s cloak) green poncho-shawl-looking thing. The large square of fabric looked well-made and had edges lined with silver thread. But what really sold him on it was the small silver clasp that would hold it shut. 

The clasp was a round button that hooked on a silver pin that went through the fabric. 

Engraved on the clasp was a small smiley face. 

Dream fell in love. 

The shawl wasn’t his signature green; it wasn’t the bright neon that proclaimed ‘look at me!’ that Dream had come to weave indisputably into his brand. No, the cloak was a darker green, one that was considerably softer on the eyes, a deep forest green that reminded him of the times he had spent under the tree on his Skyblock island (it was honestly more their island at this point) just watching the tree’s branches sway in the wind. 

He had gotten gently reprimanded by the shop owner after calling the garment a shawl. The thing was actually called a “chlamys,” though Dream didn’t really see the importance. The tailor had then spent a considerable amount of time teaching Dream how to properly wear the cloak and fasten the clasp, which was called a “fibula” and was yet another thing that Dream didn’t particularly care about. Dream learned that the cloak would lay around his shoulders and the fibula should land on his right side. The end of the cloak ended up falling to only a little bit above his knees and did not restrict his range of movement in the slightest which was a huge bonus to the speedrunner. 

Of course, this was when Techno had to walk in and immediately start laughing at the awkward way Dream was being fussed over. Techno had laughed even harder when he saw what Dream was buying and said something about it being a Greek cloak. He paid for the clothing and followed Technoblade back into the main square, ignoring the angry glares from the goons that they earned by blatantly ignoring the order that they should be wearing “Happy Masks” while shopping in stores. It felt energizing almost, to be standing up to Dante in such a small way, even if Dream didn’t actually care that much about Hypixel Skyblock’s politics. 

But despite the hardships, Dream was incredibly happy with his purchase. It was soft, comfortable, and was definitely better than Technoblade’s cloak. 

He even considered trying to find a plain, circular white mask to go with the cloak and painting a smiley face on it but decided against it after realizing that it would probably make more people recognize him. Almost no one really knew his face, so he supposed he could probably remain unrecognized while on Hypixel without his usual getup. 

However, despite the new wardrobe additions, Technoblade’s straw hat remained. Techno himself had laughed at that, saying how clean and polished the rest of the outfit looked compared to the hat, but Dream still kept it on for its protection against the sun. 

Definitely not because he liked it. 

(Definitely not.)

Following the outfit escapade, they had gone together and bought lunch, Techno handing Dream an expensive-looking leather backpack he had picked up for him, claiming that having something to carry your stuff was a necessity in Skyblock. He also mentioned that what he had done was apparently illegal after Dante had closed all the backpack stores and supposedly banned the use of them… for some unknown reason. 

Dante was starting to get on both of their nerves by simply existing. 

Dream could understand wanting power and control, but the things that Dante was doing just seemed unnecessarily cruel even to him. 

At least Dream had tried to seem benevolent as controller of the SMP. This Dante guy was asking for a revolution to rise up against him. 

And by the way that Techno’s comments were growing more and more intense, Dream knew that it would not be long until the anarchist had enough. 

By the time Technoblade had finished his sandwich, it was still not noon, so they used the extra time to get a replacement communicator for Dream. 

<Technoblade> sup, nerd

Dream looked up from the screen and rolled his eyes at his rival who was grinning. 

It was nice to feel the familiar weight of a communicator in his pocket as they finally made their way toward The Black Market, though Dream still didn’t plan to message anyone with it. 

George, Sapnap, and Ant were solidly off the table. 

He would message Sam and Quackity over his dead body. 

Actually, the only possible options were Phil, Ranboo, and Niki, who he had been informed had joined in on the secret after catching Phil and Ranboo in the act. Techno had also said something about Niki wanting to talk to him, but Dream had no idea why. As far as he knew, he and Niki had never been close. 

(Part of him hoped for the possibility that they could become friends, so Dream had allowed Techno to forward her his contact without complaint.)

Dream quickly found out on their journey that The Black Market was held in the storm cellar of a house on the edge of the woods, a few minutes outside of the forum. They arrived at the seemingly empty building and Technoblade ushered Dream to the side of the house where they found a trapdoor basement entrance. 

Ducking inside first to avoid whacking the crown off his head, Techno descended the stairs, Dream following hesitantly behind him. 

Technoblade was decked out in full regalia, the signature golden crown gleaming on his head and majestic blood-red cape flowing behind him. Dream had been surprised that not many people had recognized him in the hub, though the pig-warrior had said that was because there were too many people who pretended to be him on Hypixel. So as long as he didn’t go displaying his title anywhere, people weren’t usually confident enough in appearance alone to approach him as the ‘real’ Technoblade. 

As he neared the bottom of the dark stairwell, Dream suddenly could hear conversation, and they stepped out into the hazy light of an underground bunker that he realized was The Black Market. 

Dream felt many eyes suddenly turn to them and froze, but relaxed as the attention vanished as quickly as it had come. 

The room as a whole was dreary, being illuminated by simple lanterns with old, semi-opaque glass. A few colored banners hung on the wall, though each one looked weathered by time. Near the front was a raised stone stage where a woman was standing and explaining something to a group of onlookers who were writing on small sheets of paper only to hand them to her. Closer to the door were long wooden benches and small tables that were largely occupied by groups of people who were in lively discussions. From what Dream could pick out, they seemed to be debating the virtues and vices of various people he had never heard the names of. 

His analysis of his surroundings was cut short abruptly as the pair of rivals turned to face someone who said humorously, “oh my god, is that Technoblade?”

Standing on their left side was a man with brown hair and classy shades, and a bright, almost neon, orange t-shirt shone in the relative dark of the cellar along with a white, long-sleeved undershirt. Most of his hair was also covered by something that looked like one of those Santa’s hats that Dream would see people wearing around the Christmas holiday. 

Techno grinned at the man. “Oh my god, is that TimeDeo?”

They laughed and went into a handshake to ‘bro-hug’ that Dream just raised his eyebrows at. 

“Man, it’s great to see you again, Deo.”

“Likewise,” TimeDeo said, looking Techno up and down, “we thought you’d left us forever after the whole Potato War went down.”

Technoblade laughed. “To be completely honest, I’d had enough of grinding for my lifetime.”

“Oh,” Deo looked around for someone else, “and there was someone else who wanted to see you! Hey!” He yelled and motioned someone over. “He’s here!”

Another figure came over, appearing considerably more threatening than Deo did, wearing some sort of black armor that only showed two glowing gray eyes under a dark hood. For a second, Dream was reminded of Badboyhalo. 

“Jiyn?”

“Yo, Techno! Nice to see you again!”

“Man, it’s been ages!”

Jiyn laughed, “you haven’t changed a bit.”

Dream remained uneasily behind Techno, feeling out-of-place in this gathering of friends. He was content to just watch. 

“Look,” Technoblade began, unable to keep a smile off his face, “it’s great to catch up with you but why did you call us here?”

“Before that, speaking of us,” Deo said, “did Dream come with you?”

Technoblade’s gaze slowly turned back to Dream and two more sets of eyes followed. He shrunk slightly under the scrutiny but gave a small wave. 

“Um, hello.”

“Damn.” Deo lowered his sunglasses and warily looked at Dream over the rims. “This is the famous Dream?”

Technoblade motioned to each person as he introduced them, “Dream, this is TimeDeo and Jiyn, old friends of mine. Deo and Jiyn, this is Dream.”

Jiyn held out a gloved hand which Dream shook. “Nice to meet you.”

“Surprised that you’re here on Hypixel Skyblock, but we’re glad to have you,” TimeDeo said, returning his sunglasses to their usual place. “We need all the help we can get.”

Techno’s brows furrowed. “Okay, seriously guys, what’s goin’ on?” 

Deo and Jiyn exchanged a look. 

“I assume you’ve heard about Dante?” Deo said casually, a hidden sort of anger underneath every word, hissing Dante’s name like it was a swear. 

This time it was Dream and Technoblade who glanced at each other. 

“We have,” Techno ended up saying simply. 

“Well…” Deo continued, “this place has become the base of operations for a revolution against him.”

Techno sighed with relief. “Good. I was worried that I’d have to do everythin’ by myself. I hate that guy.”

Jiyn laughed, “believe me, everybody hates him.”

Dream interrupted with a question, “if that’s true, then how did he get elected in the first place?”

Deo frowned and shook his head disapprovingly. “I think that everyone was just bored.” Jiyn just laughed at the answer but didn’t refute it. 

The question, however, seemed to also have attracted the attention of a few others sitting at the nearby table, and one yelled, “hey! At least he’s better than Barry!”

Pretty much everyone except Dream laughed at that. Dream looked helplessly at Techno who, smiling, explained through the laughter, “it’s a Skyblock thing. Barry’s been tryin’ to get elected for years now, but no one will vote him in.”

“To be fair,” another person called from one of the tables on the other side of the room, leaning back in their chair condescendingly, “we did tell you not to vote for Dante. We told you this would happen.”

“Shut up, Jay!” someone else shouted, and the room fell back into separate conversations. 

Techno looked questioningly at Deo who shrugged. “Yeah, the admins may have warned us about Dante. Frankly, I can’t believe they even let Dante actually run for Mayor, maybe they were bored too.”

“Skyblock players are like little children,” Technoblade chuckled. “You cannot give them freewill. And like children, if you tell them not to do somethin’, they are one-hundred-percent going to do that thing.”

“Is he wrong?” Jiyn said rhetorically, laughing. 

Deo’s expression tightened with slight worry and they all turned to him. “I don’t think you’ll like the resistance’s plan that much then.”

Techno’s smile dropped. “What did you do?”

“I should let Seraphine explain.”

“Who?” Both Dream and Technoblade asked. 

Jiyn turned around and waved the woman who had been standing on the mainstage over, and after a moment she came up to the four. 

“Seraphine,” Deo said, “this is Technoblade and Dream.”

The woman looked at the pair appraisingly, placing her hands on her hips. Seraphine was wearing a functional blue dress with off-the-shoulder sleeves and had curly brown hair that cascaded elegantly down her shoulders. Her stormy gray eyes seemed to look through Dream’s very soul as she studied him. 

Finally, she held out a hand, and both of them shook it as she explained, “nice to meet you. I’m former Mayor Seraphine, you may have once seen me in the Town Hall. I usually am the one making sure all the ballots are cast legally in the Mayoral elections, but since Dante kicked me out of the cabinet and rigged all the elections so that we couldn’t vote him out of office if we tried, I’ve found myself here in the Dark Auction House trying to pull together a resistance.”

“I think we may have met a long time ago,” Techno said. 

Seraphine hummed, her eyes narrowing momentarily. “I know you well, Technoblade.” Her eyes moved to Dream. “But I do not know anything about you.”

TimeDeo wrapped an arm around Dream’s shoulders, and he tensed as Deo defended him, “this is Dream, he’s famous for being a great pvper, so he’d be an excellent asset to the cause.”

“We shall see,” Seraphine said ominously. 

Jiyn changed the subject, “care to catch them up on what’s been going on here?”

The former Mayor nodded. “Dante needs to be overthrown, plain and simple. It’ll take time, but we are organizing a coup.”

“Great,” Techno said. “Count me in.”

A slight smile graced her lips before she continued, “however, we have not decided on a leader, but have come to the consensus that whomever it is should be decided on democratically.”

Technoblade groaned. “Allowing the players to have a choice is what got us into this mess. You’re making the same mistake! I bet their choice sucks!”

Seraphine’s smile widened. “Oh, that actually makes sense because so far it’s you!”

A beat. 

“It’s WHO-”

Dream, Deo, and Jiyn burst into laughter, Dream letting out his teakettle-like wheeze and doubling over on his stomach. 

“Technoblade!” Dream mocked, “the anarchist is getting elected to a governmental position against his will!” He laughed harder. 

Techno’s face was slightly red with a blush, “wait, wait, wait. There’s gotta be somethin’ wrong here. They’re voting for me?”

Seraphine nodded smugly. “I guess they just like you.”

“No, no. I haven’t been here in months! They’re literally only voting for me because I’m famous, which- by the way- is not a good reason to elect someone into an important position like that.” He looked to Deo, Dream, or Jiyn for support but they were laughing too hard to notice. “I’m an anarchist! I don’t even like the government!”

Dream continued to laugh. 

Seraphine’s dress spun as she turned to look at him and said sweetly, “I wouldn’t be laughing at him that much, Dream. You’ve got your own fair share of votes.”

There was another shocked pause before Deo and Jiyn started laughing again and Techno joined in as this time Dream was the one stumbling for words. 

“What? Voting for- for- me?” Dream blinked at Seraphine. “Why?”

“Like Technoblade,” she said matter-of-factly, “you’re famous.”

“But I don’t even-” he glanced at Techno who looked at him with a ‘we’re both in for it now’ look. “I didn’t even have a Skyblock island two weeks ago.”

Seraphine shrugged. “All I said was that the players could vote for anyone whom they deemed worthy, which…” she paused with some reluctance, “evidently means you two.”

Deo slapped Techno on the back. “Don’t worry, bud. I got some votes too.”

“I can’t believe I’ve been roped into this.” Techno sighed and buried his face into his hands.

“And,” Seraphine grinned, “if we succeed, the revolution leader will be named the next Mayor.”

Technoblade groaned again. “Why?” He whined, “why is the government always bad?”

“Will it be bad with you in charge?” Dream prodded, “maybe you can finally run a government the way you think they should be run?”

Techno grunted, rolling his eyes. 

Seraphine looked around the small group. “So? Are you in or out?”

Dream looked at Technoblade who sighed, “look, at this point… anything is better than Dante.”

“True!” Deo interjected, “he cancelled Christmas!”

Jiyn nodded. “And Halloween.”

“This is worse than I thought,” Dream said with a laugh. “I know close to nothing about this, but… sure!” Techno glanced at him with wide eyes. “I’m in too!”

“Glad to have you on board.” Seraphine turned away from them with a small wave of goodbye. “Make sure to cast your votes up front, and I’ll be seeing you around. We’ll make sure to let you know when the day of the revolution is nigh.”

After a moment, Dream smiled at Techno. “How about this, you vote for me and I vote for you?”

The pig-man raised an eyebrow but smiled too. “Why not?”

And so, the rivals cast their ballots for each other.

They said their goodbyes to Deo and Jiyn, Techno making vague plans for a prep day with the group, explaining that Dream needed a crash course in Skyblock mechanics to which the speedrunner did not disagree. And, from what Techno described, it actually sounded like it might be fun to do a dungeon run with the group. 

Deo, Jiyn, and Dream exchanged contact information and TimeDeo put them all in a group chat. 

“Just let us know a date and time, we’ll be there.”

Techno thanked them with a polite nod.

They were just about to head out back to the island to do some last-minute fixes to the house before nightfall but paused when they overheard a conversation near the stairs. 

“What do you think Techno’s Mayor perks will be if he’s elected?”

Dream saw Techno stop and lean slightly closer to the speaker. 

“Max, I highly doubt Technoblade will even show up, let alone get elected.”

A smile grew across Techno’s face and he put his finger up to his lips. Dream watched as Techno came up behind the first person who had spoken and tapped him on the shoulder, motioning him over to the side of the room. 

Though Dream wasn’t part of the conversation, he could still hear them. 

“Technoblade? Wow, this is so cool!”

“Shh, shh, keep it on the down low. I just wanted to answer your question.”

“What question?”

“What I’ll do as Mayor.”

“Oh? What?”

Dream could hear the grin on his rival’s face as Techno said, “I’m going to ban half of Skyblock.”

There was a pause as the person- ‘Max’ evidently- just gaped at Techno.

“Go ahead and warn the others, they’ll never believe you.” He turned away with a teasing wave. “Have a nice day!”

Technoblade returned to Dream’s side and pulled him toward the exit, smiling from ear to ear. “Go. Go. Go.”

“OH MY GOD, GUYS!”

“What is it now, Max?”

“I JUST SPOKE WITH TECHNO, AND HE SAID HE WILL BAN HALF OF THE PLAYERS.”

“Yeah right, dude.”

“Scarlett, listen to me!”

“I smell cap.”

“PLEASE YOU’VE GOTTA BELIEVE ME!”

“Just shut up.”

Dream finally allowed himself to laugh once they were out of earshot and turned to Techno on the stairs. “Wow, it really only took a minute for you to go power crazy.”

“What can I say?” Techno laughed, “power corrupts, and I can already feel the evil surging through my veins.”

Dream just kept laughing.

Chapter Text

“Wake up, sleepyhead!” Quackity sung playfully, excitedly even. 

Dream’s eyes shot open as he shoved himself off of the obsidian floor, his attention momentarily catching on the way the orange light from the lava reflected off of the shiny dark rock. The way it bounced across the black stone had become so familiar to him but-

This couldn’t be real. 

He hadn’t seen this obsidian in over a week. 

He wasn’t here anymore. 

He was on a Skyblock island with Technoblade. 

...But he was here. 

The way that the hard obsidian pressed into his back as Dream bolted into the corner of the cell was real. 

The grating noise of an axe against obsidian as Quackity nonchalantly raised it and examined the blade was real. 

And he could feel it. He could feel it all with extreme clarity. 

The way his breath had quickened, the adrenaline flooding through his system, the sweat dripping down his face, even the way the cloth of his uniform hung against his bloody form, it was all real.

Quackity giggled, “you looked almost happy there for a second. Were you having a nice dream, Dreamie?”

“You- you-” he was unable to get a proper phrase out between gasping breaths. He could taste the ash and he could feel the oppressive, warm humidity as they suffocated him slowly, like a weight steadily crushing his chest. He had been free of this, right? His eyes flicked around the cell, searching for a way out, searching for any clue that this wasn’t real. He couldn’t do this again- he couldn’t-

Dream pressed himself into the smallest space he could find, raising his arms defensively over his head, unaware that he had cornered himself. It wouldn’t have made much of a difference anyway, there was nowhere to run. It was only a waiting game. 

“Please- please! Quackity-”

“That’s not how you get to address me.”

“Please,” he choked out, involuntary tears leaking from his eyes, “please, sir.”

Quackity just grinned at him. “That’s better.”

Dream whimpered as Quackity took a step forward, coming down into a crouch before him, still holding that gleaming axe- almost carelessly. Dream hated that. He hated how Quackity had come to sound like he enjoyed their time spent together. He hated that relaxed, even lazy, indifference that his tormentor had taken on. 

(Because for just a second- just a single second in all that madness- Dream realized that he hated Quackity so much because he saw part of himself in him. That indifference? That was Dream’s, and now? To have it turned against him? That was terrifying. It was like looking into a funhouse mirror: strange and different, but still undeniably you.)

“What shall it be today, Dream?” Quackity ran his finger over the side of the axe, inspecting it with a demented smile. “Blades, ropes, a little bit of water- you’re thirsty, right?”

“Please, please!” He tried in vain to push himself further back but was only met with the cold obsidian wall. “Not today, I can’t- I can’t-”

He couldn’t think straight, each though being overruled by the incessant desire to run, to get out, his fight or flight having fully decided on flight. 

And then the third option. 

Freeze. 

“Now, Dream,” Quackity said with a tone one might use to scold a child, sweet and overbearing, but the deadly glint in the other’s eyes spoke volumes more, “I made a promise. And I can’t break a promise.”

Light from the lava outside the cell flickered on the axe’s dull blade (why dull? Dream would always ask himself until he realized that the dullness only made everything so much worse. They weren’t just cuts, the damage Quackity did always had more force behind it. Never just to strike Dream with a blade, but to shred him with one.)

And when he saw that little glimmer, all he could do was freeze. His entire body was completely still in horrible anticipation of what he knew was coming. It had happened so many times before, and it always ended the same. 

Dream: sobbing alone on the floor in more pain than he could ever express, pleading for just one little ounce of mercy. 

And Quackity: saying goodbye with a smile and small wave, promising to return the next day. 

His eyes remained fixed on the axe. “No, no, please, Quackity-”

Quackity firmly grabbed his wrist, ripping him forward and pressing the axe’s edge to Dream’s neck. “What are you allowed to call me?”

It would never end. 

Quackity would never kill Dream, but Dream was already dead. 

He knew it. 

Deep down, something had broken. 

He had died. 

“Sir! Please! Sir-”

And if he was dead, what was the point of anything anymore?

So when he felt Quackity’s grip loosen ever so slightly, Dream resorted to that other reaction.

Fight. 

“Get away from me!” He cried, kicking and flailing, already acknowledging that it would be useless in the end. 

Quackity would catch him, he would pin him down, and everything would happen just the same. 

“Oh, Dream.” The voice was scolding. 

The hand around his wrist tightened again, but this time it was also pulled at an angle as if Quackity was trying to break it. 

Dream cried out in pain as his arm was moved behind his back and he felt a hearty kick to the stomach that left him breathless. He fell to his knees as he coughed out phlegm that had settled in his lungs from the musty air and lack of physical activity. 

And then a foot slammed into his back, effectively pinning him to the floor. Dream continued to cough, straining to get a deep breath with his chest pushed so hard into the ground. 

“It’s been a while since you resisted like this, what changed?” Quackity’s voice was so smooth, so carefree. Dream hated that purr to his voice, that vibrato he would always use. 

It was a front. 

Acting. 

Method acting. 

(Dream should know, he had often found his own voice taking on a similar quality when he fell too far into that villain role.)

“Not going to answer, huh?” Dream was flipped over forcefully so that he was on his back with Quackity looking down at him. 

He blinked slowly, heaving out a few coughs while trying to push past the headrush that had come from the fight- if he could even call it that. Dream’s resistance hadn’t been much more than that of an ant biting an elephant.

Hopeless. 

It was hopeless. 

Suddenly, an axe was coming down toward his arm. 

And…

And he stopped it, catching part of the handle and becoming locked in a pushing match with Quackity. 

“Oh, you little-”

“STOP!”

“You can’t win this.”

Dream just stared in fear at Quackity’s smug smile, screaming, “stop! Please, stop!”

“You know it only gets worse for you when you disobey.”

He knew that in a contest of strength, frankly, Quackity was going to win simply because of Dream’s weakness from having been stuck in the cell for so long. 

So with a grunt and a visceral scream, Dream redirected the axe at the obsidian floor near his head. 

It embedded itself deeply into the rock, but Quackity only changed directions instead, pinning Dream’s wrist to the floor again and then wrapping his other hand around Dream’s neck. 

“Dream!”

He struggled- he really did- but he couldn’t escape, and the more he thrashed about, the tighter Quackity’s grip and chokehold became. He was trapped here-

Forever and ever and ever and-

Spots danced at the edge of his vision as Dream desperately tried to inhale. 

“I can’t- I can’t- stop- no-”

He was pretty sure he was still crying, but it became harder and harder to focus with the lack of oxygen. 

“Dream!”

At that moment, choking, gasping, almost out of air, he suddenly seemed to remember that one of his arms was free. 

And he raised his fist-

“Dream!”

And-

“Dream!”

CRACK!

“OW!”

All of the weight on him disappeared, but Dream still couldn’t move. He jumped up, falling over himself as he realized that he was all wrapped up in white sheets. Dream face planted onto the ground.

The wood ground. 

He shakily propped himself up and untangled his limbs from the sheets, also unwrapping the tight fabric from around his neck while suddenly realizing why he had been unable to breathe, and looked hastily at his surroundings while trying to remember where and when he was. 

He sucked in a few deep breaths of ashless air. 

The ground was wood, not obsidian. 

He had sheets, and he had fallen off of a bed. He definitely didn’t have those in the prison. 

It was almost completely dark- so no lava- and the only light he did have was coming from the stars he could see out a window to his left. He hadn’t ever been able to see the sky in prison. 

And there was no Quackity and no axe, only Technoblade, wearing a maroon t-shirt with a breast pocket and black shorts, who had one hand against the wall to support himself and his other hand hesitantly dabbing at his nose. 

“Ow,” Technoblade repeated, his eyes watering, “you throw one heck of a punch despite only being half-awake.”

“Sorry,” Dream said on instinct over anything else, “sorry.”

“Nah, dude, you’re good.” Techno stood back up to his full height, checking his fingers for blood from his nose, and there was none. “You had somethin’ goin’ on, and I don’t think my nose is broken or anything.” He smiled slightly. “You only wounded my pride.”

Dream nodded a few times and clutched at the sheets around him, trying to slow his breathing and heart rate down. 

Deep breaths. 

“So, you gonna tell me what’s goin’ on or...?” Techno stared down at Dream who was still on the floor. 

“No.” Dream’s response was immediate. 

Techno raised his eyebrows. “Are you sure-”

“Yep.”

Technoblade hummed, looking at Dream. He tried one more time, “do you need any-”

“No,” Dream clipped, dropping his head into his hands, “I just want to go back to bed.”

“Uh-huh.” 

There was a long pause. 

“Well…” Techno said, making his way over to the door of Dream’s room, “I don’t think I’ll be able to go back to sleep after hearin’ you scream like that, and I don’t think you’re gonna fall asleep either, but I’ll be in the kitchen if you want to talk.” He slowly opened the door and vanished into the hallway without another word. 

Dream grumbled softly, picking up the sheets and moving them back to the small bed. Technoblade was right, he was probably too awake now to simply go back to bed. His heart was still pounding inside his chest and there was still adrenaline pouring through his veins. Dream also noticed with a small frown that his hands were shaking like leaves in a harsh, autumn wind. 

He knew he wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep after that, but he tried anyway, giving it a whole five minutes of effort before sighing heavily and dragging himself back out of bed. 

Wiping sleep from his eyes, Dream made his way into the hallway. 

They had finally finished the home the day prior, or… earlier today, Dream wasn’t quite sure what time it was. All in all, the house had a simple layout: an open floor plan main room right off the front entrance split into two sections, a kitchen and another area with a couch and some empty bookshelves, and between the two areas was a hallway that had doors to three rooms, two of which were bedrooms and one bathroom. 

Dream leaned against a wall as he made his way into the main room, passing by the open door that showed Technoblade’s bedroom was in a state of disarray like he had left it in a panicked hurry. 

The first thing he noticed after entering the kitchen was that there were two cups set out on the table. 

That knowing bastard. 

Dream frowned but sat down at the counter in the kitchen, staring at Hope who had taken a place on the window’s ledge over the sink. 

Technoblade was warming something up on the stove that had been delivered from the hub just the previous morning. It was another plus of being connected to a major server, the technological advancements always added so much convenience and comfort over the survivalist ways of private servers. 

“Couldn’t sleep?” Techno drawled, looking over his shoulder with a smug grin. 

Dream blinked at him. “I hate you.”

“Mm.”

His rival stirred whatever was in the pot around a few times. 

Dream lowered his head onto his fist and tiredly watched Techno work. When he couldn’t sit still, he fidgeted, picking at some lint on his plaid green pants. That had been another thing they had picked up in the hub, sleepwear and other clothes so that they actually could look decent instead of being stuck with the same dirty two outfits they had come to the island with. Dream had picked out the plaid green bottoms and a few white t-shirts and tank tops. He hadn’t seen what Technoblade had grabbed at the time but now saw that they were just as simple as the things Dream had gotten. The other’s black shorts seemed to lean toward being sweatpant material, but his maroon, cloth top looked very soft. 

Eventually, Dream’s brows furrowed for a second as he raised his head and asked, “wait, what are you doing up?”

Techno just shrugged. “It’s hard to sleep listenin’ to you scream. Thought I’d try and wake you up from whatever nightmare you were havin’ so that I could go back to bed, but being punched in the face is definitely a pick-me-up I didn’t need.” He turned off the stove and stirred the pot again. “I decided to get up and do somethin’ over just lyin’ in bed staring at the ceiling.”

“You could… hear me?”

A short pause. “The walls are thin, and you were havin’ a pretty bad dream by the sound of it. I just came to see if you were alright,” Techno said mercifully. 

Silence, except for the sounds of the spoon. 

Dream watched as Techno, finally satisfied with... something, nodded to himself and poured the contents of the pot into the two mugs near him. Next, he pulled a jar of honey down and something that looked like a spice shaker from their storage cabinet and put some of both into the mugs. 

As Techno walked over carrying the cups, Dream held out a hand to accept his, but his rival took one look at it and kept walking. 

“Couch,” Technoblade said monotonously. “Your posture is terrible sittin’ on that stool. You’re going to hurt your back.”

Dream rolled his eyes but followed Techno over to the couch where they sat down, and he was handed the warm drink. Two lamps sat on each end table on the two sides of the couch and were putting off enough light for Dream to see the drink fully for the first time. With a suspicious narrowing of his eyes, Dream looked down at the liquid, which was white and filled with little brown specks. He saw Techno take a sip of his own and looked at him quizzically. 

“It’s milk,” Techno explained, “hot milk with honey and cinnamon. Phil used to make it for me when I couldn’t sleep.” He looked down at his own cup. “It’s supposed to be relaxin’, and I guess after all this time, it’s just become tradition to make it whenever I’m awake at night.”

Dream took a hesitant sip and was surprised by how good it was. The milk was at the perfect temperature and the cinnamon balanced out the sweetness of the honey well. “Thank you,” he said quietly after a moment, “for including me in your tradition.”

“No problem.”

They sat there in silence for a while, each finishing their drinks while sitting at opposite ends of the couch. 

Dream let his eyes wander around the empty house, just trying to breathe. In the end, he found himself staring out the window at the night sky. 

Neither of them was sure how long it had been when Techno finally spoke again. “Look, Dream,” he said, placing his empty mug on a table at the end of the sofa, “I know you said you don’t really want to talk about what happened, but it might be a problem if it keeps preventing both of us from sleeping.” 

Dream stared straight ahead, still holding tight to his empty mug in an attempt to garner all of its warmth before finally setting it down. 

“I’m fine.” Techno looked at him doubtfully, to which Dream continued, “really.”

“Because you didn’t sound fine when I came in.”

“Techno-”

“No, Dream,” he interrupted with a sigh. “You were practically stranglin’ yourself with your sheets and screaming for something to stop. Forgive me if that doesn’t seem like you’re fine to me.”

“No, really. It’s fine,” Dream said through gritted teeth, avoiding Techno’s searching gaze, “I’m good.” 

“Does this have something to do with Quackity and what he would do to you in prison?”

Dream’s flinch was answer enough. 

Techno looked away thoughtfully. “You kept sayin’ his name,” he said softly, “when you were dreamin’. That’s why I asked.”

Silence. 

“But I’m not in prison anymore!” Dream suddenly shouted, finally setting the mug aside and abruptly turning to face Technoblade. “It doesn’t matter! And I- I trust you, I guess. I know I’m not going to go back there but I…” he ran a shaking hand through his unkempt hair. “It shouldn’t matter anymore, because I’m free!” He repeated it again softer, almost to convince himself, “I’m free.”

Technoblade opened his mouth to respond, then paused, thinking. After a moment, he began, more sincerity to his voice than Dream had ever heard, “after… after Doomsday I started havin’ dreams- nightmares really. Of my friends, of everyone I knew, just dying, or betrayin’ me, and I could never stop them. I just had to sit there helplessly and watch…” his gaze slowly turned to that same window Dream had been looking out earlier. “Sometimes I would be back at the execution, sometimes back in the cage, sometimes on the outside looking in on a friend. Phil was in there once,” he added, frowning, “one time Ranboo was even behind the bars. The worst ones were when they’d shun me, turn away and say that all of this was my fault, and even if it was, it hurt.” There was a long pause. Then, he continued, “and so I would wake up in the middle of the night, just tryin’ to come back to reality from whatever nightmare scenario my mind had created, usually just like you did: disoriented, crying out.” Techno looked back at Dream with something akin to pity- no, empathy in his eyes. “I still sometimes have dreams like that. I’m not sure if they’ll ever leave me.”

Dream was silent for a second, unsure, then, “sorry.”

A slight smile appeared on Techno’s face. “I appreciate it, but that’s not the point.” He sighed. “What I was tryin’ to get at was that… I understand.”

“But I’m fine now!” Dream leaned back against the couch and stared at the blank ceiling. “I would understand if I had these when I was in prison, but now? It doesn’t- it doesn’t make any sense.”

Techno mirrored him, also falling into a more casual position on the couch. “I don’t think it’s as simple as that,” he said with a short laugh. “For me at least, I would’ve expected to have nightmares right after the whole Butcher Army thing, but Doomsday was almost a month later.”

The rivals just sat there for a few minutes. 

“Phil said that it had something to do with how the body handles stress,” Techno remarked. “I think it makes sense. He said that traumatic stuff like that usually takes a while to process fully, ‘cuz you become completely focused on surviving- and nothing else- to protect yourself. It’s only after, only when you start to relax, does your dumb brain finally decide to work through what happened.”

Dream considered it. 

“Oh.”

“I was too wrapped up in grinding from the execution all the way to Doomsday to take a breath, but after, when I finally had time to take a moment to reflect, I started having the nightmares. And now that you’re outta the prison or whatever, your mind’s probably finally catching up to what happened.”

“But why?” Dream asked exasperatedly, “and why in dreams?”

“That,” Technoblade said, “goes back to the whole ‘relaxation’ thing. You are most relaxed when you’re asleep, and so, when you’re deeply relaxed, your brain is either finally dealin’ with what happened in literally the worst way possible by makin’ you relive it, or it’s overcorrecting by thinking that because you’ve been under such strain for so long you should still be stressed, so it creates a reason for you to be, and that’s how we get that whole: fight or flight- waking up in the middle of the night- adrenaline through the roof- ready to kill one-thousand people vibe.”

“Huh.”

“Who would’ve thought that it’s not healthy to be stressed and-or suffering all the time?” Techno commented sarcastically. 

“So,” Dream began, “what did you do about it?”

A beat. 

Then, he heard Techno sigh gently, “I… don’t know. I haven’t really found anything other than just thinkin’ about other things. I understand the why, but I don’t know what to do about it.”

Dream looked at the floor. 

“Sorry, Dream,” Techno said, glancing over at him. “Sorry I couldn’t be of much help, and I know what you’re goin’ through, and that sucks, so I’m sorry for that too.”

Dream nodded slowly, biting the inside of his lip. After a moment, “did…” he asked, “did Tommy ever… have nightmares… when… when he lived with you?”

Techno blinked at Dream in surprise, then his expression fell and he looked away. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “Yeah. He did.”

Neither spoke for a while. 

“So,” it was Technoblade this time, “what’re you gonna do now?”

Dream shrugged. “I want to go back to bed, but I don’t think I can.”

Something seemed to occur to the pig-man as Techno paused for a second, then stood, taking both of their cups back to the kitchen. “Give me just a minute,” he said over his shoulder as he disappeared down the hallway. 

Dream raised his eyebrows but remained on the couch, once again looking out the window at the stars. 

He heard Techno’s hooves on the wood floor before he saw the warrior return to the couch. Dream also saw that Techno was holding two rectangular objects not-so-stealthily behind his back; he placed the thinner one on his own end table, the other he placed in his lap when he sat down. 

“I bought this yesterday in the library to give to you as a housewarming present sometime tomorrow, but there’s no better time than now, so…” he trailed off, offering the object, which appeared to be a book, to Dream who sat up and took it. 

“Crime and Punishment,” he read from the cover, “by Fyodor Dostoevsky.”

“It’s a book.” Techno almost sounded nervous. 

Dream stared back at him. “I can see that.”

“We made all these shelves,” Techno motioned around the room, “and they were empty, so I thought-”

“What’s it about?” Dream interrupted, turning the heavy book over in his hands. It looked expensively made, with a nice red hardcover with black lettering and a black ribbon bookmark. 

“It’s the story of a murder from the murderer’s persepective.”

Dream’s eyes narrowed warily. “Is this directed at me in any way?”

Techno shrugged noncommittally, but a small smile tugged at the edges of his mouth. “Not at all, I just thought you might enjoy it. And it’s a pretty deep book, it’ll have you sleeping in no time.”

Dream laughed at that. “What did you get?” He then asked, looking over at the other book on the table. 

Turning around, Techno picked it up and held it out. “A collection of Aesop’s Fables.”

“Looking for some new nicknames, Techno?”

Techno chuckled, taking back the book. “You just want me to stop callin’ you a homeless teletubby.”

“I can’t deny that.”

Dream found himself opening the book and reading through the table of contents. 

Techno did the same, sighing and opening his own. “Reading always helped me sleep,” he said, “give it a try.”

“You know what,” Dream said, smiling and readjusting on the couch so his legs were on the cushions toward Technoblade who was still sitting facing forward, “maybe I will.”

He opened to page one of chapter one. 

At the beginning of July, during an extremely hot spell, towards evening… 

And so they read, mostly in silence except for the occasional flip of a page. 

Dream’s hair kept falling in his face, and he would either curl and uncurl it around his finger or simply blow it out of his eyes, but after a while, he could tell it was getting on Techno’s nerves by the way the pig-man kept tensing. 

Finally, he snapped, “alright, that’s it. Turn around and lean against this pillow.” Techno put his legs up on the sofa, resting a pillow on his shins. 

That was not the reaction Dream had been expecting. 

“What?”

“Sit.”

“I am sitting.”

“No,” Techno said with a laugh, “sit here. I’m going to braid the hair out of your face so you don’t have to fix it every thirty seconds, it’s very distracting.”

Dream’s eyes widened. “You… want to braid my hair?”

“Yes,” he said flatly. “It’ll be worth it if it gets you to stop messin’ with it.”

The former self-named god, the villain, though most importantly the man, could only stare in shock before following the request silently and leaning against the pillow. 

He felt Techno’s hands slowly part a section of his hair near the front of his face into three segments and begin to weave them together. And, to be completely honest, Dream was surprised by how gentle the motions were. He had unconsciously shivered after the first touch because it reminded him too much of when Quackity would grab onto his hair and pull when he struggled too much, but Techno’s movements were slow and calm, and definitely much more humane than Quackity’s. 

Relaxing into the pillow behind him, Dream continued reading. 

My dear sir, my dear sir, but it is necessary that every man have at least one such place where he, too, is pitied… 

And over time he realized Technoblade had been right when he had said the book might make him tired. 

His breathing was much slower, and his heart was no longer beating out of his chest. 

He was calm. 

(Both because of the novel and the gentle, rhythmic fingers brushing through his hair.)

Everything was okay; it had only been a dream. 

He wasn’t in prison. 

There was no lava. 

No Quackity. 

No torture. 

Just Skyblock. 

And a kind rival who had made him a comforting drink, spoken honestly about personal topics, and given him a gift. 

And a house with a yellow flower named Hope. 

A home. 

Setting the book down in his lap and closing his eyes, Dream sighed and fell into the soft embrace of sleep. 

Techno wrapped a small rubber hair tie around two braids, linking them together at the back of Dream’s head. Dream officially now had two small braids, one behind each ear, that would keep the hair out of his face. But when Techno pulled away, Dream did not react. 

It took the pig-warrior a few seconds to realize that Dream was asleep. 

With a small smile and short exhale, Technoblade got up from the couch and slowly lowered Dream’s head on the pillow so that he was lying across the entire sofa. 

He was going to just leave him like that until he thought of something else. 

An embarrassed grimace and a soft, but heavy, sigh later, Techno left and returned to the main room with his cloak. 

He laid the cloak over Dream like a long blanket, and Dream smiled contentedly in his sleep, snuggling into it. 

Techno couldn’t help smiling too as he returned to his own room. 

Huh. 

Maybe something really had changed.

Chapter Text

So discord got the summary for this chapter first, and the absolutely amazing Aster drew this and I just had to share its beauty with y'all!

(linked:) @asterinthesky on Instagram!

The day after… that night began strangely, to say the least. 

Dream woke up in a new place- well, newer considering their house had only been finished recently- but it still took him a few seconds to realize that he was on the sofa rather than in a bed. It had been a slow awakening, Dream had kept his eyes closed at first when he came to and just soaked in the warmth from what felt like a weighted blanket on him. After a few moments, he opened his eyes and blinked away the morning light that was streaming in through a window directly at him. Then was when he realized where he was and also what was on top of him. As far as Dream had known, they did not have a blanket on the couch, but there was this soft red fabric that was keeping him very cozy-

Oh. 

It was Technoblade’s cloak. 

“Dream, you touch it again and you get thrown into the void.”

Well, he touched it. 

But he must’ve had permission, right? Techno must’ve been the one to put it over him. 

Wait. 

What?

Did Techno give him his prized cloak?

Why?

Dream decided to leave theorizing about the unexplainable actions of his rival-slash-roommate for when his brain had fully woken up, so, instead, he removed the cloak and carefully folded it, leaving it hanging on the edge of the couch. 

From their time spent together so far, Dream had learned that Techno had one of the most variable, unpredictable sleep schedules known to man. He was either an early riser- before the sun even came up- or he’d be asleep all day and you’d see him for dinner. And then with their shared experiences with waking up in the middle of the night, well, it made sense that both of the rivals were awake at odd hours. 

And just like after their discussion after his breakdown in front of the Nether portal, Dream wasn’t quite sure what to say or do now. 

There had been a whole load of honesty and vulnerability expressed on both sides last night, maybe only because they were both sleep-deprived, (Dream didn’t know and didn’t think it mattered because there was no way that Technoblade would have admitted his weaknesses just like that-) but there had seemed to be something more behind it. 

Dream’s eyes were drawn to the copy of Crime and Punishment sitting on the table. 

He smiled, unsure of the cause, but he smiled all the same. 

It only took a few minutes for Dream to grab a bowl of cereal and sit back down on the couch, still in his pajamas. He would usually have eaten at the counter in the kitchen but couldn’t help remembering Techno’s words about his posture-

He hates that pig. 

But even then when he thought that, Dream couldn’t help the whisper of fondness that snuck into the statement. It was the sort of hate you might have for a sibling that knew you all too well and called you out for the little things. 

And… he was smiling again. 

Dream had to forcefully school his expression back to one of neutrality as he took another bite of some random bran cereal that Techno had picked up. 

Okay. New objective. 

Learn how to shop because Techno is terrible at it. 

Dream had been eating bland food in prison, namely raw potatoes that he was never going to touch again, so he wanted some variety on Skyblock. Was it too much to ask Technoblade to pick up some sweets? 

Dream paused. 

Wait a minute. 

Technically speaking, they did have the supplies to bake… 

Dream took out his communicator, scrolling through a few days-old messages. 

This is the beginning of your message history with @Nihachu

<Nihachu> hi!

<Nihachu> this is Dream, correct?

<Dream> um, yes

<Dream> hello

<Dream> I’m sorry, but I have to ask, why did you want to contact me? 

<Dream> sorry, I didn’t mean anything by that, it’s just that we didn’t really talk? Before?

<Nihachu> I know, that’s kind of the point. And you really don’t need to apologize

<Nihachu> I didn’t know you. Not in any real way at least. 

<Nihachu> I still don’t know you

<Nihachu> but after you got put away, and even before that if I’m being honest, there was always this sort of mystique and deception surrounding you?

<Nihachu> I could never tell if the things I was hearing about you and your reputation were true or if they were just things curated by you or your enemies as propaganda. 

<Nihachu> So, I don’t know you. 

<Nihachu> but I’d like to

<Dream> that’s 

<Dream> thanks niki

<Nihachu> if I’m gonna be keeping your secret I want to know who exactly it is I’m protecting

<Dream> makes sense

<Nihachu> I don’t think it would be fair to assume things of you, and I know as well as anyone that people you once knew can become unrecognizable 

<Nihachu> for better and for worse

<Dream> that’s very wise

<Dream> you’ve probably been through a lot to realize that

<Dream> sorry 

<Dream> that was inappropriate to assume

<Dream> but thank you niki

<Dream> and I know I don’t know you well either, but from what I’ve seen, I think you’re very kind and incredibly strong

<Dream> it probably means nothing to you coming from me, but you’re a pretty amazing person, Niki

<Nihachu> no, it means quite a bit actually

<Nihachu> thank you <3

<Dream> it means a lot that you’d consider extending an olive branch to me too

<Nihachu> dream

<Nihachu> if I assumed half of the things you hear about technoblade to be true without getting to know the guy, i wouldn’t be here

<Dream> oh sure, because he’s totally not a violent anarchist? 

<Dream> I think his reputation is spot on tbh

<Nihachu> XD

<Nihachu> yeah, okay so maybe he’s a bit violent

<Nihachu> DEFINITELY an anarchist

<Nihachu> but he’s also very sweet

<Nihachu> did you know that he’s worse than phil?

<Dream> what?

<Nihachu> well, there’s always the joke about phil being a ‘dad’ and adopting everyone he comes across and whatnot

<Nihachu> but you put any sort of animal in front of techno and boom, he’s got a new pet

<Nihachu> it’s adorable

<Nihachu> he tries to act all tough but then an arctic fox will lick his shoe and he’ll drop everything to play with it

<Nihachu> you didn’t hear this from me

<Dream> got it ;)

<Dream> my lips are sealed

<Nihachu> anyway, my original intent was to send you some recipes

<Nihachu> techno assured me that he’d stock your pantries with a wide range of ingredients and told me to quote “pop off” with the recipes i sent

<Dream> I mean, we have a kitchen? Though i don’t know how high I’d rate either of our skill levels

<Dream> no offense to techno of course, but the guy’s a solid 5/10 cook

<Dream> he has a few dishes that have tasted great, but other than that he’s struggling with anything other than potatoes, carrots, or steak

<Nihachu> i’m personally on the pastries and baked goods side of things, so most of the stuff i send prolly isn’t meal material

<Nihachu> give it a try anyway

<Dream> will do

<Dream> and thank you again niki

<Dream> for everything

<Nihachu> of course :)

<Nihachu> pumpkinpierecipie.pdf

<Nihachu> basiccupcake.pdf

<Nihachu> ^^^ doubles as a normal cake recipe

<Nihachu> just convert the ingredients to larger sizes and up the time on the oven

<Nihachu> redvelvetcupcake.jpg

<Nihachu> antfrost helped me make the above <3

<Nihachu> said it was from a friend, special recipe

<Nihachu> BETTERbreadmethod.pdf

<Nihachu> cookies(multiplereps).pdf

<Nihachu> macroonswithcolor.jpg

<Nihachu> howtomaketoffee.pdf

<Nihachu> just that for now

<Nihachu> i have more, so if you ever want something else just lmk

<Nihachu> OH

<Nihachu> what’s your experience level?

<Dream> uh

<Dream> i usually grill

<Dream> and I make a mean ‘white bread’

<Dream> so uh- very low skill level?

<Nihachu> we can work on that :D

<Nihachu> if you ever want help, even if you just want me to watch you so that you don’t burn down your new house, don’t hesitate to send me a message

<Nihachu> also, if you’d ever like to talk, i’m here for that too

<Dream> thanks, Niki

Dream pursed his lips, checking the time.

6:53 a.m. 

She might be awake, and if she wasn’t, he could figure it out on his own, right?

But it wouldn’t hurt to send a message. 

[...]

Today. 

<Dream> hey, are you awake and would you be willing to help me out?

Seen 6:54

Dream raised his eyebrows in shock. That was quick. 

<Nihachu> i’m up :)

<Nihachu> video call?

<Dream> sure

And seconds later, Dream answered a call from Niki. 

The camera took a second to load, but after it did, Dream was greeted by Niki who was beaming and wearing an apron covered in flour and other ingredients. 

“Morning, Dream!”

Dream hastily turned down the volume on his communicator. “Good morning. Techno’s still asleep, so if I’m quiet, that’s why.”

Niki seemed to blush and said more softly, “got it.” She winked. “So… Dream. What made you decide to call me?”

“Can I take you up on that ‘watching me so that I don’t burn the house down’ thing?”

Niki giggled but nodded. “Sure, what were you thinking about making?”

Dream paused for a second, realizing that his very basic plan for this had been to bake literally anything sweet. “Nothing yet, I just had a craving for something sugary and went with it.”

“Okay, this is great actually.” Niki grinned and rubbed her hands together. “I can advise you if you want, would you mind telling me some of what you have?”

Dream propped up his communicator on his copy of Crime and Punishment and began searching through the cabinets, relaying the information to Niki in a hushed whisper. Earlier, he had glanced down the hallway to see that the door to Technoblade’s room had been closed, so he knew he didn’t have to worry too much, but Dream seriously did not want to have to deal with a grouchy rival who would probably punt him off the island for disturbing his beauty sleep. 

As Dream rattled off their seemingly endless amount of supplies, he noticed that Niki herself was using a rolling pin on a chunk of dough as she listened intently. She must’ve also been baking this morning; Dream smiled at his luck. 

After he paused to take a breath, Niki interjected, “so, out of what you’ve found so far, has anything interested you?”

“Um…” Dream thought it over. “Chocolate chips are always good- white chocolate, milk, dark- all of them actually. Uh- we have some butterscotch chips too. But maybe it would be good with something salty? We have some almonds, some pretzels- those can go in cookies, right?”

Niki laughed at him. 

“Oh, and we have mini marshmallows.”

She paused her dough rolling and thought. 

“I know that’s a lot of things, but I only want something sweet, I’m fine with whatever-”

“Do you want all of it?” She asked suddenly. 

Dream blinked at the screen. “Is that… possible? I think I’m just missing everything since the prison had… less than great food service.”

Niki sent him a grin that he would describe as pure evil. “Say, Dream, have you ever heard of kitchen sink cookies?”

Dream shook his head. 

While Niki explained the premise behind ‘kitchen sink cookies,’ (which he learned were cookies that contained pretty much everything but the kitchen sink) Dream made a pile of ingredients on the end of the tabletop. 

Flour, baking soda, salt, butter, brown sugar, regular sugar, some eggs, vanilla extract (which Dream can barely believe Techno found and bought), some dark, milk and white chocolate chips, the butterscotch chips, some of the pretzels, and a bunch of the marshmallows. 

Niki guided him through the process, and Dream found a strange sense of relaxation in it. It was honestly a triumph of its own that Dream was able to make food for himself. It was an aspect of control over his own life that had been sorely missed in the prison where everything was not his own. Thinking back, Dream supposed that the lacking autonomy might have only added to the growing feeling of hopelessness and helplessness he had grown accustomed to in that horrible black box. 

With a polite cough, Niki brought him back to the present. Dream apologized, but Niki was courteous as ever and told him not to for zoning out. 

“Is the oven being preheated?”

Dream laughed awkwardly and went to turn it on. “It is now.”

Niki just smiled at him. 

She had told him to do it at the beginning, but he had forgotten. During the whole process, Dream made a lot of missteps, and while he knew that she wouldn’t hurt him or anything over a little spilled flour or an eggshell in the dough, it was hard to ignore the very loud voice in the back of his head that was telling him not to make a mistake. 

(It had started when Quackity would correct his every move. It had started when he could so much as breathe wrong and-)

(It had started long ago. It had started at the beginning of this whole thing when Dream became obsessed with controlling the SMP. He couldn’t mess up- he couldn’t- because everything would come falling down like a house of cards if he so much as breathed wrong and-)

That voice had been present with Technoblade on the Skyblock island at first when Dream had been planning his great escape and grew especially strong because of how conflicted he had felt those first couple of days, but it had faded over time as Dream had become more comfortable with the pig-man. He only hoped the same would happen with Niki. 

But Niki was kind, and she remained patient as she worked Dream through the best way to mix the dough without overbeating it. He folded in the chips and other additions, smiling when he could practically smell the sugar. 

Man, he really missed this. 

Something so simple as baking had become worthy of praise. 

Dream was sure that it had something to do with perception, like the many other things he had been noticing about his changed view of the world, but he didn’t hate this one. 

Sure, there were a few ingrained habits from the prison that he would prefer to be gone…

But this one?

It felt nice. 

They say that people appreciate things differently. 

And Dream would say that he was appreciating everything right about now, and it left him feeling light and airy. He couldn’t keep a grin off his face as he kneaded the dough into little balls and placed them on a slicked baking sheet. 

He opened the oven to a blast of hot air into the face and gently lowered the pan onto one of the racks. 

“Now,” Niki advised, placing a sheet of bread loaves into her own oven on the screen, “those cookies can take anywhere from ten to thirty minutes to cook depending on what you put in them, so what you’re gonna want to do is check on them every couple of minutes to check for the edges being golden brown.”

“Golden brown,” Dream nodded, “got it.”

He pulled up a stool and sat down, laying his chin on his arms on top of the counter, simply watching as Niki pulled out another bowl and cracked some eggs. 

“I like your braids,” she said, not even looking up from her work.

Dream’s hand went unconsciously to the braids as he ran his fingers over them, feeling them complete each other in the back. “Techno did them- said that I was annoying him but messing around with my hair too much.”

Niki snorted but smiled, obviously knowing of Technoblade’s bluntness. 

“I can’t help it, I’m not used to having long hair. Hypixel has to have a barber somewhere.”

“The braids look pretty, and though I didn’t get to see your face before much with the mask and all, I think your hair looks good long.”

“Thanks.”

They were silent for a few minutes as Dream quite literally twiddled his thumbs, snaking on a few of the remaining chocolate chips from the bag next to him, savoring each and every one of them. 

“So, Niki,” he began in the silence, “what have you been up to?”

“Is this some attempt to get to know me?”

Dream coughed. “I mean- yes? But I can stop-”

“No, Dream,” Niki laughed. “Sorry, it was a joke. I didn’t mean it like that, and I’m glad you care enough to ask and listen.” She took a breath, “I’ve been… up to nothing much actually.” She shrugged. “I’ve been building a little secret city of my own in the hills, and I thought it was helping me recover, but I think the isolation was actually doing the opposite. Techno approached me a few weeks- months, maybe- ago and told me about a little ‘secret society’ he was forming for anarchy. He asked if I wanted to join and I said I wasn’t sure at the time because I was busy…” she hesitated, “with a project, but eventually I found him using a compass he gave me and joined their little commune in the arctic. I still spend some time in my city, but it’s nice to know that I have a real home to return to with other people, ya know?”

Dream nodded along with her. “I totally understand that. I’ve missed company beyond anything I ever thought possible.”

“You always been the lone wolf type?”

“Not exactly.” He shook his head. “After a while, I pushed a lot of people away and ended up alone anyway. There was nothing much I could do about it. Personally, I enjoyed the whole thing, that is, until it became forced isolation and not just… personal detachment? Does that make sense?”

“I think so.” Niki continued working on a new dough, measuring out some baking soda. “Did they really not let you see people in there?”

Dream hesitated, unsure of how deep he wanted to go into the ways of Pandora’s Vault, but eventually stuck with, “yeah. Sam allowed visitors for a while until… Tommy…”

“Oh yeah, I heard a little about that fiasco from Ranboo, what really happened?”

Dream sat up, opened his mouth, then closed it. “You’re the first person who’s thought to ask me- I mean- you’re the first person who could’ve asked me- besides Techno- but… thank you, I guess, for not taking it at face value and asking to hear my side.”

Niki smiled. “That was why I wanted to talk to you in the first place.”

A beat. 

“I killed Tommy in prison,” Dream quickly said like he was ripping off a band-aid. He rushed ahead, explaining, “not really, of course. I revived him almost immediately after. I just wanted to prove a point, and he was being so annoying, so I just- did it.”

Niki paused, a thoughtful expression falling across her face. “I… that little side project I said I was working on before I joined up with Technoblade- I… it’s not something I’m proud of.”

Dream blinked into the camera, straightening his posture more attentively. 

“Not in the- um… moral side of things?”

Dream smiled a bit. “Niki, I’m gonna be honest here, look who you’re talking to. There is not much you could say that would stand up against what I’ve done.” He gestured vaguely to everything. 

A soft smile stretched across her face as she said, “Jack and I tried to blow up Tommy with a nuke.”

If Dream had had any sort of liquid in his mouth, it would have been spat out as he exclaimed, “you WHAT?”

“It was just-”

Dream fell into a wheezing fit. 

That was the funniest thing he had heard in a long time. 

“Dream…”

“No, no, Niki,” Dream said, wiping a tear from his eye, “you’re fine. I just think it’s hilarious that you had to resort to nuclear warfare to take that child down.”

“It didn’t even work,” she mumbled. 

Which just caused Dream to start laughing again. 

“We missed actually.”

“You MISSED? With a NUKE?” Dream shouted, still laughing. “With a blast radius to bedrock? How did you miss? Wait- wait- wait-” he broke off, thinking, “who made fucking nukes?”

“Tubbo,” Niki said sheepishly. 

“Pfft,” Dream doubled over, wheezing again. “Holy shit, what the hell is even going on anymore, I feel like I’ve missed so much being in that prison.”

“Well, you know,” Niki giggled, “it’s always a crazy time with Tommy Innit around.”

“Boy, do I know it. That kid brings trouble wherever he goes.”

Niki’s face fell a little. Softly, “but it still doesn’t mean that killing him was the answer.”

A long pause. 

“No.” Dream whispered, frowning. “No, it does not.”

Suddenly, he smelled something burning. 

“Oh, crap! The cookies!”

After burning his hand and then finally putting on an oven mitt after Niki laughed at him, Dream removed the cookies from the oven. 

Saying they were ‘golden brown’ would be a little generous, they were brown for sure though.

Dream didn’t wait for them to cool down for long. As soon as he could touch one without burning his fingerprint off, it was in his mouth. 

Burnt? Maybe a little. 

Crunchy? Eh, it just added to the texture. 

To Dream? They tasted like heaven. 

The little melty chocolate bits, the sharp butterscotch, the salt and crunch from the pretzels, the gummy goodness of the white marshmallows, it was all so good. 

“Good?” Niki asked. 

With his mouth full, all Dream could do was nod and let out a little, “mm-hm.”

She grinned at him. It was a warm, kind smile. 

He smiled back at her and swallowed, setting the half-eaten cookie aside for a moment. “Niki… thank you.”

“What are friends for, if not to bake with each other and discuss their morally dubious actions?”

Dream couldn’t suppress a laugh, but asked hesitantly after, “we’re… friends?”

“Sure.” She shrugged with a small smile. “If nothing else, we’re on the road to it. I’m up for a friendship if you are.”

He paused, a reluctant grin tugging at the edges of his mouth. “I’d like that.”

Dream slowly finished his cookie, taking small bites and just letting the flavors melt in his mouth as he truly appreciated what he had. 

“I couldn’t help but notice that there was a flower sitting in a place of importance behind you? On the windowsill? Does it have a name?” Niki asked, pulling apart some dough on the other end of the line and forming what looked like biscuits. 

“Yeah, it does actually.” Dream stood and brought the dandelion over closer to the camera. “Niki, this is Hope.”

“Aww, that’s a really sweet name.”

“Techno came up with it.”

“See I told you that Technoblade was-”

“Told him that I was what?” Technoblade drawled from the edge of the hallway, blinking sleep from his eyes as Dream jumped a little. He was also still in pajamas and his hair was held all askew at random angles like he had only just gotten out of bed. 

“Good morning, Techno!” Niki said cheerfully, even though the camera couldn’t see him from the angle it was positioned. 

“That Niki?”

Dream nodded. “Morning, Techno.”

“Mmm.” The pig-man wandered lazily over to a stool and brought it to sit next to Dream, nabbing a cookie from the cooling rack on the way. 

“Hey!”

“You woke me up with your terrible laugh. This is payment for your sins.”

“Sorry for waking you up, Techno,” Niki apologized gently. 

Dream took the other route, “aww, did the little piggy not get his beauty sleep?”

“Dream, it’s too early for this. Save your idiotic quips for later when I have decent comebacks.”

Niki giggled over the call-line. 

Techno’s eyes widened when he took a bite of the cookie. “Woah.”

“Good, right?” Dream supplied. 

Technoblade eyed him warily. “Once you get past the burnt layer-”

“HEY!”

“-yeah, it’s pretty good, Dream.”

Niki clapped, saying merrily, “congratulations, Dream. You can now bake.”

“Hardly. I made an effort, which does not mean I’m a baker now.”

Niki smiled at him mysteriously. “Every step counts.”

That statement hung in the air for a second before Niki’s eyes suddenly flashed toward something behind her own camera. “Oops, sorry, guys. I’ve got something I’ve gotta get to, but- Dream, I really did enjoy our morning together. If you ever want to talk, I’m here.”

“Bye, Niki.” Dream and Technoblade chorused, Dream with significantly more energy than Techno who still seemed to be shaking the thralls of sleep. 

Dream turned to his rival, “for each cookie you take, you owe me a meal.”

Techno stopped before his next bite. “A meal?” He said incredulously, “cuz that’s totally fair.”

“Hey, I don’t make the rules.”

“You literally just made them up.”

“So, you owe me one meal-”

“How about this, I get to eat whatever I want because guess who has been payin’ for all of this?”

“...fair point.”

<Nihachu> I forgot to tell you before hanging up the call, but you can actually make tea with dandelions, and it’s pretty good

<Nihachu> dandelionteadirections.jpg

<Dream> I will NOT be eating Hope

<Dream> …drinking Hope

<Dream> that sounds weird

<Nihachu> bonemeal the plant

<Nihachu> eat its family

<Dream> woah there

<Nihachu> XD

<Nihachu> but seriously

<Nihachu> i’m not asking you to destroy Hope

<Nihachu> but the tea is nice, it’s herbal and sweet

<Nihachu> I think you’d like it

<Dream> :thumbsup:

<Dream> thanks for all the advice, I’ll give it a try

<Dream> and niki, if you ever need someone to talk to as well, i'm here for you

<Dream> and I mean that

<Nihachu> thank you <3

Chapter Text

“So I picked up some supplies for you,” Techno said as the pair of rivals made their way to the linked hub portal, which was much easier now because they had made an actually functional bridge instead of relying on the cobble and wood single-block line that Dream had made initially. “I went on a trip to my own island yesterday and brought some extra armor and weapons, and before we go in, the three of us will give you a crash course on Skyblock mechanics.”

Dream just nodded, a little overwhelmed, but that was easily forgotten in favor of excitement. He didn’t have the same bloodlust that Technoblade did, but the man still appreciated the challenge of fighting- even though he hadn’t actually picked up a weapon since being thrown in prison. The closest thing to ‘fighting’ that Dream had done so far was spar with Techno using those stripped sticks. They didn’t really count as weapons, but at least Dream could say that he probably wouldn’t be as out of practice as he would have been without the friendly spars. Dream was also glad that he didn’t see shears or an axe in Techno’s collection of weaponry. He wasn’t sure how much it would affect him, but Dream couldn't help thinking of Quackity whenever the light hit the edge of a blade just right, mentally throwing him back into that dark cell. 

The pile of weapons did contain an enchanted fishing rod. However, it looked significantly more advanced than a normal rod, so much so that Dream wondered if he could still even call it that. They had both learned how to use rods in pvp for their duel- Dream needing to do more research than Techno because the pig-man had practically invented the technique- and Dream was excited to use one again. The prospect was thrilling. He was going to fight- and not for anything important this time. 

No battles.

No wars. 

No complex alliances and betrayals. 

Just for fun. Just like he used to with George, Sapnap, and the rest of the manhunt crew. 

It was just a game, and the rivals wore almost identical smiles as they prepared to play.

Their smiles dropped as soon as they entered the portal to the hub and the world dramatically shifted from a noonday sun to pitch black. Techno and Dream exchanged equally confused looks and after sending a few messages to the group chat, located Deo and Jiyn beside one of the shops. 

The group of four began the trek to the dungeon, moonlight illuminating their path as Dream squinted up at the distant stars. Enormous, ancient evergreens lined the path, stretching up into the sky, and birds flew back and forth from the branches, letting out soft calls. 

“What happened?” Techno asked on the way, consulting his communicator that showed it should be midday. “What happened… to the sun?”

TimeDeo looked like he was about to murder someone as he cleared his throat and said pompously, “Dante says that sunburns are dangerous, so he removed the problem.”

Dream blinked. “So he just… cancelled the sun?”

“Yes,” Jiyn said flatly.

Dream’s eyes widened and he whispered to himself in surprise, “he can do that?” 

“We need to kill him,” Techno said seriously, looking to the sky and rolling his eyes, “can we push up the date of the revolution?”

“It cannot come soon enough,” Deo muttered. 

“Down with Dante,” Jiyn cheered half-heartedly, “Woohoo.”

They arrived at the entrance to a cave, which evidently contained the dungeon that needed to be cleared, that a few other teams were making preparations to enter. On the left of the mouth of the dungeon was a field of tall grass and on the right was a large pile of boulders that leaned against the mountain that the cave resided within. 

“Anyway,” Techno said, taking his backpack from his shoulders and unloading its contents on a nearby boulder. “We’ve gotta give Dream some direction before goin’ in there.”

“What is the point, actually?” Dream interrupted, “of going in there?” 

“It's an experience for you, and because the best armor is achievement locked,” Deo said. 

Jiyn, noticing Dream was still confused, sighed and continued the explanation, “in order to wear some of the best armor you have to have an achievement of completing the highest level of one of these dungeons. Basically, after completion you’ll carry an invisible magical marking that makes sure the armor won’t cause you to spontaneously combust when you wear it.”

“Oh.” Dream swallowed nervously. 

Deo snorted. “Jiyn’s making it out to be more than it is. We’ll be fine.”

“Speaking of which,” Jiyn turned to Techno, “we’re one person short and no one else from the Co-op is around.”

“Okay.” Techno just stared blankly. “What do you want me to do about that?”

Jiyn shrugged. “I don’t know, Mr. Famous, just wanted to make sure that you knew. If we fail I’m blaming it on you and your lack of friends.”

“You scheduled this! How is us missing a person my fault?”

Deo stepped between them. “We can worry about that if the time comes and we need help, but for now we should get Dream kitted up.”

The other three seemed to remember that he was there and also painfully unequipped. 

“Alright, Dream,” Technoblade rubbed his hands together eagerly, “stop me if you have a question.” He jumped into explaining everything, pointing out a new tab on Dream’s communicator that registered some maximum stats, namely: health, defense, strength, intelligence, and speed. “You’ll be able to feel the difference as soon as you put on this armor,” Techno said, passing him some white armor that at first looked like fabric, but was as strong as iron or even diamond. Dream took a few moments to don the armor, buckling all the clasps over his outfit and letting the green chlamys hang over the chestplate like Techno’s red cape was over his own yellow-almost-golden armor. 

As soon as an armor piece was fully on, Dream felt a few things happen. There was this sort of energy that hummed through his veins, singing with untold power. Mana was what Techno said it was, and he reassured Dream that he would become less sensitive to it over time. And Mana, Dream learned, was used to cast spells and perform other magical tasks, though he was also told he wouldn’t need to worry much about magic and the ‘intelligence’ stat much for now. For the strength and health stats, Dream just felt more full. He struggled with understanding how to explain the differences, but he knew instinctively that he would be able to take more hits than he would have in a normal world. Finally, they arrived at the speed stat and let Dream run around the small grassy clearing. Dream felt like he had taken a watered-down speed potion, though it didn’t feel as temporary as the potion would have, it simply felt as though he had more energy. Maybe like he had downed a large shot of espresso. 

Technoblade made an effort to show off his own speed, zooming around and muttering some remarks about a ‘speed cap’ ruining his dreams to break the sound barrier. Deo and Jiyn watched on, offering their own advice when they could. Dream did some parkour over the rocks, adjusting to the speed difference. 

“Okay, so we didn’t want you goin’ in totally useless,” Techno said after a few minutes of that, setting out a sword, bow, and the fishing rod in front of Dream, “so we’re gonna go through some minor things that should keep you out of trouble.” 

The sword and bow were pretty self-explanatory as Dream attached the sword’s sheath to his hip and the bow to a strap on his back. 

The rod, however, was something different. 

It was a grappling hook. 

Dream’s fingers were itching to try it out, so as soon as Techno paused to take a breath, he snatched it from the boulder and cast it into the treetops. 

Dream had expected it to function like a normal grappling hook, meaning that he needed to hook it onto something and then pull himself up. 

He had not expected the thing to launch him into the air after the hook and slam him into the trunk he had aimed for.

This display made the veterans start laughing from down below as they watched Dream slowly scale back down the tree, blushing and removing sticks from his hair. He rubbed the side of his face that had rammed the tree, and Techno chuckled, saying, “oh yeah, that’s gonna bruise.”

Dream glared at him. “You could have told me that it was going to catapult me after the hook.”

“Ah, but that would take away the slapstick humor, no?” Techno grinned. “You’re learnin’ on the job.”

Deo sighed. “We spoke with Techno about what armor and tools to give you by guessing what would benefit your style the most, for example the grappling hook is because you’re fast on your feet,” he paused, “...even though it might take you some time to get the hang of it. Plus, there’s one more thing we need to teach you about that armor set.”

“Hit me.” Dream said, missing the way Techno’s eyes lit up. 

Deo pointed at the bottom part of the set. “Spider’s boots, they allow you to double jump.”

“Woah.” Dream looked down at the white pieces of armor that looked somewhat like shin guards. They glimmered slightly with the tell-tale sign of an enchantment. “Double jump? That’s so cool.”

“You’re a parkourist, right?” Jiyn added, “you’ll be able to get pretty much anywhere with your skill, the boots, and the grappling hook.”

“You’ll be able to get to places you shouldn’t be too.” Techno said with a large smile. 

Dream appraised him suspiciously. “Why do I feel like you speak from experience?”

“Well,” Technoblade continued, unable to hide his pride, “after I hit the speed cap, I moved on to tacklin’ other impossible tasks in order to go even faster and farther, and I found that pairin’ the grapplin’ hook’s two-or-so second cool down with the jump boots cool down, you could hypothetically stay in the air forever.”

“Wait- you flew?”

Techno nodded, still grinning ear to ear. “I remember it bein’-”

“I remember other idiots trying to copy you, and throwing themselves off of cliffs only to die when they couldn’t fly,” Deo interjected with a laugh. 

“That was not my fault,” Techno explained immediately with some embarrassment. “Dream, don’t believe him. I’m a great influence.”

“Uh-huh.” Dream said, unconvinced but smiling. “So… how exactly does it work?”

“Try just jumping normally a few times, and then we’ll explain how the double jump function works.”

Dream hopped a few times, feeling nothing different other than being slightly humiliated over the fact that the other three were just staring at him.

“Okay?” He began, glancing down at the boots. “What do I do now?”

Jiyn was the one to explain, gesturing vaguely as he did, “the boots will be pulling from your Mana pool in order to function, so you’ll feel a little bit of magic go into the boots as you jump. The best way I can describe it is that you’ll feel like you’re pushing something with your feet while also having energy flow from the soles of the boots into the imaginary surface you’re pushing off from.”

Dream jumped again, but nothing happened. “That didn’t do anything.”

“Imagine that you landed on a trampoline,” Techno said, “and then it’ll function like a trampoline too where you’ll be flung upwards. Really try to believe that you’re going to land on a surface, the magic should do the rest for you.”

Dream narrowed his eyes and then tried again, but this time it actually worked. As he reached the peak of his jump, it suddenly felt like an electric charge had run from his feet into what did act like a trampoline as it rubber-banded down and then shot him up to twice the height as before. At the apex of the second jump, there was no trampoline this time, and instead, he fell to the ground. 

“Woah!” Dream said as he landed unceremoniously from the double jump and dropped into a crouch to lessen the impact. He was grinning though as he looked at the others, standing up happily and brushing the dust off his knees. 

The other three were clapping and Techno smiled at him. “You’ll get the hang of it quickly now that you know how it feels, and it’ll only become more natural as time goes on.”

“Feel free to mess around with it some more before we finish getting set up to enter,” Deo said as he attached a sword to his own hip. 

Dream nodded and then took a running leap down the path and did it again. This time the projectile motion of his jump made him continue going forward as he went double the distance of a normal jump and gently jogged to a full stop after landing. He found that stopping too quickly would cause him to stumble and taking two jumps directly upwards would probably end up hurting his knees more than anything. Instead, he practiced running into jumping in order to clear larger and larger gaps in the boulders. 

It was indescribably freeing to feel the wind blow through his hair as he flew from rock to rock. Faster and faster and higher and higher he climbed all the way up to the very top of the boulders. Upon reaching the peak, he let out a joyful whoop and examined the terrain around him. 

Tall pine trees surrounded the small clearing, causing the air to smell clean and fresh. Dream took a few deep breaths and felt an unnatural calm (unnatural in that he hadn’t felt this calm in forever) settle over him. How long had it been since he had just been allowed to exist in nature? To look at the trees, run over rocks, and just breathe.

Dream smiled, feeling the cold night breeze wrap around him like a hug as he stared at the moon. 

This. 

This was freedom. 

Exhaling a sigh, Dream looked fondly down at the other three who were messing around, roughhousing over a small green marble. They weren’t paying any attention to Dream at all. 

Dream’s heart rate picked up as his eyes darted unconsciously to the direction he knew led back into the city. 

The cave wasn't that far from the global portals that would allow him to leave Hypixel. With the grappling hook and the boots, he could get there within minutes. 

He was free. 

He was free to do whatever he wanted. 

(What did he want?)

If he wanted to, he could probably just up and disappear, escape Skyblock, and never have to see Technoblade or anyone else from the SMP ever again. Or, he could return to the SMP-

...but he didn’t want to. 

At that moment, something shifted within him. Before right then, the main reason for staying on Skyblock had been because he didn’t want to go back to the SMP.

Now?

He genuinely wanted to stay here, not under threat of something worse, but rather because he was enjoying it. This was fun, real fun that Dream hadn’t had in some time. 

Oh. 

Oh.

He was happy here. 

Dream’s smile faded into a frown as he realized how alien of a feeling that was. 

“Dream!” Techno called from below, interrupting his thoughts, “try using both the grapplin’ hook and the boots! Show us what you’ve got!”

“Got it!” He yelled, moving past the realization and grinning again, and prepared to jump. Aiming the rod at a distant evergreen branch, Dream took a few steps back and then ran forward, jumping and casting the line at a distant tree. He felt Mana pool in his shoes as he was propelled forward. His timing was correct too as at the halfway point he began to fall, and he used the boots to make up for the time it took him to reel in the hook and cast it again. This landing was considerably better than his first as Dream latched onto the tree and then pulled himself up onto the thick branch. 

Dream sat down on it, dangling his legs, and gave the group a proud little wave. “I’m like spiderman!” Techno snorted at his antics. 

TimeDeo looked at his communicator and said loudly so that Dream could hear too. “Okay, we’re up guys!”

Dream used the boots to slow his descent from the tall tree, doing a little hop halfway down to ease into the landing. Jiyn watched him, nodding encouragingly at the successful stunt. 

As the four walked to the entrance to the dungeon, Deo held up the green marble they had been messing with earlier. “Okay, last minute advice,” he said to Dream, “this is a Radiant Orb, they’re made for healing with an area-of-effect. We each have one, so if you’re low on health just find one of us or one of the Orbs, you’ll be able to tell when one is activated because it’ll expand and glow brightly.”

“Or, if you’re in a tough spot,” Jiyn said, “use those boots and the grappling hook to just yeet yourself away.”

Dream nodded, giving a thumbs up. “Sounds good.”

“Alright,” Techno said, swinging his sword experimentally, “enough lollygaggin’. Time to face the dungeon.”

They entered, and entering with them were a few others that Techno explained belonged to his Co-op, which was evidently just a sort of alliance here on Skyblock. Deo mentioned that everyone in the Co-op shared a bank vault to which Technoblade and Jiyn glared at him. 

TimeDeo held his hands up innocently. “I haven’t used Co-op funds since-”

“Since you spent them all on a flower Minion or Midas sword?” Jiyn supplied and Deo just sighed. 

Techno laughed at the display, “Dream, count yourself lucky that you don’t understand half of the things we say. Our knowledge is that of sad individuals who put way too much work into dumb things.”

Dream raised his eyebrows. “Like a war over potatoes?”

Technoblade looked like he was going to try and defend himself, but stopped and paused. Then, sheepishly, “yeah, like a war over potatoes.”

The entire conversation had taken place during their delve into the cave, though after Techno’s last comment the tunnel opened up into a large room with ornate columns and lit braziers lining it. A tapestry with a white eagle on a black and red background hung from an altar in the back and hovering in the center of the room was a figure that looked to be made completely of shadow, fluctuating somewhere in between physical and intangible. Dark red eyes appraised the group. Dream immediately tightened his grip on his sword and he saw Techno do the same. 

“Welcome, you have arrived right on time.” A terrifying smile appeared on the apparition’s ‘face’. “I am Livid, the Master of Shadows.” The ghostly shadow figure continued on to some sort of evil monologue that Dream barely listened to, looking over at his companions instead who also seemed to be uninterested in hearing anything this ‘Livid’ person had to say. Technoblade was the only one who seemed to be paying any sort of attention, but Dream knew the look on Techno’s face all too well. That idiot was literally just looking for something to make fun of. 

Dream would have been content to just hang out and wait for Livid to tire himself out on speaking, but everyone tensed as all of the braziers suddenly went out, plunging the room into momentary darkness. 

“I respect you for making it here, but I’ll be your undoing!”  

A charge ran through the room, sparkling over all of the braziers and lighting them, but as they gained their vision back, the group saw that the room was now filled with various undead creatures. 

“Now!” Deo cried, surging forward like a whip, impaling a zombie with his sword.

Techno sent Dream a friendly smile and then joined in himself. 

Dream would’ve liked to say that he contributed to the first fight, but he actually didn’t do much. Deo and Techno made quick work of all the small enemies and Jiyn quickly picked off Livid, Dream only offering some ranged support and laughing as Techno tore through everything in his path. 

At one point before Livid was defeated, he got into an argument with the group that Dream, again, didn’t listen to. It was something about puzzles and riddles, but it didn’t seem to matter when Jiyn struck down the boss and the shadowy figure fell to rest on the floor, stray tendrils of darkness fizzling out around him as he continued to berate the group. 

“The boss is still smack talkin’ us.” Techno laughed as everyone met up in the center of the room and then began looting it. 

“Yikes, imagine getting that wrong! You all look like real fools right now!”

Technoblade rolled his eyes as he pawed through some golden trinkets that Deo had found. “He says,” Techno looked pointedly at the decaying figure, “while lyin' dead on the floor over there.” 

Dream laugh-wheezed. 

The dungeon party made their way through a few more rooms, Dream getting to mess with the grappling hook and boots some more. The other three handled everything that came, never even falling into danger until at least four or five bosses in. However, the difficulty curve rose exponentially, and soon Dream saw Deo needing to retreat to a Radiant Orb and heal while Techno and Jiyn defended him. Dream met another one of the Co-op members, Stuffy, after they ended up fighting back-to-back against a bunch of creepers. 

Dream was at an advantage because of his mobility, though it was also entertaining to watch Technoblade bulldoze through most of his enemies without a second thought. 

Soon enough, the problem came not from the fact that the battles were difficult but more because each one was tedious. They were still able to win, but Dream could tell that everyone, himself included, was growing bored with the slow monotony. 

Finally, after a particularly long fight, Techno leaned against the stone wall of the catacombs they were exploring and sighed. “Jiyn?” He called questioningly, “you said we had a spot open?”

The hooded man nodded. “Yep, and another member would make this so much easier.”

Technoblade sighed again, muttering, “I suppose I could call him.”

“Who is ‘him’?” Dream asked and was ignored. 

“You can't be serious,” Deo said. “Don’t you hate each other?”

“We don’t actually hate each other, that was just for the meme.”

“And if he doesn’t answer?” Jiyn asked hesitantly. 

Techno blinked amusedly, taking out his comm. “Then I’ll call his parents.”

This earned a laugh from the other group members. 

TimeDeo and Jiyn left to try and figure out a puzzle door and some of the other Co-op members went off on their own to search some more of the tunnels. Techno moved to a corner and sat down on the floor, messaging someone with his communicator. Dream decided to join him. 

“Techno, who were you talking about inviting?” He asked, falling into a criss-cross beside the pig warrior. 

“Uh…” Technoblade laughed awkwardly, “an old rival.”

Dream raised his eyebrows, teasing, “are you replacing me?”

Which earned a hearty laugh from the other man. “No, no,” he said, “you’ve got it all wrong. If anything, you replaced him.” Techno shrugged, setting his comm aside for the second. “I’ve had many rivals over the years, none have defeated me.”

“So who’s my competition?”

“Competition?” Techno exclaimed, whipping to face Dream. 

“There can only be one true rival.”

Techno laughed, grinning, “you’ve got a long line of people to go through then. Maybe take it up with Skeppy.”

Dream looked up. “Skeppy?”

“Yeah,” Techno waved it off, “he and I are old friends… rivals, whatever.”

“But this rival, it’s not Skeppy, is it?”

“No,” Techno laughed. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

Well, if that wasn’t ominous. 

Deo and Jiyn returned, explaining that their puzzle door had been opened, but wanted to clear the next room with the full group. 

Dream and Techno remained on the cold marble floor of the main room, messing around and playing tic-tac-toe while they waited. Most of their games ended in ties, but it was just to pass the time. TimeDeo joined them, managing to pull a win over Techno after the latter had missed a very obvious X, which Dream had made fun of him for for ages. It ended up causing a conversation about whether or not Techno needed glasses. Dream did the very cliche: “how many fingers am I holding up?” as he walked around the room, testing out different distances. Techno was not amused. 

Though, Dream did get some laughs from Deo and Jiyn, so he counted it as a win. 

Eventually, “hello.” A head peeked into the room. 

Dream’s first impression of the other was that he was some sort of aquatic creature hybrid, and with a more comprehensive review of his physiognomy, Dream had to guess that he was part squid. 

Dream did not want to know how that happened. 

But he also wasn’t in a place to judge anyone else’s appearance. The man had a completely normal face that he still insisted on covering up with a mask most of the time.

The squid-man was also wearing a nice-looking suit, giving off the same vibe as Ranboo, who had worn a similar style to appear more serious- and therefore also to get people to take him more seriously.  

“Yoooo!” Deo called, waving at the new entry as he joined the group who were now going over plans in the center of the floor. 

“Sup, guys.” The squid-hybrid said, his voice with a very unique inflection, almost nasal-sounding even. 

And then Dream realized who the other was and was frankly surprised that it had taken him so long. 

This was the infamous- or famous, depending on who you’re talking to- Squidkid, who had dared to take on “The Blade” in a farming war of all things and had put up a respectable fight. But as far as Dream knew, it had seemed to have been the other way around, where Technoblade was the one to challenge Squid just for the hell of it, which, if Dream was being honest, was a consistent trait of the pig-man in general, going after things for his own enjoyment and pissing people off on the way. 

However, as Squid and Techno did a little side-hug, Dream saw no bad blood between the pair. Both of their eyes were lit up with some sacred sort of familiarity, bordering somewhere in between friendship and hatred. Dream saw how they immediately inspected the other as if they were preparing for a fight, but just as easily went in for their half-hug without concern. 

As Dream watched, waiting patiently for his own introduction that he knew the socially awkward Technoblade would eventually get to, he realized that Techno looked at Dream almost with the same emotion as he looked at Squid. 

What did that mean for his own relationship with Techno?

And this whole epiphany just contributed to the growing sense of peace within Dream. Although it was true that Techno had taken Dream to Skyblock with the intention of it being a second- albeit better- prison, it certainly was not that anymore. 

That inner peace disappeared as Dream remembered something. 

“The best kind of prisons are those you don’t want to leave.”

He suddenly worried how much of this had been real. 

Dream had to be careful. He was in a vulnerable position and had already noticed the parallels between his own experiences and those of the people he had manipulated, so some part of him, no matter how small or large, continued to whisper that Technoblade was lying, that none of his kindness had been genuine, that Techno was going to leave him as soon as-

But then, as Techno turned to him with a bright grin that Dream knew wasn’t faked in the slightest and waved him over to the group, his doubts faded slightly.

Dream smiled, filing that thought away for later, and walked up beside Techno, offering his hand to Squid. 

“Squid, this is Dream, you may know him from-”

“Know him!” Squidkid laughed, shaking Dream’s hand with vigor. “He’s more famous than you are, Techno!”

Techno frowned, but he laughed, saying sarcastically, “ow, my feelin’s.”

“I am more famous,” Dream said, blushing slightly and laughing as well, “and that makes me cooler than him.”

Technoblade’s jaw dropped as Squid instantly agreed, “oh yeah. I agree. Anyone who causes Technoblade pain is automatically cool.”

Dream narrowed his eyes for a second, then smiled, “you know, I think we’re going to get along very well.”

“Bruh.” Techno said, crossing his arms, “you’ve known each other for literal seconds and you’re already plottin’ my demise.”

Squid and Dream exchanged a mischievous look and then broke out into laughter. 

“Better watch your back, Techno,” Dream said with a grin as the group prepared to enter the next room of the dungeon. 

“Oh woe is me,” Technoblade said with his usual dry intonation, “I’m gonna be betrayed again. But I’m warnin’ you Dream, I’m goin’ to go on a villain arc.”

Dream just laughed. 

Their next battle consisted of facing off against a necromancer named Sadan who tried to fend off the party with slimy zombies that attempted to latch onto any player that got too close, which was what caused Dream to have to rip a decaying hand with an unusually firm grip from Squid’s arm. 

“Get this thing off of me!” 

Dream ran over and pulled the hand off with a distinct- and disgusting- ‘pop!’ that made them both cringe. 

“Thanks, Dream!” Squid said as he immediately turned to fight off another undead creature. Dream fell into step with the squid-hybrid as the pair massacred their way through the room. 

Dream was distracted when his eyes caught on Techno who seemed to be having a friendly conversation with Sadan. 

“Techno!” Dream blinked exasperatedly at his rival. “What the hell are you doing?”

Technoblade shrugged self-consciously. “You guys have got this epic battle handled, I’m tryin’ to hear what he’s tryin’ to say.”

And then Sadan laughed what Dream could only describe as a practiced villain-laugh and held out their hands, causing gigantic zombies to erupt from the floor. 

Dream watched as Techno lazily surveyed the room. “Oh no,” he said emotionlessly, “Sadan had summed his giants-” Deo cut down one by stabbing its Achilles tendon. “And it’s dead. Oh, but wait!-” Stuffy’s arrow found a zombie’s eye and it collapsed. “And it’s dead.”

Suddenly, Sadan himself grew two stories high, still laughing. 

“Oh no! Sadan is in his huge zombie form, how are we goin’ to-”

Dream readied his bow, only to find that Jiyn had already dispatched the boss. 

And there Techno was, standing in the middle of the room, not having moved a single inch the entire fight. 

“And... it’s dead.” Technoblade turned to him and grinned. 

“Did you do anything?”

“Nope!” Techno said happily as they journeyed to the next floor down a set of dark stairs. Dream just rolled his eyes. 

It was pretty calm after that, the dungeon leaning more towards puzzles than bosses, and most people split off onto their own. 

Dream and Technoblade had been wandering aimlessly when Squid’s voice called from the side, “hey, how do I do the teleport room?”

Techno smirked, following the sound of the voice and finding Squidkid standing at the start of a set of cells with iron bars. There was a strange design on the block in front of the bars that Dream assumed was one of the teleporters that Squid was struggling with. Techno strode up to him and stepped on the block, saying monotonously, “you are like a little baby, watch this,” and disappearing in a flash of green light. 

“I was sent all the way back!” Squid cried.

They heard Techno’s voice echo from behind the bars, “I will easily solve this.”

“No, I’m gonna beat you!” And suddenly Squid rushed forward, also disappearing on the teleporter, his face lit up with a huge smile. 

“I will easily solve this.” Techno repeated, laughing, and Dream moved up to the bars to watch and saw that within the main cell there were quite a few smaller ones that Squid and Techno were teleporting through, shoving each other back and forth while trying to be the first one to finish what had become a race. 

Techno laughed as he took a different teleporter than Squid, “it’s all coming together.”

The teleporter Squid had stepped on sent him back to the first one and he reappeared next to Dream. 

“HOW AM I BACK AT THE START?!” He turned to face Dream and sighed, “oh…”

Then they both looked through the bars and saw Technoblade in the center of the teleporter maze, smiling and waving at them as he pulled a huge ruby from the chest. “What did I tell you?”

“Oh my god!” Squid buried his head in his hands with mock despair. “I can never win!”

Techno just cackled loudly while Dream patted the other man on the back and whispered, “don’t worry we’ll get him back for this.”

Dream had to admit, it was highly amusing to watch Squid and Technoblade banter like there was no tomorrow, even though Squid usually bore the brunt of the jokes. Especially right before the final room when Squid had been looking down at a small device they had found in the caverns. 

Jiyn seemed to notice he was distracted and suddenly yelled, breaking out into a sprint, “last to the door sucks!”

Everyone but Squid ran ahead, reaching the large wooden doors at roughly the same time and turning around to see Squid behind them, huffing and puffing while shouting back, “Nooooo! No! Guys, I was looking at my Recombobulator!” 

Dream and the others laughed at Squidkid's complaints. 

TimeDeo had his hand on the handle when he abruptly pulled back, saying to the party, “okay this is it. This is the final boss. Are we ready?”

Everyone looked around at the others and nodded in consensus. Dream loaded an arrow while Techno and Jiyn prepared to go in first with their swords. Deo opened the door, letting out a loud, wooden creaking noise. The group slowly entered, herding together and making sure not to lose anyone. Techno was upfront and slowly began to break off from the main clump. 

“Ooo,” he said, “there’s a ledge up there. I’ll just use my ability to fly up to it and-”

Suddenly, Deo grabbed both Squid and Dream’s shirts and pulled them back, pressing a finger to his lips. They looked at him uncertainly as he led them over to hide behind a stairway at the side of the room, leaving Technoblade alone. 

Dream made a ‘what are you doing?’ face and gesture. 

Deo did the same finger-to-lips motion as before, urging them to be silent. 

A deep voice boomed through the cavern, introducing itself as Necron, and Techno joined it in conversation. Dream looked over at Deo who looked like he was trying not to start laughing. 

Okay, he was missing something here. 

Jiyn and Deo were both smiling like something great was about to happen and the rest of the Co-op seemed to have no interest in helping Techno. 

“Oh, wait,” Deo breathed, his smile widening. “Here we go.” He held up his fingers as he counted down quietly. 

“Three.”

Dream felt the room shake with the power of an earthquake, which he had learned came with summoning. 

“Two.”

“Hey, guys?” That was Techno’s hesitant voice. “Where did you go?”

Dream looked at Deo’s shit-eating grin. 

“One.” 

Thunder sounded through the room and suddenly they heard Techno scream. 

“Wait, I can’t fly!”

Jiyn, Deo, and Squid clamped hands over their mouths in a desperate attempt to disguise their laughter. 

Techno’s voice grew more panicked. “NOBODY TOLD ME THAT I CAN’T FLY!”

Dream started cracking up, finally realizing that it had been a prank. 

Appearing over the ledge and jumping down to them, Techno looked considerably worse for wear, an annoyed glare being directed at the group as he heaved deep breaths. “What are you all hanging out over here for?”

There wasn’t time to respond as Wither skeletons poured down from above, the entire party resorting to melee weapons for the time being as they killed wave after wave of the skeletons. 

Techno somehow still found time to yell at them though. “Were any of you guys going to mention that I can’t use abilities at any point?”

Deo grinned at him, “there’s no fun in that.”

“I’ll show you fun.” Techno shoved Deo into the center of the fighting and followed him. 

Dream offered some distanced support as he picked off Wither skeletons around the blood circle that had enveloped both Deo and Technoblade. Stuffy and some of the other Co-op members joined Dream on the higher floor and used their bows too. 

Squid was fighting beside Jiyn as they were almost overwhelmed by the sheer amount of skeletons surrounding them. Dream, once he saw that Techno and Deo got out fine- even if the latter was glaring at the other- began to help Jiyn and Squid out of the same situation. 

A few Wither skeletons eventually forced his group from their perch and Dream parkoured around some of the columns, staying mostly out of danger. 

Deo came and joined him, placing down a Radiant Orb and catching his breath as Dream watched the chaos below, using his bow to help as much as he could. Part of him wanted to go in guns blazing and do what Techno was doing, but then he remembered that Techno had just watched them all fight a few rooms ago and was content with letting Technoblade suffer from his own hubris. 

Jiyn was also fighting on the floor, but he had it easier than the pig-warrior who was completely alone and surrounded. “How are you still alive, Techno?” He shouted over the din. 

“He’s alive?” Deo questioned. 

Dream heard the breathy sort of strain in Techno’s voice that he knew was coming from humorous astonishment as he screamed back, “I’m at full health and I don’t know why!”

And suddenly Necron’s voice was ringing through their ears: “the age of men is over, we are creating hundreds of Withers-”

Technoblade interrupted, “CHILL OUT!!!”

More sounds of battle rang out around the room until they all heard Squid say, “over here! Jump down the hole!”

Squid disappeared down a newly formed gap in the floor. Deo and Jiyn quickly joined him as Dream turned to see Techno still struggling. 

He sighed, rushing over to the pig-warrior and helping him create a path to the hole. 

They didn’t have time to think, rushing forward and throwing themselves into the abyss in the hope that there was water to cushion their landing. Dream had the boots, but he knew that those wouldn’t save him, and he knew that Techno definitely didn’t have anything to save him. 

Luckily, they landed in an underground pond and swam to the edge together, desperately trying to calm their beating hearts. 

“Thanks,” Techno said breathlessly, removing his cloak and squeezing some water from it. “Thanks, Dream.”

“No... problem...” Dream said equally as out of breath. 

Techno’s eyes looked him up and down. “You look like a wet cat,” he commented. 

Dream glared, flicking some water from his hands, “I feel like a wet cat.”

“What does that even mean?”

Dream opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by a scream from Squid of: “Wither!”

“Shit.” Dream and Techno exchanged a glance and then rushed to help their friends. 

The cave they had fallen into consisted of a few small ponds and was filled with huge stalagmites and stalactites that dripped more gross, slimy water onto the floor of the cave. There was a large lava-lake in the center of the room and in the center of the lake was a raised dais where the other members of their party were fighting what appeared to be an augmented Wither of some sort that they came to learn was Necron’s true form. 

Dream and Techno remained part of the auxiliary force, using their bows to distract Necron while also keeping themselves safe and healing next to Techno’s Radiant Orb. Dream could tell that Technoblade was still weakened from his solo-fighting in the above room, so he stuck close beside him. 

“Don’t worry, guys,” Techno laughed, landing a shot to one of Necron’s heads, “I’ll provide bow support.”

“YOU CAN’T SHOOT IT!”

Dream and Techno shared a look. 

“Oh, then what were we doing then?” Dream smiled and let another arrow fly anyway, which was the finishing shot as Necron exploded into charcoal dust. Techno gave him a fist bump, smiling softly. 

Dream’s smile was bright and was easily the largest one since leaving the prison, and he couldn’t be happier as the group reconvened, sharing all of the loot among them. 

Deo, Jiyn, and the rest of the Co-op offered congratulations to Dream for completing his first dungeon while Squid exchanged contact information with him, saying how he wanted to take the other on an island tour. Dream couldn’t help blushing at some of the praise and he eagerly gave Squidkid his communicator’s number, bashing Techno’s poor introduction to Skyblock that Squid promised to rectify sometime soon.  

As they used some ropes to belay back up to the top of the cavern, Deo got word about their success, shouting to the group, “S Plus!”

“Yoooo!” Techno said, smiling down at his own communicator message reading the same. He bumped Dream’s shoulder. “Best clear rating!”

Dream cheered, pumping his fist into the air, “let’s go!”

“Great job, Dream!” Deo and Jiyn sung, grinning, and Squidkid gave him an animated thumbs up with a parallel smile. 

Techno wrapped an arm around Dream’s shoulders, looking over at him. “So, Skyblock huh? Having fun?”

It went so fast that Dream didn’t even realize that he hadn’t flinched when he had been touched that time.

“Definitely!” Dream grinned at his rival, laughing, and mirrored Techno, resting his hand on Techno’s shoulder too. 

They and the party made their way back into the moonlight, giggling about the stupidest things and playing like they were kids.

Chapter Text

“Have you seen Tubbo?” Ranboo asked, pulling a black and yellow striped sweater over Michael’s head as the young piglin snorted through the fabric, giggling. 

“No,” Tommy responded easily, “I have not seen Tubbo.”

There was an awkward silence. Michael sneezed. 

“We both know where he is, don’t we.” It was said more as a statement than the question it should have been as Ranboo let out a heavy sigh. 

Tommy just crossed his arms, offering no confirmation and staring at the floor, even though both of them knew the truth. 

“Would you-” Ranboo looked up at Tommy from where he was kneeling beside Michael, “would you mind... getting him?”

This time it was Tommy who sighed. “No problem, big man. I’ll grab ‘im.”

It was early morning in Snowchester, the icicles hanging from the Beloved household’s roofs only just beginning to melt. The door creaked open as Tommy made his way outside, a billowing breath of steam announcing his presence to the cold air. Little droplets of freezing water falling from the icicles hit his cheeks and served to wake Tommy up as he descended the steps into the snow that almost reached mid-shin. Under his breath, he complained about the weather, he complained about the icy water falling from the eaves, he complained about his worn boots that offered no escape from the cold... but most of all he complained about Tubbo. 

Well, ‘about Tubbo’ probably wasn’t the best way to describe it. The truth was that Tommy complained for Tubbo because none of this was fair. Ranboo and Tommy both knew where Tubbo was, because for the past week and a half if you were looking for Tubbo, chances were that he was in his vault. 

And if that didn’t rub Tommy the wrong way too. 

Vaults were never good memories. Sure, the final control room hadn’t been a vault per se, but then Techno’s first vault had brought back that memory, and of course, Techno’s second vault only served to drive the motif home into Tommy’s brain that vaults were always bad.

He should’ve known something bad was going to happen in Pandora’s Vault too. 

(But don’t think about that- don’t think about your death- don’t think about that black box- or how much it hurt- or-)

Plus, just going off of the obsessive way Tubbo had been seen pacing his own vault which was filled to the brim with armor and supplies, Tommy could tell that his theory was only going to be proven right once again. 

And that was his problem, wasn’t it? Tommy scoffed. He knew things. He was smart, he knew that, but time and time again he would mess up. Something would go wrong and future Tommy would end up kicking himself over it because he had known it was going to be a bad idea. He was just a kid, it wasn't like he was supposed to have great impulse control! Even the good memories had been poisoned; there was nothing left he could look back on as purely a good memory. One moment after the next after the next where Tommy should’ve acted differently, spinning round and round in his brain in a symphony of guilt and horror. 

Why was he so stupid?

He couldn’t think positive things about himself, because he knew they weren’t true. He couldn't fool himself into positivity like he had before all of this had come crashing down. That youthful innocence and naivety was completely gone. His devil-may-care attitude now was a mask. It was a protection against the world; it was who he wanted to be again. 

And he couldn’t think negative things about himself either, because those thoughts would always inevitably end up sounding like what Dream used to tell him. They were always soaked in self-loathing yet so full of neediness, and Tommy always hated them. 

(Sometimes, he wondered if this was how Techno had felt. Viewing everything, including himself, in terms of use and only use. What he could give, what he could take. Being so fiercely independent, but also so heavily dependent on what others were to him.)

(Dream had used him like some sort of sick toy.)

(But Tommy had played into Dream’s game. He had pushed and shoved so hard that the world had shaped to his own whims, making him the hero he never wanted to be, but looking back, he could see how every choice had brought him to this point.)

The outside air was significantly colder than the air within the vault, though the air outside was also more humid. As Tommy walked down the stairs into the deep dark, it was cold and dry, and he jumped a few times to get the snow off of his coat and rubbed his hands together to regain some warmth. 

Tommy knocked gently on the stone wall before entering and seeing Tubbo sitting criss-cross applesauce against the back wall of the dimly lit room, staring directly at the entryway with bloodshot eyes. Beside him, hanging on an armor stand, was Dream’s netherite gear.

It glittered and glowed at Tommy, the energy of strong enchantments flowing through the cracks and dents adorning the metal, some of which Tommy knew had come from his own sword and axe. 

It almost looked as if Tubbo was guarding the armor, though his position seemed to be more watchful than defensive. His eyes were drifting, lacking any sort of real focus as Tubbo observed Tommy’s approach. 

Tommy walked forward and joined Tubbo on the floor, sitting facing his friend. The stone brick floor was cold, the sort of cold that sunk through any textile defense directly into one’s bones. 

“Tubbo?” Tommy tilted his head at the other boy. “You alright?”

Tubbo took a long moment to shrug, then said simply, “I would say yes, but I think at this point, the only possible answer left is no.”

They were silent for a bit. 

“Ranboo misses you,” Tommy said softly. “Michael misses you.”

I miss you went unsaid. 

Tubbo did not respond. 

“Sitting around waiting for something to happen isn’t going to-”

And then Tubbo broke. 

“I know that, Tommy!” He ran his hands through his hair. “I know, but how are you not scared about-”

Tommy’s eyes widened. He had no idea that this was what Tubbo thought. “Tubbo, I-” Tommy took a breath, “I’m fucking terrified. It’s been a week and a half and neither of them have shown up.”

Tubbo fell back against the wall and closed his eyes. “I just wish they would do something. The suspense is killing me. If they’re going to kill us then…” the words died in his throat. 

“I wish they’d just do it already,” Tommy finished. 

Tubbo laughed quietly. “I had dreams, you know,” he suddenly confessed, “right when Dream was first locked up.”

Bringing his knees up to his chest, Tommy just waited. 

“Dream would always tell me that he was going to escape in them, and he would laugh when I tried to say otherwise.” Tubbo’s eyes wandered the vault’s walls. “He said that no matter what, he was going to escape Pandora’s Vault, and this armor,” Tubbo rapped his knuckle on the netherite metal beside him, “was the first thing he was going to come for.” He leaned forward and rested his chin on a closed fist. “Those dreams would always end with him slitting my throat and letting me watch as he took the armor. I remember-” Tubbo smiled mirthlessly, “I remember that every time, he would stop at the door, turn around, and then smile at me as I bled out on the floor.”

Tommy remained silent, what was he supposed to say to that?

He had his own nightmares to deal with concerning Dream, cold ones, where he was back in the ice-hot burning grasp of death as Dream hit him again and again-

“Recently, after he got out,” Tubbo continued, “the nightmares changed so that it was everyone else but me dying while I just watched.” His head dropped into his hands. “Tommy.” Tubbo’s voice was serious. “He killed you.”

They sat in silence just listening to the distant sound of the arctic winds blow past upstairs. 

“But I’m here, Tubbo,” Tommy said softly, “I’m still here.”

“You’re still here,” Tubbo echoed. 

Sometimes Tommy wondered if people really believed that. Ever since he had ‘died’ and then returned from the dead, everyone had been treating him differently, even Tubbo and Ranboo who had begun to act like he was made of glass. 

Well, Ranboo had been acting even stranger than that. 

It was almost like he couldn’t look at him, because every time he did, overwhelming guilt would fill his expression and he would look away. 

The people who could bear to look at him always looked at him with pity and he hated it. 

He didn’t want pity. 

He didn’t want to be the hero. 

He wanted to be Tommy. Just Tommy. 

If he could escape this whole place, he probably would. What Tommy wouldn’t give for just a moment of peace in a place far far away from Dream, where he would never even have to worry about seeing that green bitch who had ruined his life one more time. 

“Oh good,” Ranboo’s voice echoed down the stairs as Tommy abruptly turned around to see the enderman-hybrid entering the vault carrying Michael at his hip, “you two are in here.”

“Still here, bossman,” Tubbo said, yawning and blinking sleep from his eyes. “I couldn’t sleep last night.”

And that was strange too, Ranboo had always been the one with sleep problems- with his supposed sleepwalking issue- but ever since Dream had escaped, Tubbo had been the one losing sleep. If anything, Ranboo had seemed less stressed since the bastard had escaped. 

Ugh, Tommy groaned internally, everything was just so fucked up. He had been planning on breaking into the prison himself, not with the intention of breaking Dream out, of course, but killing the prisoner instead. But now that wasn’t going to happen, his hesitance had cost them everything. 

If he had found Ghostbur sooner…

No, because thinking of ‘what-ifs’ would only cause him to lose himself yet again into one of those holes of self-loathing and doubt. And if that happened, Dream had already won, and if there was one thing that Tommy was going to make sure happened: it was that Dream was never going to win again. 

Tommy wasn’t going to let him hurt anyone else, no matter the cost. 

“Are you alright?” Ranboo asked, reading the room. 

Tommy shrugged. “Just discussing bitch boy and figuring out how we can kill him before he kills us.”

Confusion flickered in Ranboo’s eyes for a second, and then understanding. “Dream?”

“Yeah, of course it's Dream,” Tommy said, standing back up. “There is only one major criminal on the loose right now that wants us dead.”

“Two,” Tubbo added, raising himself as well, “if we’re counting Technoblade.”

Both Ranboo and Tommy hesitated at that one. 

Sam had finally announced to the server a few days ago that Technoblade was also presumed to be working with Dream and should be approached with the same caution. Neither of the pair had shown their faces since the break-in, and from a little digging, Tommy found out from Ranboo that Techno hadn’t even told Phil what was going on. 

Yet…

Tommy still hesitated to call Techno an enemy. 

He wanted to. He certainly felt fear while thinking about his not-quite-brother-figure working with the masked tyrant, but it wasn’t fear of what Techno would do to him. 

Somehow, Tommy just couldn’t imagine Techno going after revenge at this point and didn’t know why he couldn’t. 

It made sense for the pig-man, it was in character for the guy to go out and kill people who had wronged him- and who knows what Dream’s been telling him to get him completely on his side- but it had been a week and a half.

And nothing. 

Not a single thing had come of it. 

Most people were convinced that Dream and Techno were biding their time, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. 

Not Tommy. 

Honestly, he didn’t know what they were doing. 

Techno was never the type to delay the inevitable... but Dream on the other hand might be the one pulling the strings at the moment. 

And that was what Tommy was afraid of. 

He was worried for Technoblade and he hated himself for it. He hated that he was worried about the man who had helped him, hurt him, and everything else in between. Their relationship was rocky, complicated beyond belief, but somehow, Tommy still cared about him. 

Because despite Doomsday, despite Pogtopia and The Pit, when Tommy had felt like the entire world had abandoned him, Techno had been the only one who was there for him. Techno had treated him with a kindness he didn’t deserve. 

People often saw Technoblade as some infallible warrior- and Tommy understood, he really did because he had used to be one of those people- but now… now Tommy knew the truth. Even Techno had his soft spots. Techno had his own Achilles heel. 

And it was one that didn’t make sense for the pessimistic, violent anarchist. 

(Not unless you looked closer.)

See, when Tommy had been holed up beneath Technoblade’s house, their proximity had forced them to learn more things about each other than either had wanted. 

Such as the fact that Tommy now knew Techno snored. Loudly.

Techno knew that Tommy had nightmares. 

Tommy learned that Techno used more hair conditioner than anyone else he had ever known. 

And Techno found out that Tommy’s favorite dish was mashed potatoes, chicken, and baby peas. (And proceeded to make this meal whenever he thought Tommy was having a bad day.)

The most important thing that had stuck in Tommy’s mind, however, was Technoblade’s view on anarchy. 

Yeah, everyone knew the pig-warrior was an anarchist, but Tommy knew more than that. While one might at first assume that Techno was out for chaos, that simply wasn’t true.

Yes, Techno enjoyed chaos sometimes, but Tommy knew that that true disorganization would drive him up the wall. (Tommy had been chaotic too- well, Tommy was still chaotic- so he knew that Techno grew tired of pure chaos very easily.) Techno liked peace and safety, and he liked competition and chaos, but most of all he also liked balance.

When Tommy once asked Techno to explain the concept of a society that functioned on anarchy, Tommy had learned Techno’s fatal flaw. 

And out of all the things in the world, his one weakness was trust.

In Techno’s view of anarchy, it was all about self-sufficiency and self-responsibility. In anarchy, there was trust.

Because deep down, all Technoblade wanted to do was trust people. To be able to give everything to others and know that when the time comes, they’ll have his back too. 

Not because of laws, not because of a government. 

But because they are good people who do good things for others- who function on their own moral code and are willing to stand up for it, just like Techno. 

That was why government laws always seemed too forceful to Techno. Laws made people appear good yet did nothing to speak on someone’s actual morals. Anarchy, on the other hand, showed who people really were underneath the mask of societal bias and conformity. 

And in that natural, anarchistic state, Techno wanted to find people who were truly good. 

People who he could trust.

And throwing aside whether it was true or not, from Technoblade’s perspective, Tommy had thrown away this trust. 

And that had hurt both of them. 

(Tommy wanted that trust back.)

“Yeah,” Tommy muttered softly, “and Technoblade.”

Ranboo glanced between them and pressed his lips together, a crease of concern running across his forehead. “I think… I don’t think we need to worry about Technoblade or Dream.”

Tubbo jumped to argue, but Ranboo continued, bouncing Michael on his hip, “like… just think about it,” he said logically, “they’re both missing, and haven’t shown any desire to return… so maybe… maybe they’re just not coming back?” His words grew considerably more doubtful at the end, his last statement ending like a question.