Just a heads up, there are bots going around on AO3 accusing people of using AI. Considering the timing, this is likely AI bros' retaliation for AO3 users calling them out for scraping their work. Examples of what you might be sent:
Screenshots from here.
If you get a comment like this, just report for spam and delete.
This happened to me on Monday! Just to note, they seem to be using the usernames of real AO3/Tumblr users, which is creepy and upsetting, and also a weird way to sow discord in our communities.
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sorry if i’m being a party pooper but because rabies is apparently the new joke on here ??? please remember that rabies has an almost 100% fatality rate after symptoms develop so if you’re bitten or scratched by an animal that you aren’t 100% sure is vaccinated then GO TO A DOCTOR. it’s not a joke. really.
You’re being kind when you say “almost 100% fatality”. What people need to hear is: if you get to develop rabies symptoms, you’re dead. If you get heavy treatment after developping symptoms, you still need a miracle. Like, a real miracle, you should enter some religion if you escape that.
ALSO, I don’t want people feeling confident about petting stray/wild animals because there’s a vaccine available, either. I’ll explain why from my own experience (I’m not a doctor).
I got bitten by a wild tamarin once, on the pulp of my index finger. It drew blood, there are many wild animals in the area (tamarins, possums, bats, foxes) and it isn’t that uncommon to hear about 1 or 2 rabies cases every now and again (a puppy we gave to a friend got it, for instance), so I went to an ambulatory immediately.
Because I was bitten in an ultrasensitive area, I needed fast treatment. But it was also a small area, so the usual thing they do - inject the vaccine in the place - wasn’t a choice. They told me they’d divide the shot in 5 small ones, and inject me all over my body, so the antidote would get to my entire system fast.
Please stop for a moment and think that the disease is so worrysome that they’d rather needle me all over than to give me one shot and wait until it spread through my system.
Then they said that, okay, but there was a catch first. I needed to take an antiallergic shot. “Why?” “Because the virus is devastating, and as the vaccine is made from it, but weakened (like almost every vaccine) it will still create a reaction, and it’s a strong one, and it’s veru common for people to have strong allergic reactions to it.” YOU HAVE TO TAKE AN ANTIALLERGIC SHOT IN ORDER TO TAKE THE VACCINE COZ THE VACCINE COULD POTENTIALLY MAKE YOU REALLY SICK
ALSO IT WASN’T JUST “A LITTLE ANTIALLERGIC SHOT”
IT WAS ONE OF THESE FUCKERS HERE.
It was OBVIOUSLY dripped in my body and not injected because HAHAHAHA. Truth be told I was an adult already and I’m tall so I have a lot of mass but STILL.
So after I had taken the antiallegic and was starting to feel drowsy (as a side effect of it) the doctor came with the 5 shots.
- One in each buttock
- One in each thigh
- One in my left arm
They all stung like a bitch and I usually don’t care about shots.
“Okay so can I go home now?”
“No, we have to keep you under observation for 2h so we’re SURE the vaccine won’t give you any reaction.”
BINCH I WAS GIVEN A BUTTLOAD OF MEDICINE BUT THERE WAS STILL A RISK.
I slept through the two hours and then was liberated to go home. My legs, butt, and left arm hurt all over, like I had been punched there, for a few days. I also had a fever (not feverish, a fever)
BUT DID YOU THINK IT WAS OVER?
WRONG!!!
I had to take four reinforcement shots in the next month, one a week, so I could be positively be considered immunized. Every time I took a shot, my arm would swell and hurt like it’d been hit, and when night came I’d have a fever. Because that’s how fucking strong the vaccine is, BECAUSE THAT’S HOW VICIOUS THE VIRUS IS.
So yeah. DO NOT PUT YOURSELF IN RISK, GODDAMNIT. Rabies is a rare condition all over, THANK GOD, and 1 confirmed case can be already considered a surge and a reason for mass campaigning, AND FOR A REASON.
If you like messing with stray/wild animals, don’t go picking them up and be extra careful. Or just, like, DON’T - call a vet or an authority that can handle them safely.
I must add that I live in a country with universal healthcare, so I didn’t pay a single penny for my treatment. Is this your reality? If not, ONE MORE REASON TO NOT FUCKING PLAY WITH THIS SHIT.
Rabies is 100% lethal. Period. If you are scratched or bitten by an animal you’re not positive is vaccinated, you need to find treatment NOW. And probably go through all that shit I’ve been through (also if you are immunosupressed? I DON’T KNOW WHAT’D HAPPEN)
Guys, I know this isn’t art nor anything like that, but I’ve been hearing about this rabies thing and ???? Look I trust none of you would risk yourselves like this, but maybe you can educate someone through my experience and stuff.
Also rabies does not necessarily cause frothing-at-the-mouth aggression in animals. Docility is also a very common symptom so any wild animal that is ‘friendly’ or ‘likes to be pet’ is suspect. Literally any wild animal is a vector.
Finally, you don’t need to be bitten. All you need is to come into contact with an infected animal’s bodily fluids through a cut that maybe you didn’t notice when you were handling it when it drooled on you.
Infection with the rabies virus progresses through three distinct stages.
Prodromal: Stage One. Marked by altered behavioral patterns. “Docility” and “likes to be pet” are very common in the prodromal stage. Usually lasts 1-3 days. An animal in this stage carries virus bodies in its saliva and is infectious.
Excitative: Stage Two. Also called “furious” rabies. This is what everyone thinks rabies is–hyperreacting to stimuli and biting everything. Excessive salivation occurs. Animals in this stage also exhibit hydrophobia or the fear of water; they cannot drink (swallowing causes painful spasms of the throat muscles), and will panic if shown water. Usually lasts 3-4 days before rapidly progressing into the next stage.
Paralytic: Stage Three. Also called “dumb” rabies. As the infection runs its course, the virus starts degrading the nervous system. Limbs begin to fail; animals in this stage will often limp or drag their haunches behind them. If the animal has survived all this way, death will usually come through respiratory arrest: Their diaphragm becomes paralyzed and they stop breathing.
And to add onto the above, saliva isn’t the only infectious fluid. Brain matter is, too. If, somehow, you find yourself in possession of a firearm and faced with a rabid animal, do not go for a head shot. If you do, you will aerosolize the brain matter and effectively create a cloud of infectious material. Breathe it in, and you’ll give yourself an infection.
When I worked in wildlife rehabilitation, I actually did see a rabid animal in person, and it remains one of the most terrifying experiences of my life, because I was literally looking death in the eyes.
A pair of well-intentioned women brought us a raccoon that they thought had been hit by a car. They had found it on the side of the road, dragging its hind legs. They managed–somehow–to get it into a cat carrier and brought it to us.
As they brought it in, I remember how eerily silent it was. Normal raccoons chatter almost constantly. They fidget. They bump around. They purr and mumble and make little grabby-hands at everything. Even when they’re in pain, and especially when they’re stressed. But this one wasn’t moving around inside the carrier, and it wasn’t making a sound.
The clinic director also noticed this, and he asked in a calm but urgent voice for the women to hand the carrier to him. He took it to the exam room and set it on the table while they filled out some forms in the next room. I took a step towards the carrier, to look at our new patient, and without turning around, he told me, “Go to the other side of the room, and stay there.”
He took a small penlight out of the drawer and shone it briefly into the carrier, then sighed. “Bear, if you want to come look at this, you can put on a mask,” he said. “It’s really pretty neat, but I know you’re not vaccinated and I don’t want to take any chances.”
And at that point, I knew exactly what we were dealing with, and I knew that this would be the closest I had ever been to certain death. So I grabbed a respirator from the table and put it on, and held my breath for good measure as I approached the table. The clinic director pointed where I should stand, well back from the carrier door. He shone the light inside again, and I saw two brilliant flashes of emerald green–the most vivid, unnatural eyeshine I had ever seen.
“I don’t know why it does it,” the director murmured, “but it turns their eyes green.”
“What does?” one of the women asked, with uncanny, unintentionally dramatic timing, as she poked her head around the corner.
“Rabies,” the director said. “The raccoon is rabid. Did it bite either of you, or even lick you?” They told us no, said they had even used leather garden gloves when they herded it into the carrier. He told them to throw away the gloves as soon as possible, and steam-clean the upholstery in their car. They asked how they should clean the cat carrier; they wanted it back and couldn’t be convinced otherwise, so he told them to soak it in just barely diluted bleach.
But before we could give them the carrier back, we had to remove the raccoon. The rabid raccoon.
The clinic director readied a syringe with tranquilizers and attached it to the end of a short pole. I don’t remember how it was rigged exactly–whether he had a way to push down the plunger or if the needle would inject with pressure–but all he would have to do was stick the animal to inject it. And so, after sending me and the women back to the other side of the room, he made his fist jab.
He missed the raccoon.
The sound that that animal made on being brushed by the pole can only be described as a roar. It was throaty and ragged and ungodly loud. It was not a sound that a raccoon should ever make. I’m convinced it was a sound that a raccoon physically could not make.
It thrashed inside the carrier, sending it tipping from side to side. Its claws clattered against the walls. It bellowed that throaty, rasping sound again. It was absolutely frenzied, and I was genuinely scared that it would break loose from inside those plastic walls.
Somehow, the clinic director kept his calm, and as the raccoon jolted around inside the cat carrier, he moved in with the syringe again, and this time, he hit it. He emptied the syringe into its body and withdrew the pole.
And then we waited.
We waited for those awful screams, that horrible thrashing, to die down. As we did, the director loaded up another syringe with even more tranquilizer, and as the raccoon dropped off into unconsciousness, he stuck it a second time with the heavier dose. Even then, it growled at him and flailed a paw against the wall.
More waiting, this time to make sure the animal was truly down for the count.
Then, while wearing welder’s gloves, the director opened the door of the carrier and removed the raccoon. She was limp, bedraggled, and utterly emaciated, but she was still alive. We bagged up the cat carrier and gave it to the women again, advising them that now was a good time to leave. They heeded our warning.
I asked if I could come closer to see, and the clinic director pointed where I could stand. I pushed the mask up against my face and tried to breathe as little as possible.
He and his co-director–who I think he was grooming to be his successor, but the clinic actually went under later that year–examined the raccoon together. Donning a pair of nitrile gloves, he reached down and pulled up a handful, a literal fistful, of the raccoon’s skin and released it. It stayed pulled up.
Severe dehydration causes a phenomenon called “skin tenting”. The skin loses its elasticity somewhat, and will be slow to return to its “normal” shape when manipulated. The clinic director estimated that it had been at least four or five days since the raccoon had had anything to eat or drink.
She was already on death’s doorstep, but her rabies infection had driven her exhausted body to scream and lunge and bite.
Because, the scariest thing about rabies (if you ask me) is the way that it alters the behavior of those it infects to increase chances of spreading.
The prodromal stage? Nocturnal animals become diurnal–allowing them to potentially infect most hosts than if they remained nocturnal.
The excitative stage? The infected animal bites at the slightest provocation. Swallowing causes painful spasms, so they drool, coating their bodies in infectious matter. A drink could wash away the virus-charged saliva from their mouth and bodies, so the virus drives them to panic at the sight of water.
(The paralytic stage? By that point, the animal has probably spread its infection to new hosts, so the virus has no need for it any longer.)
Rabies is deadly. Rabies is dangerous. In all of recorded history, one person survived an infection after she became symptomatic, and so far we haven’t been able to replicate that success. The Milwaukee Protocol hasn’t saved anyone else. Just one person. And even then, she still had to struggle to gain back control of her body after all that nerve damage.
Rebloggin’ for that raccoon. o.o The original post I can pretty much guarantee is a troll, but it’s useful to know just why rabies is such serious shit.
Extra reminder: If you see any animal other than a dog who’s been attacked by a porcupine? It’s rabid.
Dogs are dumb, friendly fucks who will investigate anything; everything else in the animal kingdom knows better than to mess with a porcupine, unless their brain is being ravaged by something beyond their control.
If you see a non-dog animal that has porcupine quills sticking out of it? Don’t try to help it yourself. Call animal control.
@talesfromtreatment @is-the-cat-video-cute tagging you to spread the word? Apparently people have forgotten that rabies is a brain disease, terrifying, is fatal if not treated immediately, the treatment is horrid, and the treatment is very expensive
Also I heard that in the USA, human rabies pre-exposure vaccines are not widely available and cost something like $900
Get your pets rabies vaccine every year, folks. Aside from everything else - and that’s a lot of everything - the test for rabies involves the brain, so the animal will be killed first.
And that is a kind end. The videos of rabies seizures are nightmarish
This is also why you’re not supposed to sleep outside without cover (ie a CLOSED tent) if there are swooping bats in your area. Apparently it can be very hard to realize you’ve been bitten by a bat (vs a bug, I guess it’s very small). Some students from my university were on a trip where they came into contact with bats, taking lots of selfies holding them etc, in the area they were supposed to be sleeping and the professor lost it when they saw some of the pictures. The students were housed elsewhere and the university had everyone vaccinated at the school’s expense- the pre-exposure vax may be expensive, but the number of shots you get post-exposure can vary (as demonstrated above) and it was ASTRONOMICAL.
When I looking for places to move to when I can finally leave the states, I looking to laws and procedures to bring my cat with. Any place that had eradicated rabies, intense policies and quarantines for any animal entering the country, unless you were coming from a different place that had also eradicated it. Some of would put your animal down if they were symptomatic at all. I remember thinking “what can’t rabies just treated?” No it can’t be, putting your pet down is the humane option if there symptomatic.
[image: a sixty-milliliter syringe, with human hand for scale. the syringe barrel is likely around five inches long and likely has an inside diameter of an inch or more.]
When I talk to my students about Louis Pasteur and the development of vaccines, I *have* to talk about rabies.
Do you know why “dog catcher” was such a serious occupation? Because in the late 1800s rabies ran rampant in urban street dogs. Because people who got bitten by street dogs… had probably just gotten a death sentence.
As a child, Louis Pasteur watched a man from his hometown die slowly, painfully, and unstoppably from rabies from a rabid wolf bite and it stuck with him so hard that when he grew up he put his own life on the line studying and working with rabid animals to develop a treatment. (Louis Pasteur’s wife, Marie Pasteur, was also a talented, passionate scientist who worked uncredited by his side. Many of their daughters also took up research.)
When Louis Pasteur did his first human test of his rabies vaccine, it was because a mother came to him desperate. Her 8 year old son had been bitten 14 times by a street dog. Doctors were certain he was going to die. She’d heard what Pasteur was working on and begged him to try to save her son.
He tried.
It worked.
This made national news. This made GLOBAL news.
And in the small Russian town of Beloi, locals read about this miracle cure. Their town had been attacked by a rabid wolf and twenty two people had been bitten. They knew these people were going to die. So the bitten people set off walking, carrying the most injured. They walked for weeks to get to France, where Pasteur was based.
When they arrived, the only French word they knew was “Pasteur.” Their cases were dangerously far along, possibly too far. Pasteur began treatment anyway, pushing with the most aggressive dosages he dared.
This also caught global attention. The world waited on tenterhooks.
Pasteur’s vaccine saved 19 out of 22.
The world was awed.
And when those Russian villagers returned home, to their families, it would have been like seeing the dead return.
Rabies is such a terrifying and serious threat that it has shaped our cultures for centuries. The rabies vaccine is quite possibly the most important human invention since agriculture.
Vaccinate your pets.
Don’t touch wildlife.
Of lesser importance, read Rabid: A Cultural History of the World’s Most Diabolical Virus by Murphy & Wasik.
Reblogging this because apparently the antivax brainrot has started to extend to pet owners wondering if their pets really need rabies vaccines, because they’re now concerned their pets are going to get autism as well. (I wish I was joking, but according to an Ars Technica article, 37% of polled pet owners are genuinely this stupid.)
Get your pets vaccinated, and if you know any pet owners who are antivaxxers, maybe keep your pets away from theirs.
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Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 崩坏：星穹铁道 | Honkai: Star Rail (Video Game)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Long | The Permanence & Dan Heng, Long | The Permanence & Vidyadhara Characters, Akivili | The Trailblaze & Long | The Permanence
Characters: Long | The Permanence (Honkai: Star Rail), Dan Heng (Honkai: Star Rail), Akivili | The Trailblaze (Honkai: Star Rail), Vidyadhara Characters (Honkai: Star Rail)
Additional Tags: Parental Long | The Permanence, Vidyadhara Lore and Worldbuilding (Honkai: Star Rail), Original Vidyadhara World, Mentioned Pom-Pom (Honkai: Star Rail), Mentioned Yaoshi | The Abundance, Mentioned Aeons, Astral Express (Honkai: Star Rail), Implied Multiple Astral Expresses, Implied mental illness, Not with Long or Dan Heng or the Vidyadhara, Vidyadhara Are Dragons, title and summary make this seem a lot worse than it is, Fluff
Series: Part 1 of We Kept Pressing Through
Summary:
Long knew even before they were a realized thought THEY would lose a hatchling to the cosmos. THEY hadn't expected it to be so soon let alone one of THEIR first hatchlings. Every second is worth the loss that is to come and Long will ensure it is Remembered no matter what is to come.
This one takes place in the same AU as Misunderstandings, though several years before that one. If you want more information, you should be able to find it here.
Tommy's head twists, craning to stare down at the group of beings huddled in one of his temples. It's not one he's usually called to - only really when a battle is happening - yet these ones are here and attempting to call him.
Poorly.
Very, very poorly.
But they are trying and Tommy's bored enough to be interested. Hence why he's wrapped around a stalactite, claws buried in the stone, and trying to figure out which language these beings are obviously chanting in. It's grating on his ears so not from his realm, yet familiar enough it's nagging the back of his mind.
Shifting below drags his attention back to the group. One of them is lugging a closed crate to a raised surface and another is holding a hideous iron dagger as though it's something precious.
Tommy clicks to himself wondering if these beings did any research about him. It's not hard to find he does. not. like. iron.
Then the lid of the crate opens and he's barely able to keep himself clinging to the ceiling.
There's a piglet in the crate.
His eyes are open wide, vision expanded to the whole of the temple as the chanting continues, as the little thing is pulled from the crate, as the dagger is pressed to the small neck-
His claws sink into cold flesh, freezing blood dripping down his skin. He's hissing as he lifts his head and the rest of the group is frozen. Tommy doesn't even have to launch himself to grab the next, biting out their neck and that has the rest moving but it's too late for them.
The lava streams pick up. Flood over the walls, creep along the floor rapidly and they are running. Trying to find a way out as he rises on his tail. All of his fins and spines are splayed as his hiss drives into their skulls.
It doesn't take long at all for all of them to drop dead. Tommy scrambles to the raised bench over the melting flesh and bone to where the piglet was dropped. They're squirming a bit, small face scrunched up and little whines slipping out. They look okay and he slowly raises his hands over the small thing for a better check.
A little snort and small hooves wrap around his fingers. He can't help giving a small croon, the piglet staring up at him with wide eyes as he picks them up. They're so tiny, his fingers as long as their face as he pets along their baby fluff.
He's careful as he prods at their connections to find their sounder. Only for his spines to rise along his back as he feels all of them severed by death.
Tommy can't be sure that this group is the cause, but no sounder would leave piglets behind let alone put them in a position to die.
He croons again, holding the little one to his chest. It's difficult to move while keeping hold of them, but he gets to the laa stream and starts making his way to the closest den.
He'll try to find a sounder willing to take them in once he's positive they are alright. No injuries, fed enough, and all rested in a nice safe place. It won't be more than a cycle or two.
(It very quickly turns to more and more cycles then he has a little stout doing their best to climb with him and he's so proud of his little piglet and, yeah, he's not going to find a sounder for Techno. Not when his skin itches at the thought now.)
Tommy stares down at Techno and he stares back, shifting on his hooves.
Head spines twitch as Tommy lowers to be eye level with the magic thing he caught. There's a few sharp sounds from Tommy and the thing presses back in his hands.
"It's fine," he says, shifting to hold it closer to Tommy. "Tommy's nice!"
There's an indulgent croon and Tommy drops to be leaning fully against the cliff side, resting his chin on his arms. A few more sharp sounds has the magic thing slumping then replying with more.
Techno waits a moment before lowering it to the ground and wandering over to Tommy. He runs his hooves over the feelers, straightening them and pulling out the hardened bits of lava as the conversation continues.
Tommy shifts, chin landing on Techno's head. A purr rumbles over him and has Techno curling against Tommy with a yawn. He wasn't tired - still doesn't feel tired - but the safety around him is enough to have him dozing against his Tommy. Nothing is going to be able to hurt him.
The golem is not shaking only because they've locked their joints. They're smart enough to not be staring at Techno at least.
"-and I think that's everything?" they finish.
He tucks Techno more under his chin getting a little snort, "How long?"
"Um, I'm not sure," the golem says. "My creator did bring a clock, but it just spins. I'd guess about five overworld days at least."
He stares at it, "Is your creator going to try and find you?"
The golem pauses for what is dragging into very dangerous territory for it's continued existence when it says, "I don't think so. None of them have ever really cared when we go missing."
Tommy hums. He wraps an arm under Techno's legs, shifting him under his chin. A flick has the golem floating into the air and he drops down into the cove. Techno snuffles against his neck and he purrs in response over the muttering storm the golem is letting out.
Reaching the den doesn't take long and Tommy tucks Techno into the the nest before turning back to the golem.
"You have two options," he starts, a hiss low under his words. "One: I revert you and all that entails. Two: you swear to help me and mine as long as I say."
The golem is silent, still as it thinks. Normally, Tommy wouldn't even give an option with how little communication golems are capable of, but this one has the ability to actually say what it may want.
"Can I go with that second one, but check in on it yearly?" the golem asks.
He hums, "That sounds doable."
"Great! Great," they say. "Um... Can you put me down?"
Tommy tilts his head, purr rumbling through him as he turns back to the nest and curls around Techno. The golem grumbles, but he ignores it.
Written for the dreamnblade christmas event @alterdnbweek is holding this year.
Day 25 Prompts: Mistletoe; First Kiss
Last day! I hope everyone enjoyed this event as much as I did. I'm also really pleased with myself, because this is the first time I've ever been able to complete something like this!
The party is in full swing, everyone laughing, talking, playing games, and enjoying the various drinks and snacks laid out over nearly every available surface in the living room, dining room, and kitchen. Music is playing across the whole area barely able to be heard over the general din from all the people in the area. Everyone Dream knows is here plus several that he recognizes, but doesn't know as well. Decorations are everywhere, shimmering faintly with the enchantments worked into them like hugs, fist bumps, piggy back rides, and games of rock, paper, scissors.
He takes another sip from his mulled wine, watching a game of monopoly getting very intense as Purpled buys the last plot that Tommy needed for one of the sections and Wilbur has to grab his shirt collar to stop him from launching over the table. It's also broken three alliances and all of them are arguing with each other to build new ones as George lifts the 'bank' off the table to avoid the flailing limbs of the players as they fight.
Sapnap lifts Quackity into a hug as the duck shrieks to be let down. Karl is laughing nearby as the they wander into the kitchen past the poinsettias on the hallway shelves. Schlatt is already passed out on one of the armchairs and Puffy and Nikki are drawing on his face with what Dream hopes is washable marker. Bad is holding his and Skeppy's plate of food near the tree as they chat with Ant and Alyssa. Phil is perched on the back of the couch, chin perched on his wife's head as she shows him something on her phone. Punz and Sam are glaring at each other over a deck of cards and random items they've pulled from their pockets. Many of them posting small homemade decorations all around the walls they can reach or grabbing taller individuals like Techno to get them higher.
He downs the last of his wine, head a touch dizzy from the four glasses he's had pressed into his hands as well as the adult eggnog that was shoved on him nearly as soon as he entered the house.
It's been about three hours since he got here and he is feeling the strain of being around so many people that he's had to interact with plus the alcohol. Dream doesn't hate any of them, loves that they can have this kind of get together, but it's getting a bit much. He glances around and no one is looking his way. Not his friends who have passed over the wine when he finished his previous drinks or the others who are distracted by the rest of the goings on. He slips off his stool, weaving at the edges of the various enchanted decorations, and out the door onto the covered patio faintly illuminated by the string lights. It's a shock compared to the warmth from inside and he tugs his hoodie closer to his body and hoping he can last long enough without his heavier coat.
Dream breaths out, watching the cloud of air wisp into the night sky. It's already quieter out here than inside and he leans against the balcony railing with a faint sigh. Maybe he should stick to non-alcoholic drinks for the rest of the night.
"Needed a break?" Techno's voice comes way to close to him and he almost jumps out of his skin.
He looks up and Techno is just staring up at the sky, "Yeah. Just kind of a lot after a couple hours. You?"
"Same. Chat doesn't help with it either. They're really excited by everyone who's here," Techno says, turning to look down at him. The chill air has made his cheeks turn faintly red to complement the pink hair pulled into a ponytail. "Kind of loud, though, so they're in time out."
He grins, "Sorry for interrupting then. I can head back in-?"
Techno's already shaking his head, "It's good. They like Phil more than you anyway."
"What. How could they," he gasps, clutching at his chest in mock hurt. "I will refuse to ring their bell until they take that back."
Techno throws his head back, laughter spilling from him and Dream is stuck staring at his gorgeousness until he remembers that he shouldn't be and firmly forces his eyes back over the snow filled backyard.
"Man, they are begging you to take that back," he chuckles, shaking his head and he tracks the motion of the hair as it moves. "And offering a lot of things I know they won't follow through with."
He blinks, "...Like what?"
"Somehow dropping Tommy into the frozen lake."
Dream squints, looks out across the backyard, "What lake?"
"No clue. They haven't decided. Or figured out how they're going to get me to do it."
It takes a moment for him to remember that Chat isn't corporeal, but he laughs once he does. He stops as a strong gust blows through and he pulls his hoodie closer. Damn. He doesn't want to go back in yet, but with the wind, he might have to.
Something heavy lands on his shoulders. He glances down to see brilliant red fabric draped over his arms and pooling on the ground at his feet. Dream looks up, spotting Techno staring at him without his cloak and he ducks his head into the warm ruff around the edge. "Thanks."
"No problem."
He stands there, silence coiling around them before a thought jumps into his head.
"Are you enjoying the party so far?" he asks, peaking over the ruff.
Techno hums, "It's alright. Definitely not the worst I've been to, but doesn't reach the best by a long shot."
"Oh? What was the best? Did it have a tournament of games or something?"
"It was Kristen and Phil's elopement," he says and Dream chokes.
"I thought they had a wedding? I distinctly remember seeing pictures of a wedding," he says digging though his memory because he does recall seeing Nikki and Wilbur talking about wedding pictures and Phil and Kristen were in them.
"Yeah, they did, but they eloped first. Everyone was pissed off and trying to find them so I got to play roadblock. It's fun being able to look someone right in the eye and tell them straight up lies that they aren't sure are true or not."
"I want to hear that story now. It sounds so much more intresting than their wedding."
"Sure. Come over some time and I'll trap Phil to make him tell you the whole thing."
Dream huffs, hiding his grin in the cloak, "Does next week sometime work?"
"Hm. We'll see. Do you not have anything else planned?"
"Not really. Just making sure everything is set up for the start of the year and that there aren't going to be any issues. I really do not want to start the year having to mediate an argument over who owns a chicken or a divorce."
"That would be annoying. Just take the chicken and disappear into the tundra."
"Pft. Not all of us are you, Techno."
Techno chuckles and Dream feels so much warmer. Not just from the borrowed cloak, but talking with Techno and getting him to laugh. It's the best thing he can imagine doing at any point no matter what the situation might be. It's Techno who is kind, skilled in everything he does, amazing in general, and Dream wants to be with him forever in any way he can.
There's another gust of wind that manages to cut through the cloak and sends them both shivering. Only this time, it doesn't ease off, roaring through the area and sending the shutters around rattling against the house.
"We should head back inside," Techno says, squinting against the freezing wind. "This feels like a front starting to come in."
He nods, watching his breath cloud be ripped away as quickly as it leaves. They turn back to the door, Techno half reaching out for the handle when he pauses with a small 'heh?' staring at something above them.
Dream frowns, following his gaze and there's a sprig of mistletoe over them.
His face burns, mind flashing on what it would be like to actually kiss Techno before the full situation hits his brain. This wouldn't be something Techno would want to do. It'd be something he's forced to otherwise they won't be able to leave each other's side and be stuck with the plant hanging out above them. It's basically forcing the man into something he doesn't want to do and who's idea was it to hang up mistletoe?!
"Um. What, what kind of, um, kiss works for you?" he starts doing his best to not look at Techno. "I don't really care. I'm good with, with anything but you shouldn't feel uncomfortable or pressured for anything. I think even like a hand kiss works. I'm pretty sure Eret mentioned that when I asked-"
Warm lips press against his cheek and he freezes, staring at Techno as he pulls back, a small, soft smile resting on his lips and gorgeous red eyes that are glowing with affection under the fairy lights around them.
"No need to panic, yeah? 's all good," Techno says.
He stares, "You- You what?"
"I took care of the mistletoe," he says. His expression furrows into concern, "Did that make you uncomfortable?"
"No!" he says way to loud it feels like and he swallows before continuing, "I just, why my cheek?"
Techno shrugs, "Cause I felt like it. We can just forget it happened. Not like anyone else saw it so it to bring up later."
And he knows Techno is telling the truth. Chat would have let him know otherwise and there's no indication of that happening as he stares up with a burning face.
"It's, it's fine," he manages to get out then his mouth doesn't stop: "I liked it. It's good. Real good."
Techno blinks, the concern clearing and shifting back to the soft affection Dream could have sworn was just his imagination, "So, would you be more interested in coming over to watch movies for the rest of the night?"
Dream smiles back, "Sure."
Techno grabs his hand - still ridiculously warm even with the freezing and falling temperatures - and they head out. He can't bring himself to care about if the others are going to notice them missing or what they might think or do at that point. Right now, Techno's hand is entwined with Dream's own, they're going to watch movies together, and maybe, just maybe, he'll have a date for the new years.
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Written for the dreamnblade christmas event @alterdnbweek is holding this year.
Day 24 Prompts: Stuck Together; Embarrassment
Happy National Eggnog day everyone! Grab some if you can and enjoy it spiked or not. Oh, and happy Christmas Eve if you celebrate.
Just a quick note for how this au works: admins on their own servers get a permanent 'perk' that removes any weather or environmental affects they might encounter. Others on the server are still affected by it, though.
Dream is wandering around, trying to find any hidden spots that he'll have to take care of before the others find them. In the very start, he didn't care as much if they did find things, but with the many, many wars that have started over near anything, he doesn't want to risk them getting their hands on something that would cause even more destruction. L'Manberg alone is taking weeks to repair and that was just some tnt and two withers that were taken care of pretty quickly. He doesn't want to think what would happen if they get a hold of something more powerful.
He's focused on his map, trying to figure out where the hell one of the markers is when snowflakes start landing on it. He frowns, brushes them off and hunches over the map more to block more from landing. It's always a risk when traveling through the colder regions, but these flakes are refusing to stop and he's constantly brushing them off.
Sighing, he looks up and-
Oh.
Well... being in the middle of a blizzard probably explains why the snow kept landing on his map. It's impossible to see anything specific through the white swirling around. The map is going to be useless and he vanishes it back to his inventory to free his hands. He holds them in front of his eyes, trying to spot anything he might be able to hide in. There was a village marked on the map earlier and he's pretty sure he's still close to it. He just has to hope he's heading in the right way.
Dream's careful as he walks, pressing under the few trees he comes across to mark them in case he does start going in circles. He doesn't come across the same marks and what feels like a hours later, he finally spots a building barely visible in contrast to the white whipping all around him. He beelines straight for it, spotting a few fences around and launches up the staircase at the first door he sees.
It's heavy and hard to shove open, but he gets it open and man. Dream might not be affected by the weather like the others thanks to being the admin, but the cold is not fun. Neither is being covered in snow.
He starts brushing the piles of snow off himself, muttering curses as he watches the pile at his feet grow. This is a damn strong storm and he hopes it-
Cold metal presses into his throat and he goes very, very still. His eyes track along the sword to the hand holding it and up to Techno glaring at him.
They stare at each other for a long moment until he finally breaks it, "Uh, nice storm going on?"
"Why the fuck are you here?" Techno demands, an ear flicking.
"I was just taking a walk! And I didn't notice the weather turning," he says, seriously wondering if he should just dive out the nearby window. His neck might be cut open because of how hard it's pressed to him, but it's probably better than staying where he's not welcome.
On the other hand, does he really want to run blindly through this blizzard with an actively bleeding neck wound and no clue where he's going? Might be better to just wait. If Techno kills him, he'll respawn out of the blizzard and if for some reason Techno decides he can stay, cool.
"You aren't walking back through this," Techno huffs, lowering the sword and turning back to the counters covered in potion ingredients.
Dream blinks, "Um, what?"
"You already got lost in this storm once. Do you really want to do that again? Because I will dig out my comm and message everyone that you did."
"I was trying to read my map! I didn't notice the storm coming in!"
Techno stares at him, "So you're saying your awareness of things around you is that bad?"
Dream opens and closes his mouth wanting to argue that he does have awareness of what's going on around him, but then Techno will just go back to mocking him for getting lost in the storm.
Techno hums, looking down at whatever he was in the middle of doing, "You're going to want to get out of those clothes before you get sick."
"That's not how that works," he mutters, carefully taking a few steps further into the room. "I'll be fine."
The building doesn't look bad. Is pretty nice, actually, though it is definitely built with only a single person living here in mind. Chests crowd most of one wall, the kitchen another, a small living room consisting of a single chair, lamp, side table, and rug, and a ladder that connects to two trap doors leading up and down. He's not sure about the lower level, but the upper floor can't be that big given what he quickly saw from outside and this room.
"Then you're standing there until you dry off," Techno says. "You aren't ruining my property value by destroying my stuff."
He nods slowly and turns to stare out the window. There's not much out there. Just a huge curtain of whites and greys that shows no sign of breaking. He squints at it, pulling out his map to check what kind of biome they're in. If it's just a taiga, the storm isn't going to last that long, but- This is a tundra plain. It could last for several days.
He vanishes the map again and resumes staring out the window. The thunking of a knife comes from behind him as Techno works with the various ingredients. Dream shifts, his clothes sticking to him oddly as they dry unevenly and he starts looking at all the things in the room again. There's a few small things he didn't note before - a few plants tucked against a different window, a basket with balls of what looks like yarn shoved almost behind the single chair - but there's nothing that holds his attention for long so he finds himself staring at Techno's hands as he cuts up various ingredients.
It's interesting to watch him work with something that requires a more delicate hand. Dream's only had the chance to see him ready for a fight before, never in this kind of domestic situation.
The knife gets very close to Techno's knuckles, but it never nicks him even when the ingredient he's working with is small. He doesn't pause at any point except to grab a new one and adjust it to the correct position and Dream is fascinated as he watches even when Techno puts down the knife and grabs some other tool already prepared on the counter. This one he dumps a bit of the ingredients into and starts smashing it with a rounded stick. Each time he's done, he dumps the remains into a glass vial.
Techno stretches, arms reaching above his head almost to the ceiling and Dream tears his eyes away from the shirt sleeves that road down enough to reveal solid muscles underneath.
"...Okay, you're dry," Techno says and his head snaps right back. "I'll get you a spare bed to use down here. Don't look through anything, got it."
And he vanishes up the ladder leaving Dream alone on the bottom floor. He can hear movement above him, some faint muttering, and then the heavy shifting of wood paneling as Techno descends. A bed is dropped right in front of the door and he looks between it and Techno.
"Are you really using me as a blockade to protect yourself?" he asks.
Techno stares back at him, "Which one of us got lost in a blizzard and is squatting in the other's house?"
He squints behind his mask, "...Touche."
Techno snorts, waves at the bed, and turns back to the counter where he starts packing all of the things he was using away. The tools are set in a bucket under one of the counters, but all of the ingredients are vanished into his own inventory and he heads downstairs with them.
Dream is sitting on the bed when he comes back up, not bothering to look at him as he locks the lower trapdoor and climbs up the ladder to what has to be his bedroom. He blows out a breath, looking around for a moment before tucking himself into bed. This isn't the worst place to be stuck in during a storm no matter how long it might last.
(Dream will forever deny that he wakes up the next day coughing and sneezing and shivering under the heavy blankets with Techno staring down at him with a raised eyebrow. He will refuse to acknowledge when Techno mocks him for thinking staying in wet clothes after being in a blizzard for who knows how long. Though he will, quietly when no one else is around, admit that Techno is really good at taking care of someone when they're sick.)
as mentioned at the top, admins aren't affected by things like the cold. they can still get sick if they spend close to an hour wandering around in a blizzard and refuse to take off their soaking wet close or to warm up.
this au takes place sometime after techno moves to the tundra, but before other events such as tommy's exile and the butcher army. i'd say it's up for interpenetration if things change or not because of this, but it is at least very possible the butcher army arc is derailed.
I am intending to get tomorrow's fic posted hopefully in the morning as well, though it might be later depending on how long it takes me to proofread it and in case anything happens to come up. I'm also planning a little bit of a christmas surprise so keep an eye out :)
Written for the dreamnblade christmas event @alterdnbweek is holding this year.
Day 23 Prompts: Sick Day; Relaxing
I'm so happy to have this one up now, just two more days to go of the event! Again, not sure if they'll wind up posted on the same day or separate, but they will be posted.
Not caused by Chat this time, but his midsection and head actively trying to make him want to die. Or maybe gut himself. He's not going to be picky right now.
He rolls out of his nest, blankets tangled around his feet as he stumbles into the wall. He presses against it, most of his weight being held up by it as he bumps into everything as he fumbles into his bathroom. It's somehow a relief to use the bathroom and the absolute worst thing he can imagine as he clutches his head, gritting his teeth as his head pound with every sound around him. Even his breathing is painful.
Chat murmurs through his head. A low, vibrating 'e' that is the least painful thing he's hearing at the moment.
He does his best to focus on that as he again stumbles his way back to his nest. He falls into it, tripping over his blankets and face planting against his pillows. The pressure is nice. Easing the migraine spearing across his head.
Everything still hurts. His stomach twisting on itself, cramping with every inhale even as he curls around himself. The sounds of the outside scratch across his brain. He breathes slowly, keeps his head pressed into his pillow, and focuses on the 'e'.
He flinches as he hears a door closing. It feels like it slams right next to his head and rings through it over and over and over. But nothing else follows it so he relaxes back into the little comfort he gets for now.
Only for a knock to hit on his door.
Techno whimpers, curls tighter as he reaches blindly around him. Spikes are crashing against each other in his head and he needs something to muffle the noise. He can't stand this. Not the echoing knock. Not the call of his name. Not the very faint creak of wood under feet as someone gets closer.
His fingers curl into a pillow, dragging it back and shoving it over his head. The steps have stopped near him and normally they wouldn't have even seen him as vulnerable as resting in his nest, but he feels like such crap right now he can't care about who it might be. Death might be something of a relief, frankly.
There's another voice soft enough it doesn't make his head hurt asking, "Are you alright?"
He grunts quickly, not able to do anything else because everything he does is too much. Moving, speaking, thinking, breathing-
"Can I help?" the same voice asks still as soft and he doesn't care. He can't.
There's a light hum then fingers running in a simple pattern along his skin. It helps his head drift alongside the 'e' from Chat. The cramps and pain don't vanish, but it's easier to deal with.
He's drifting enough that he barely even registers the door creaking again as the fingers vanish. It doesn't feel long before they're back, a closer warm presence solid at his back and
the fingers are on his aching skin again. Only this time they aren’t a soothing pattern. They’re tugging him. Moving him and each motion hurts.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, but you need to eat something. I promise you won’t have to do anything else.”
He somehow winds up pressed into solid, warm muscle. The position doesn’t do much for his pounding head or the cramps tearing his insides apart, but it’s nice on his aching skin and they’ve stopped moving him.
Something is pressed against his lips - “C’mon. Just a sip or two.” - and he reluctantly opens his mouth. Liquid moves down his throat and he whines as soon as he can. He doesn’t want to do that again even if his stomach feels minusculy better. Even as another spoonful is pressed on him and they sooth, cajole, and rub his skin, he’s barely willing to swallow it.
Luckily they only do that twice more before stopping. Their voice keeps murmuring, fingers running through his hair, rubbing at his back in repetitive motions.
They’re hitting the perfect spots to ease all of the aches and pains and it’s somehow making his migraine ease the bit he needs to fall asleep.
Techno wakes hazily at a sharp whisper a bit too close to his ear.
His eyes barely open enough to see that particular shade he’s only ever seen Dream wear and the man himself turned as far as he can be to avoid disturbing Techno's position curled beside him and pressing into his side. There's no one else in the room, though, and he grumbles. He doesn't like that he woke up for nothing.
Dream's voice trails off and carefully nudges his head to a new position. Fingers run through his hair again, over his back in gentle motions. It's nice and he sighs as he relaxes again.
"Please, Sapnap?" Dream hiss-whispers again. "I have no clue what I'm doing."
There's a response, but it's too low and garbled by static for him to bother trying to figure out and drifts off.
Dream doesn't leave. Instead he brings gentle foods and drinks, rubs at his scalp and skin in all the spots that relieve the pain, and lets him press against Dream's side. Techno can feel his nest moving around occasionally and the smell of candles that warm the room beyond the magma blocks sealed under him. All of it is helping with the pain he's usually in. Even the somewhat disastrous bath Dream tried to help with. It's was nice, but almost falling down the stairs from a sudden cramp was not.
Techno wakes up slowly, the pain a barely there ache as he shifts next to the warm spot next to him. It's the first time he's actually been comfortable in a week and there's nothing that needs his immediate attention. He can take the chance to just exist.
Chat doesn't take long to realize he's feeling better. A few start welcoming him back which quickly grows to most of them and then they're all stumbling over themselves to tell him everything that happened while he was out. It's nice to have the confirmation that they're still okay even if he knows they aren't affected by mundane, mortal things.
He shifts, stretching out more than before and feeling his joints and spine crack. He squints his eyes open, looking to the side because he's been moving around a lot and he's pretty sure Dream was reacting to everything over the last several days.
The answer becomes clear instantly. Dream is passed out next to him, breathing even and Chat is cooing 'sleepwastaken' over and over and over. Techno huffs and carefully extracts himself from the nest while making sure that Dream is tucked in and undisturbed. He pads down to the kitchen, debating what supplies he has that should still be usable. Making Dream breakfast is the least he can do to thank the guy for making the past week more bearable.
He pulls down a pan and starts looking through his cabinets when he pauses as a vague memory and Chat's rambling descriptions register. "Hey, Chat? Any ideas for annoying Sapnap?"
That sends them into a tizzy and he smirks to himself as all of them start dumping their ideas.
techno has piglin blood - leaning towards full-blooded, but he can be seen as a hybrid - but that comes with interesting biological consequences since the nether is a very different place from the overworld. in this one, it's a full week once a year where it feels like his body is trying to kill him.
dream had no clue what he was going on or expected to find techno out of commission. he was seriously worried techno might be turning into a zombie before he got the general idea of what was happening.
don't worry, the most that's going to happen to sapnap is all of his furniture is glued to the ceiling.
The smoke is visible several minutes before they are even close to the port. Puffy's ordering the crew to push the boat as fast as they can and to gather up arms in case of battle. Dream is clinging to one of the ropes linked to the bowsprit, XD on the opposite side as they watch the approaching visage of the burning city their sister and brother are trapped in.
As soon as they are close enough to jump from the ship, they do, dashing into the city as others are screaming and running the other way. Puffy is behind them as they head toward the palace.
Everything is chaotic around them. People are screaming and crying. Some wearing the same insignia are hunting them as they try to run. It tickles something in the back of Dream's head, but he doesn't have the time to think about it. Not when things are only getting worse as they keep trying to get closer to the palace. The fire, rubble, and corpses are blocking the paths they can take and that means it's blocking Tubbo and Drista in turn.
"I think there's one path that might be okay," Puffy yells, turning on her heel and he and XD fall into step behind her.
Some of the crew cross paths with them, but neither group stops to acknowledge the other. This way is just as destroyed as the others but Puffy doesn't pause as she keeps leading them through the burning city.
There's a way too familiar scream and Dream speeds up. Passes Puffy and XD easily as he takes a turn to see Drista holding Tubbo as a group of the attackers is closing in on them. Someone is standing between them, but Dream doesn't care. Not when his mind is racing trying to figure out how he's going to stop his brother and sister from being hurt or killed.
They're too far, though. The attackers are too close. A sword is already swinging down to tear through flesh. He pushes himself faster, but he can already feel blood spraying his face because he's too late-
Metal screeches against metal as a fully geared knight steps in and shoves the closest one into another. The sword keeps going to decapitate a third and the knight's momentum keeps going to knock the fourth off their feet completely. The sword flips, stabbing through one and is pulled out to rip through the throat of another. The last goes down missing their head as well and Dream narrowly loses his own as he stumbles to a stop next to his siblings.
Furious red eyes stare out from behind the helmet in a familiar face he's never been scared of before, but he just watched Techno kill four people in less than six seconds.
Techno blinks, fury clearing as the sword lowers and Dream rasps in a breath as he tries to figure out what the fuck is going on. Techno isn't a fighter as far as he knows. He's a traveler who stops into the marketplace to try and find medicine for his brother. When the hell did he become a knight?
"You have a ship, right?" Techno asks, looking over Dream's shoulder as he drops a blond kid to the ground.
He glances down, seeing them staring back up at him with way too bright eyes.
"Yeah, who the fuck are-" Puffy starts only to be cut off by Drista pleading, "We need to go. We can't stay."
"Fine," she sighs. Dream snaps his head toward the two, mind running to figure out the best way to get them out of here.
"Theseus, you're going with them," Techno says.
"What! No! I'm helping fight!"
Tubbo whimpers as Drista is shifting him over to Dream and the blond kid's mouth snaps shut, staring up at him. They look back at Techno with a scowl, "Fine."
He glances again at Techno who's looking over his shoulder back toward the castle, then runs. Drista is behind him and somehow the blond kid is keeping pace as well and there is no time o think bout how they're able to do that. not when the attackers are still around every corner.
He can hear Puffy and XD yelling behind them, voices growing faint as he covers as much distance as possible and leaves them behind. He doesn't hear anything from Techno and he hopes that whatever is going on he's okay.
Dream gets to the boat first, yelling for the signal cannon to be fired as he lets Tubbo down to the deck. Drista stumbles onto the deck after him hunching over to catch her breath. More of the crew stream on board and go straight to the tasks that need to be done to set out. Puffy and XD are in the middle of it, coming over to join them as soon as they're spotted.
"That knight said he'd cover our retreat," Puffy says. She focuses on Tubbo as she adds, "He's following us."
He bites his tongue as Tubbo relaxes and is drawn away by XD and Drista to stay under the deck. As soon as they're out of earshot, Puffy says, "He said to leave if he's not here by the time the last one gets back. I'm giving him some leeway, but I'm not going to risk any of you."
"Mom-" he starts and she glares at him.
"I'm not arguing about this. These attackers are not like what we see on the sea. They were after Schlatt's blood specifically," she says. "So, you're going to go below deck and stay there until I come get you. Tell XD the same and feel free to knock him out if needed."
He wants to argue, but she's wearing the expression that has made her a terror to face on the sea and he reluctantly vanishes below the deck with a final look at the still burning city. It's not hard to find them and he slips inside, lowering the barricade with a bang that's covered by starting cannon fire.
"Why did you lock the door?" XD asks.
"Mom's orders," he says staring at him with a dare to argue. He feels too tense. Ready to snap at anything that might happen.
XD doesn't. Only hesitates for a moment before sitting on a box. Drista is keeping Tubbo close - he can hear her murmuring something in the breaks of cannons, but he has to turn his attention to the blond kid as he curls way too sharp nails into Dream's wrist.
"...What," he says after what feels like minutes staring at each other.
Blue eyes squint up at him, eyebrows furrowing as the kid clearly thinks about something. No answer comes as the kid lets him go with a huff of air and goes to curl up next to Tubbo and Drista.
The ship rocks, swaying as it releases from the dock and the yelling shifts above them. Turns to the familiar sounds of leaving ports they've either ransacked or were turned in at. It's impossible to hear anything specific about any one person above the din of voices, cannons, and spells whizzing by them. He keeps hold of the lock bar as the ship sways erratically and forces his mind away from wondering if Techno managed to get to the ship.
The sounds of battle fade away eventually. Dream can't help counting his breaths as he waits for some sign they can come out. It feels forever before Puffy's boots are making their way along the outside. He glances at XD and pushes the bar up at his nod.
She opens it, leaning against the doorway and looking at them, "...You can come up."
The blond kid almost blots into the hallway only to freeze two steps away from the door and looking back in at Tubbo who's sticking close to Drista as she stands. She and Tubbo stick to the middle as they go up, Puffy in front, while he and XD cover the back. The blond kid keeps rushing ahead several steps before stumbling to a stop and staring at them with obvious contempt at their pace.
Dream looks toward the shore as he exits. Smoke is still filling the horizon and he looks away from it to avoid thinking about what happened.
"Blade!" the blond kid yells, bolting past and launching himself at Techno.
He stares wide eyed at the man who's getting his arm wrapped by a pink-haired woman he doesn't recognize.
Techno's not wearing the helmet and the torso armor anymore and looks more like the man Dream knows from tavern corner conversations and hours wandering the market stalls in the city. From discussions about what exotic plant or material Dream happened to snag on their last excursion and how Techno's brother is doing.
He's laughing as he tugs the blond kid into his side, ruffling the wild hair and ignoring the shrieks as the kid tries to lash at his bare skin.
Dream's mind turns. The skill Techno showed in the city, the focus on making sure Tubbo was safe first and foremost, what the blond kid called him-
He wasn't expecting the guy he thought was a traveler and has a massive crush on to be the same person as Tubbo's personal knight.
dream and xd are twins, drista is their older half sister, and tubbo a younger half brother. dream is the closest to tubbo because he's too young to leave the palace and dream is the least likely to try and kill their collective father.
puffy is a pirate and is only willing to come back to the city in the first place so the kids can have a relationship. she does not like her ex and it's a very tense truce between them that allows it to happen.
the visits always happened to coincided with when techno had time off so he never connected that techno who he met in the marketplace was the same as blade who tubbo likes talking about.
Sorry about getting this one out late. Not sure when I'll have the one for today out, but I plan to get it out today if nothing comes up.
The rules for becoming an admin are clear. There's tests, trials, a whole bunch of background checks and lisences you have to get, and a final one where you get a Secret and you can't let anyone learn that Secret. It doesn't matter what situation might come up, who might be asking, or how things might change if the Secret is revealed. You do not share the Secret.
Dream forces his breathing to stay steady, keeps pressing down on Techno's torso as the blood keeps seeping between his fingers. Techno's unconsious, body completely limp and his breathing shallow and ragged. The wounds are too wide, too varied for him to take care of on his own and the obsidian cell is not a suitible place to be tending them in the first place.
Revival is coiling in the back of his throat, wants to spill from his lips becuase it would help Techno. It would force the wounds to close, reverse the blood loss, have Techno back to his best state instead of this.
He has no clue what Quackity and Sam did, just that it's stopping Techno from healing. He can't even ask because Techno was already unconsious when they dumped him back in the cell. His only hope to figuring it out is to look at the wounds, but he can't. Not when every time his hands shift or his pressure lets up, more blood gushes out.
"Please don't die," he mouths to himself, shifting to try and keep his arms from giving out. "You always say you can't die so don't be a fucking liar now. You still owe me, got it. I can't lose you."
Techno's breathing only seems to get shallower, chest hardly rising under his pressing hands. Revival shoves against his lips. Trying to spill out to stop whatever is happening and he bites his tounge hard enough he tastes blood. He can't risk losing the single thing that might let him get them both out of here if Pandora's defenses shift enough.
His hand slips, blood pouring out of one gash as he scrambles to cover it again. It's slick and warm against the creeping chill spreading across Techno's skin and he has no idea how much more blood Techno can risk loosing.
There's the sound of something distant, but he ignores it. It doesn't matter if Sam or Quackity are back. It doesn't matter if someone else is being dragged into prison. It doesn't even matter if someone else is coming to visit him for some reason. All he cares about now is trying to keep Techno alive.
It's horrible because he knows there's no way he can actually do that without using Revival.
His gut is hollow as his arms keep shaking. He's not going to be able to keep the blood from spilling out for much longer and he's not sure he's going to be able to handle that.
"Holy shit!"
There's hands pressing over his, turning red from the blood and he blinks at Philza as he's shoved back.
"Heal pots! Now!" the avian snaps and there's rushing footsteps and a shattering as a thrown one breaks on the stone in between the three of them.
It doesn't look like it does anything to heal the wounds on Techno, but Dream feels better physically.
"I have more!" Nikki says, skidding to a stop at Techno's head.
He blinks, finally processing that this isn't the cell. This isn't obsidian blocks all around him bleeding lava level heat. It's stone and bricks and tourchlight and Philza, Nikki, and Ranboo closing in to help take care of Techno.
"Ranboo, take care of Dream," Philza says. "Niki, just pour all of them over him."
Ranboo tugs him away and he follows the hands in a daze as they poke at his own injuries. He opens his mouth-
Snaps it shut as Revival tries to tumble out with the blood flowing over his chin.
Ranboo whirrs, "Did- Did you bite your tounge?"
He nods slowly, eyes focusing on where Techno is still prone, still unconsious, bleeding through the cloths being pressed against his torso. Glowing health and healing potions are sitting on the surface of the red blood, pooling under and aaround their knees with each new one opened and turned over Techno.
Philza curses, "These aren't doing enough, but I don't want to risk him choking on something."
"What even happened?" Niki asks, glancing up at him.
He stares at her, wishing he had an answer and that he could feasibly say anything when Revival is trying to be shared. Niki doesn't try to press for an answer and just looks back down at Techno. She grabs a soaked piece of cloth and presses it over Philza's hands. She pulls out something small and dives back down with quick motions.
Ranboo is twitching, hands fluttering as they keep check on the various bruises and bumps littering his skin, "Do you, uh, need, need a potion?"
He shakes his head, fighting to keep from biting at his tounge again as he watches Philza and Niki keep working on helping Techno. He's not sure what exactly they're doing right now, but it's more than he was able to do.
"I'm not sure this is going to be enough," Philza says, slowly pulling his hands away. His breath hitches, but there's no sudden gush of blood which is a huge improvement over back in the cell. The potions are still shimmering on top of the blood and hopefully there's a chance their power will start working now.
Philza looks over at him, "Sorry about having to ask, mate, but think you can force all of us off ther server?"
He blinks, tilting his head in confusion and Philza adds, "Thing's are going to be really bad in about twelve hours. It'd be better if none of us are here."
"What do you mean?" Ranboo asks.
"...It's a thing. Looks nice at first, but really, really not something you want to be in when it happens," Philza says and the dancing around the explanation is familiar.
He lifts a hand, all of it shaking and hesitantly points at his clamped mouth. They stare at him, confusion on their faces as well and he gestures a bit harder. He can't open his mouth, can't risk Revival escaping to explain what he means.
Philza's expression clears, eyes widening under his hat, "Dream. If it's a fight right now, let go. I'll back you no matter what happens."
He hesitates, because it was drilled into his head before he was allowed to run this server that if he shared the Secret, he was going to be punished. But Philza looks serious in a way he hasn't since Doomsday and he is old enough to have sway on the council.
Dream opens his mouth-
"ꖎ╎⍊ᒷ."*
Tumbles from his throat and the power of it makes his head spin. Things shift around. Twisting all over the server and he can't even try to track all of it as things change.
He blinks up at the ceiling, breathing heavy and he can hear the others panting as well. There's a groan and he slowly turns his head, all of his nerves screaming that he shouldn't be moving, but it's worth it to see Techno struggling to sit up, breathing just as heavy, but without the raspy shallowness it had before. There's still a disturbing amount of blood on and around him, but he's clearly better and Dream passes out.
techno technically has a Secret, but his is a more complicated situation than being an admin. normally the obvious side of it is that he heals rapidly, but there’s more that doesn’t come out unless specific circumstances are met.
dream was only dragged through when the stasis chamber activated because the server itself was actively trying to not be destroyed and its solution was to make sure both of them got to help.
dream did allude to having a way to revive the dead and they know Tommy had the book used on him, but that’s considered okay for the people on his server to know. they just can’t know about the raw aspect of it which was what was fighting to be spoken.
This is an AU that frankly could use an entire other post just explaining the headcanon going on with how admins and Secrets work plus Techno’s whole thing in it.
They're the only ones on the balcony, everyone else having already passed out in the main room from the open bar. Dream's only on his sixth in the last six hours with a buzz going strong. He's not sure how many Techno's had, but it can't be many given the grimaces they give with each sip of their current glass.
The topic of their conversation isn't something he'd normally talk about with his closest friends let alone someone he's only known for eight hours, but the drink is enough he doesn't really care. Not when he's pretty sure that Techno has been wanting to talk about this for a while and clearly hasn't had anyone they've felt comfortable talking about it with.
He tilts his glass around, watching the drink swirl as he listens to the issues Techno's having getting the citizenship papers he needs to leave the area. The fact that they're netherborn and didn't come over until they were an adult is complicating things because of the massive differences in tracking time and lack of resources in the nether to even start figuring out the information they need to fill out. The few Techno does have, they can't figure out how to even start with because no one's ever bothered to figure out a way to convert them.
Dream's head rolls over on his neck, staring up at the pretty, wonderfully strong piglin as his thoughts slowly turn over the situation. It sucks all around and not something he's been exposed to before and he wants to help. Wants to figure out something that could help Techno get those papers, but his only reference for a nether hybrid is Sapnap who was mainly raised in the Overworld and the situation is something he's really only heard of in stories.
So maybe it shouldn't be as much of a surprise as it is when he suggests, "Would getting married help?"
Techno huffs, leaning further on the railing as they take a swig from their glass, "It's have to be an overwrolder and who'd be interested in marrying me? Not exactly the type of person someone born here would willingly do that with."
Dream blinks slowly up at them. The back drop of a starry sky as the lights from below caress the contours of their face, gleam in the half-lidded eyes. Maybe he could see people complaining about the scars, but to him, it just makes them look prettier, more gorgeous, and if he could, he-
"I would."
Techno jerks, staring at him, "Why? We just met?"
He swallows, "Because you're nice and talented and smart and I want to help and this is a way I can if you want to."
Techno grins and they talk about a few things for if they were to actually go through with this. Even as they make their way back to their rooms - they're next to each other and Dream offers his room for them to keep talking. It doesn't last for long, though, given he passes out pretty quickly after sitting on his bed.
Techno's also in the bed when he wakes up the next morning, grogy and seriously wondering if he actually suggested getting married to someone he just met, but-
He doesn't regret the suggestion. Not when Techno really is one of the most interesting people he's met in years.
Once Techno wakes up, the first words out of them is asking if Dream is serious about the suggestion to get married and Dream assures that he is.
After that is figuring out what they need to do. How to register for a marriage license, what documents Dream is going to have to get together, looking through the quickly growing requirements they have to provide proof for in order to even start the process. ("Why do we have to show proof we've been dating for at least a year?" "...I've figured out it's generally better to not ask for the reasoning") They change their plans, adjust for what they're going to have to do to get the proof since Techno can't legally leave the city ("Seriously?" "Something about not wanting me to go on a rampage? Or maybe spread illness. I wasn't great with common at the time.").
Dream has to leave, though. His job not feasible to staying in one spot for long especially while avoiding the public noticing anything strange going on.
And, well, Dream quickly realizes that he really likes Techno. The conversations they have last for hours but only feel like minutes have passed until he checks the time. Dream shares things from his own life. How things are going in his own work at random times - his favorite is trading ideas for manhunts - and when his schedule allows for a break long enough to stop back in for them to go on an official 'date'.
Techno shares as well. Pictures of things they find cool in Hypixel, complaints about the legal process, Dream's personal favorite in the war over who's a better potato farmer they got into with their neighbor, and the battles and local events they've gotten involved with.
It's enough to have Dream aching for the chance to fight Techno himself, but the timing never works out. Not when there's various reasons for Dream to avoid getting an unexplained injury or Techno has something going on themself. Stressful days, hyper focus on other things, or an injury from their own battles and events. It's still something they talk about, vague plans for the future when they have more leeway to actually plan something like that.
"You said you had a free week in the fall, right?" Techno asks, shifting something on their side of the call. "Near that big festival?"
Dream hums, "Yeah. Is that one of the options?"
"Yep. There's two. One's the day you'd get in and the second is the last day you'd be able to be here."
He squints, stares at the netherrack above him, "...Might be best to schedule the first one. Part of it's already been filling out how much travel is expected and well..."
"Still like the pictures."
"Ha, I know," he grins to himself, listening as George, Sapnap, and Bad scream in fury from a trap over his other call. "I think that lava arrow trap works great."
"Did they just trigger it?"
He shifts, peeking over the brick wall to watch the three of them diving off the bridge as the arrows keep firing, "Yep. I'm gonna have to go. Call you later?"
"I'll schedule it and text the details. Good luck."
The call ends and Dream grabs the last few blaze rods on the ground around him and bolts for the portal. It's several months away, but he's filled with excitement to the point of bursting. They're so close to finishing the solution for Techno being able to travel. He's going to have to figure out ways to travel with Techno to show him everything.
Everything goes smoothly. Nothing comes up suddenly on either of their ends, all of Dream's paperwork is gathered and submitted, the proof they needed for their relationship as well, Techno's new paperwork put through and being processed and Dream is exhausted as they stumble back into Techno's house. It's barely six in the morning and he's been awake for nearly 32 hours, but they've done it. Techno will be able to leave Hypixel. Will be able to travel with that friend of his to an SMP. Will be able to experience things that don't happen in the city. Can participate in events and tournaments beyond the borders. Can travel with Dream to see the hidden gems through the worlds.
Dream grins up at them as Techno sits on the floor, "Congrats."
Techno smiles back, "Thanks. For all of this. I know it must have stopped other chances for relationships."
He hums, slightly confused, but too tired to try and figure out what it means, "I said it was fine. Would do it again."
Techno opens their mouth, only for Dream's phone to go off and both of them look at where it's laying on the floor. He sits up, fumbling to answer it because it's George and as far as any of them know, he's passed out right now. They wouldn't be calling if it wasn't something important.
"Dream, I need you to not panic," George says as soon as he answers which is not exactly encouraging him to not panic. "I swear we had zero clue they were planning this, but you need to get your stuff and somewhere with a transport to Hypixel."
He looks between Techno who's staring at the ceiling and the very much Hypixel skyline outside the window, "Why?"
"The managers have apparently been setting up this exhibition match," George explains. "It's scheduled for tomorrow with the Beast family heir hosting. It's with this up and comer named Technoblade?"
'Did you know about this?' he mouths at Techno who shakes their head, pulling out their own comm to check their messages.
"But you need to get there before noon," George is still going. "I think they're going to try for a bit of leeway in the time just in case, but they're saying you were told and need to be there or they're cutting.... something. They didn't say what."
He blows out a breathe, "Fine. They'd better pay me back for travel."
"Trust me, I think that would be cheaper than the scandal if we come out that they didn't tell you about this match. We'll see you there. Promise."
His comm falls into his lap and he watches Techno raise an eyebrow before turning their phone to show the just in notice about a match tomorrow. They lock eyes.
"I think my managers just beat my wedding gift," he says.
Techno huffs, eyes shining, "You didn't have to do that."
Dream waves a hand, "I wanted to. It's" he looks at his duffel dumped next to Techno's door "somewhere in my bag. Anyway, who do you think screwed up the details?"
Techno shrugs, "No clue. The coordinators are pretty good about giving at least a week of notice, usually two and for this kind of thing, it would have been a month."
"Huh." He looks at his phone, "Hey, how much do you think I can get them to reimburse me for?"
They spend the next hour looking up various transportation prices to Hypixel that he could feasibly have used. He takes a screenshot of the best one, sends it to their managers, and passes out on Techno's shoulder, dreaming about the chance to fight someone he's wanted to for a long time.
Things don't really change after they're married. They keep messaging each other, talking about their days and experiences, plans for the future and what they'd want to do again in the future. It's especially sweet when Techno spams him in the middle of the night because it's the first time they've seen snow or they found a cool rock or a vein of gold or they managed to create something they've been working planning for a long time. Dream can't help smiling at his phone when that happens, heart swelling and he has to roll around in his bed to keep from messaging something stupid.
Dream's friends have finally noticed he's messaging someone else and are trying to figure out who it is. He's not comfortable sharing details because it's not something they'd talked about before. It hadn't come up and he's not sure how to now.
On the bright side he's getting free entertainment as they're running around trying to figure out who he's texting. They think he doesn't have an in on their theories, but Tubbo is a snitch if you're willing to bribe him appropriately. The best one is that they're arguing about if it could be Techno or not because they only noticed after the exhibition match, but it was about two months later. Tubbo's screenshots he's shared are hilarious.
He mentions his idea to host an SMP to Techno first, describing his idea for it. They have a wonderful amount of suggestions for how to keep things running smoothly and to try and avoid as much hostility between the others as possible. It helps him figure out what exactly he wants to add to the SMP as well. The borders for teams aren't something he's likely to include simply because of how many issues they seem to have. Plus he knows his friends and they would abuse the system even if it wouldn't be in the same way Techno screwed the Earth SMP over. A huge part is to be willing to go with the flow of things and not get too worried about small things.
Which is huge because he knows his SMP is going to be insane before he even launches it. Having Tommy, Tubbo, and the others they bring with just makes it more so. There's no boredom at least even if he does have to change his notifications about happenings to not be spammed.
So he's pretty confused when he and George come across two yelling groups after a day of mining close to drawing weapons, calling for the other side's deaths, and Techno standing between them. Literally the only barrier stopping a blood bath from starting.
Techno is very aware of the perception that they're considered a wildcard. It's not something they mind usually, even if people do tend to not fully understand what it means to be a wildcard.
Tommy and Wilbur are yelling, they other people are yelling. Everyone seems close to drawing weapons to kill each other and only aren't because they're standing in between the two groups. It's kind of funny watching them go at it mainly because they have zero clue what is going on. They're current idea is to message Dream to ask him to come by because this is his server, but that isn't needed as he and George stumble across them.
They catch Dream's eye at the same time someone notices he's there and part of the yelling shifts to having Techno kicked or killed. Tommy's started demanding for them to kill Dream in turn. It's funny, though it does pose a few new options.
They could leave right now, let it play as though Dream did kick them from the SMP for a future prank by showing up again. They could launch into a fight, it's always fun when they manage to make the time to fight and it has been a few months since their last one. Or-
"You know it's illegal to do that to your spouse, right?" he asks over the yelling.
The yelling stops and they watch as Dream slowly starts wheezing out laughter, tilting toward the ground.
like the only person who actually knew dream and techno were friends let alone married and that's phil. mainly because techno mentioned their plan when phil was trying to figure out a way to help get techno's paperwork through.
in this one, there's not really a translation for the gender words the piglins use as well as other netherborn and hybrids. dream was already aware of this thanks to sapnap which is why he referred to techno by they/them only (techno never said anything otherwise). techno would be good with he/him as well, but he's used to they/them since that's what dream uses and phil picked it up.
dream wasn't aware of the growing arguments between the groups because he had the notices he got as admin set to 'have they started killing each other and destroying property in a short span of time' level hence why he was confused as to why the argument was happening. wasn't as confused about techno being there because they already knew there wasn't any notice sent to him should techno join the SMP.
I have some long days of travel coming up so the next few posts might be at odd times or delayed. I do still plan on finishing this. I have the next two days nearly done - they just need proofreading - and the last three planned out fully. Have a happy holiday season!
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In "Exhausted By the Reverberations" what happened to Dream in Pandora? Did Sam and Quackity did the same things they did in the lore, or the dreamons did?
So, Dream's torture in this one was a mix of the actual people and the dreamons. Sam and Quackity's dreamons where the ones who visited the least while nearly everyone else's was a pretty consistent every other day one was dropping in and adding to the experience.
No one was really interested in visiting Dream for a simple chat while he was in Pandora, after all, so they didn't have to worry about keeping anything hidden. Nearly everyone who was dropping by wanted to harm him even if it was just yelling at him. It didn't take long for Sam to get annoyed enough to start starving and ignoring Dream either so none of the worsening injuries were being treated well.
Ironically, it was actually these visits to Pandora that started the suspicion that there was something mimicking people on the server. Sam mentioned a few visits by people who had confirmation that they were way far away at the time
If you're interested:
Dream's missing most of an ear, was rendered completely mute, is blind in one eye, one leg can't support his weight anymore, his back has chronic pain and lacks most of the ability to feel from how often it was ripped open, scars are all over his body from various injuries. There's more but physically, these are the biggest.
Psychologically, he can't stand being near anyone besides Techno, Tommy, and XD because they were the only ones who didn't have a dreamon mimic show up while he was in Pandora. Even Puffy and Foolish (his mom and sibling in this AU) had ones show up and the only reason he's willing to read their messages is because he can somewhat process that they weren't the ones who 'visited' him.
Additionally, there was a lot of talk while he was in Pandora about how no one would be able to stand being by him because of his scaring hence Techno's behavior about not pulling away from Dream and letting Dream know as soon as he shows up that Sapnap was there.
I'll be honest, wasn't expecting this to get this long, but hope it answers your question!
Written for the dreamnblade christmas event @alterdnbweek is holding this year.
Day 19 Prompts: Trust Issues; Stargazing
This is mostly not written from the perspective of Dream or Techno. It's someone from the outside looking in with minimal information.
Fair warning: the timeline in this fic has been deconstructed and blended into a nice pico de gallo. Things are happening well before they do in canon, after they happen in canon, and some just straight up don't.
No one's seen Dream since Pandora was destroyed by the spreading tendrils of of the red egg.
Well, after that. After the Egg was taken care of as well as the creatures mimicking all of them across the server. After they apologized for capturing and throwing him into a cell. After L'Manburg fell to ruin, everyone wandering to different parts to heal, letting him have the time they thought he'd need to heal from the back to back battles.
Sapnap doesn't say anything to the others when they complain about it, but he's positive it's because Dream isn't ready to talk to any of them yet even though it has been several months already.
They hadn't listened when Dream was demanding answers and explanations about what they were accusing him of when they were shoving him into Pandora. None of them clocked the strange aggression that creeped up randomly only to be perfectly fine later in the day. He can remember brushing off Dream's concerns about arguments and fights escalating to unreasonable levels. Ignoring the blood seeping from his nose and clutching at his sides as they kept going with their own goals and plans.
He blows out a breath, sparks flickering from it as he kicks at the netherrack.
Maybe they should have reached out before now to check on him. Offer apologies or help or resources or just a talk. But he doesn't think any of them offered that to Dream. To each other, sure, but not to Dream. None of them have even mentioned the idea of doing that as conversations have switched to wondering where Dream is, why he hasn't shown up yet, what he could possibly be doing that's kept him away for so long. He's never been the sort to just leave them to their own devices before and none of them are sure what to make of it.
George's tried following the comm location a couple times but each time it just leads back to the ruins of Pandora and all of them know he's not there. All of them have tried messaging him, but most of them are left unread and the few that do get the read label haven't gotten replies.
They managed to summon XD to ask if they had an idea where Dream was only to get laughed at. They'd laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and vanished without telling them anything as the church bells tolled noon. Puffy and Foolish hadn't been surprised by the reaction and have also been the least pushy about trying to find Dream. Sapnap thinks they might have some kind of an idea as to where he might be, but neither have said anything beyond letting Dream take however long he needs.
He pauses, staring at the isolated portal Quackity mentioned offhand a few weeks back.
He just wants to know if Dream is *okay*.
The server is still operating so he's alive, but there's a huge range 'alive' can take. Something he's come to realize in the aftermath of everything.
Sapnap takes a deep breathe and steps through into a tundra. The snow is deep, reaching his waist as he starts trudging to the barely visible village. Fundy, Ranboo, and Tubbo didn't have any specific knowledge about where Technoblade's house was located. Just that they'd seen a nether portal close to a tundra village they'd passed on their trek to try and kill the piglin. And, well, it's his best bet to for someone who might have an idea how Dream is doing.
No one had wanted to risk asking Technoblade if he knew where Dream might be. Not with the threat of being killed directly or winding up with more withers on their asses. Phil was vetoed because none of them even knew if the guy was on the server and Tommy-
Well, none of them are even certain if Tommy is still alive. Dream had apparently come and said he had killed himself, but the timeline they'd determined pointed to it actually being one of the shapeshifting creatures instead. If he is alive, no one knows how to get to him. Tubbo's compass only leads to an area filled with tnt holes.
The villagers look at him with suspicion as he enters, one approaching quickly and gesturing in a sharp demand to know why he's here. His fingers are shaking as he spells out his own question with careful motions. The villager squints at him, but does answer. Describes a location that doesn't fill him with much hope of being able to find it with how confusing tundra plains are to travel through. He does at least have a direction to start and he trudges out of the village back into the deep snow.
A bright side to running at a higher base temperature is being able to melt through the snow at least. He has no clue how the butcher army was able to stand walking through the snow without that.
He can hear distant calls of animals as he walks. It breaks up the bits of monotony of the snow, though he does keep a close eye on his surroundings. He doesn't want to get attacked and killed by some wild animals because he decided to do this without any armor or weapons. He also doesn't want to risk being killed if Quackity's insistence that his retirement is a joke turns out to be true. Sapnap doesn't want to die before he can even ask his questions.
(Punz had argued that he was happy staying where he was until the Butcher Army had attacked *Technoblade* and the aggression ended at his escape. No one's seen him since the failed execution.)
It's as the sun is starting to set and he's switched to trying to find a spot to hole up for the night when he spots coiling smoke.
He hesitates. The sun is barely hovering over the horizon, but the smoke doesn't look like it's too far off. Trecking through the snow does take a while, but he should be fast enough to reach the smoke. It doesn't look that far away.
Sapnap pushes forward, over the hill and-
Oh. That was a lot closer than he thought it was.
Two cabins are sitting in a snowy plain that really does match with what the villager described. Smoke only rises from one of the cabins. A whole bunch of animal shapes are spread along the area. There's paths of trampled or cleared snow winding through it and he uses one to ease his walk down as the sun turns more and more red.
Wolves are most of the animals in the area, looking over at him as he passes their huge number though they luckily don't seem interested in attacking him. A horse is in the middle of them and he swears it looks a lot more suspicious of him as he walks toward the cabins.
The first one looks abandoned or at least hasn't been used in a while. Snow it piled in front of the door, along the porch and there's no tracks through it. The other has smoke coming out of the chimney. The porch and steps clear of snow and light spilling from the cracks along shuttered windows. The steps creak under his weight as he climbs up them. Something is playing inside. It's muffled by the door, but it's clearly not a music disc or anything like it.
Sapnap knocks. Even if this isn't Technoblade, it has to be someone else on the server. Maybe Phil or Tommy which would be a nice surprise even if they can't answer any questions.
Footsteps stumble around inside the and he thinks they stop in front of the door. There's a long moment where he starts to think he might just be ignored, the the door opens a crack, wild blond hair and a blue eye peaking through it.
"What," Tommy says voice laced with suspicion.
Sapnap looks over his shoulder - at the horse that's still staring at him and a lot closer than anything else - then back to Tommy. It's nice to know where Tommy is at least even if he is apparently going to have to keep looking for Technoblade.
"Uh, I was looking for Technoblade," he says. "Sorry."
Claws scratch against wood as Tommy's eye narrows. Sapnap doesn't know exactly what happened with L'Manburg the second time and none of the ones who where there have talked about what happened other then Dream was pushing to have Tommy exiled. Actually, he's not sure they've even acknowledged the role they had in exiling Tommy even if they were pressured into it.
"He's that way," Tommy snaps, pointing briefly then slamming the door after it.
Sapnap blinks at it. Well. That's something?
It pops back open, Tommy glaring even more at him, "Don't fucking tell anyone or I'll claw your eyes out while you sleep."
"Got it," he manages to get out as it slams shut again. This time there's the sounds of chains and bolts and maybe Technoblade is still living here? Or maybe Tommy just knows which way Technoblade is in, but he doesn't have the time to think about this.
The sun is setting, light fading fast, and his natural glow is not going to cover a lot of area once it does get dark. At least he has a direction to head.
He reaches a copse of trees, darkness folding around him even more beyond the rising night and he probably should have either found a spot to hole up for the night or how far Technoblade is from the house. It's completely possible that he's like a five day walk away instead of anywhere close, the area is clearly mostly wild beyond the yard and Tommy is highly unlikely to be interested in opening the door again given his reaction.
Luckily, as he reaches the edge of the copse, he can see a tall figure standing on top of a hill. They're wearing a cloak with the hood pulled up and it's not the distinctive red, but the only person that has a chance of rivaling the piglin's height is Bad.
Sapnap exhales, trying to see any hint of weapons. Maybe this isn't a good idea. If Technoblade is living here, he has to have taken Tommy in. Has to have dealt with the aftermath of the failed execution and whatever Tommy told him about the exile. The chance that he's going to be willing to talk about anything is shrinking and shrinking, but it's also the best chance he has to ask if Dream might be okay.
He takes a step and freezes as another person shows up.
No cracking of a pearl, woosh of an endermen, or snapping wings. They're wearing a dark cloak with the color bled away from the nearly set sun and no clear way to tell who it is. It's just a cloaked back, but he *knows* who that is.
No one other than Dream could appear without a single tell.
Sapnap watches as Dream shifts, the white mask becoming visible as he turns to Technoblade. Hands rise up to the piglin's hood, guiding it lower and their heads press together. They stand like that unmoving for seconds that tick into minutes as the sun fully sets and he breaths slowly and evenly.
This isn't something he should be watching. It's not something he should have seen without having talked with them.
He turns around, eyes stuck to the ground as he follows his footprints back toward the cabin. He can wait over there and hope the thought that Technoblade is still living here turns out to be true.
"Sapnap's at the edge of the trees," Techno says as Chat starts rambling that Dream has arrived. "He stopped at the cabin and Tommy pointed him this way. Looking for me."
There's no shift in Chat's excited chatter as Dream comes into visibility next to him, hands reaching up to tug his face down to press their foreheads together. His mask is still on. The clearest indication that Dream isn't fully comfortable, but he can feel the eyes staring into his own.
Chat mutters that Sapnap has left, but he doesn't need the assurance. Not when he watches the mask dissolve as they start and his gorgeous, handsome lover is barefaced in front of him. He lifts his hands slowly, running over the scared cheeks, under a discolored eye, and cradling the side that's missing most of an ear.
Dream stares up at him with wide eyes, the familiar flicker of uncertainty vanishing as Techno refuses to pull away.
"Hi," he whispers.
Dream doesn't say anything, a small smile flickers across his lips. He rises to his tip toes, watching for any sign Techno might pull away even as he presses a kiss to his lips. Part of him is expecting it to finish quickly. A sure sign that Dream doesn't want to risk running into anyone else yet. But it lingers and stretches and he's happy to go through with their date to. He's not going to object to spending time with his partner.
the shapeshifters are sort of the dreamons. instead of possessing or infecting someone, they are able to almost perfectly mimic their appearance and presence so others can't tell they aren't dealing with the actual person. there are a few ways to tell the difference, but they can be difficult. the easiest would be to have one of their pets in the room and watch the behavior of it. others are more complicated and require the knowledge that dreamons exist in the first place.
part of the screwed up timeline resulted in tommy being dropped off at techno's place by dream (actual, who was confused as shit about the situation) before the butcher army and they honestly both thought the army was there for both of them. tommy may have had a panic attack at the thought process his best friend was trying to kill him. he definitely did not cry and cling to techno when he got back.
dream was heavily injured in pandora which is a side effect of people being really pissed off about things the dreamons were doing, no one wanting to visit him because their focus was elsewhere, and techno not being dragged into pandora. part of that resulted in him being rendered mute as well as the injuries described at the end.
sapnap doesn't interact with dream. he does get to ask techno how he is, but that's it. frankly, dream isn't interacting with anyone besides techno and rarely tommy.
I could probably add more to this au, I'm just not sure what. I might be able to come up with something if anyone has anything specific, though.
