#dragon!dream

When I decided to color these sketches with watercolor I was expecting it to not look good and then I would erase it and repaint with other brushes.

But then boom! It was actually starting to look even professional-like the more I kept coloring. I was surprised because my every attempt at watercolor looked like a 7 year old trying with the school’s shitty art supply.

I found out later it ended up looking great on accident, because before I started coloring, I thought the canvas looked to bland, the sketches didn’t pop out, so I used a technique I learned by watching YouTube Shorts on how to use Procreate to give the canvas a paper-like texture.

Basically I used several texture brushes on a different layer, painting with light desaturated warm colors and occasionally a pinch of strong yellows, browns and oranges. Then duplicated it, set one above the sketch on overlay and one below on really low opacity.

Turns out that does wonders when painting with watercolor, really looks like actual ink on paper with the way it melts and creates extra shades of color.

Also little silly thing I noticed after a while, with the way I colored and textured Dream’s body, it makes him look like a underbaked oily bagel 🥯

I really want to take a bite of him, I’m hungry.

If you really liked this and want one, I have my commissions open!

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Making sure that his territory is secure and there's nothing off about it is second nature. Dream can handle only doing smaller patrols for a while, but he has to have at least one larger patrol every month. One that stretches from the mountains to the forests to the plains and down to through the tunnels around his den. It's rare that there is anything. The closest human settlement is an easy day's flight outside of his territory and he doesn't like interacting with the annoying small things on the ground.

So seeing a burnt section of the trees is odd and gets even odder as he follows it to a charred clearing where a smoking bird dressed in gleaming fire is crashed in the center. Their wings look broken and their eyes are dull as they watch him step closer and closer.

Dream can't be certain, but he's thinks this is a phoenix. The immortal bird of fire and life crashed into his territory and seeming to have just escaped from some kind of battle or imprisonment. The stories say they heal from these sorts of wounds. That they come back from their ashes just as strong as before without any help from outsiders. There's no reason for Dream to get involved outside of making sure whatever did this to the phoenix doesn't enter his territory.

And yet-

His claws dig into the soil around the bird, turning it up as he scoops the no where as warm being into his curled paw and takes off into the air back to his den. He remembers being in that position. Alone and hurt and everyone who might have helped looking past him because he was supposed to be strong enough to take care of himself without outside help. It sucked. It hurt to see others in the same spot getting the help he needed and is a big reason he prefers to stick to himself. And right now, he can help someone else out who is probably in the same position as him.

He can feel the feathers shifting against his paw, a sharp beak resting against the edge of a scale as he flies. It doesn't take long to reach even though he's going through the physical entrance. He makes sure to be careful as he carries the phoenix through his den and to the warmest part of it.

The bird's eyes are a bit brighter as he puts them down in the sand pit he keeps for scale cleaning. The caldera underneath here is enough to keep this room almost too warm for Dream, but he thinks it should be good for a phoenix. There's more he can add, though, especially for the wings and he stalks out of the room to start dragging that in. By the time he's done, the phoenix has a few cushions, some smaller rocks tucked around for a makeshift nest, various bits of meat since Dream has no clue what they eat, and a small pile of metals and gems to make them feel better.

He tilts his head, debating if there's anything else he can get them, but nothing comes to mind. Dream looks them over and all told, they look better. The flame feathers are brighter, their eyes sharp as they stay latched on him, and their own talons scratching through the sand beneath them. Maybe for now this is all he can do.

"You aren't going to eat me?" a voice reminiscent of crackling forest fires asks.

He looks over his shoulder, wing at the phoenix who's lifted their head from the ground, "No? I want to make sure you heal. Would eating you help you heal faster?"

The phoenix tilts their head, "You could have left me there."

"There's been points I needed help and others didn't give me it because of what I am," he says. "I wasn't going to just leave you there if I could at least offer a spot for you to heal safely."

They hum and tuck their head under a wing instead of responding. He waits for a moment to see if there's going to be anything else, then turns to head to his own nest. He wants to curl up for now. Figuring out what else to do can wait until he's rested a bit.

The phoenix awake when he comes back in. Sitting up and if not for the hanging wings, they would look much like any other bird.

"Would you be willing to help set my bones?" they ask, a wing twitching.

Dream stares at the delicate thing, "Are you sure? I'm not exactly built for things like that."

Red eyes stare at him, "As long as you follow what I tell you to do, it will be fine."

And he does. Careful to do only exactly as the phoenix asks him to do which turns out to be shifting to they can shove their wings against Dream's scales and snap the bones into their place. The cracks are disturbing to hear and he keeps expecting them to stop at some point. To pull back from the pain of the task, but they don't until both wings are set into place.

At that point they nestle down into the sand, neck collapsing not long after, "Could you push the stones closer? To help with support."

He does. Adjusting them until the phoenix says they are good and he sits back on his haunches, "Do you need anything else? More food, water? I can get you some more cushions or metals if you want."

"...Techno," they say.

He blinks down at them, "What?"

"It's my name," the phoenix - Techno - explains and their eyes close as their breathing evens into sleep.

Well. He's... not sure what to do with that. His eye catches the bits of food he'd dragged in, noting that some have actually been eaten. He looks back at the sleep bird and as silently as possible turns to go start collecting some more of those items. Techno might have said they weren't interested in anything right now, but he can at least make sure he has some on hand for when they are.

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The next days follow a simple pattern of Dream checking in on Techno, helping in some way, leaving to either gather things together or take care of his own tasks, and returning to talk or read a book Techno requested. Each interaction tat goes by, though, he can't help noticing how the feathers grow more and more disheveled. His claws are built to work with feathers - they have to be - but asking to help with taking care of another's preening would be too far. He can't bring himself to offer and he hopes that his lingering attention hasn't been noticed. It would be horrible if he's making the guest who can't leave because of broken wings uncomfortable.

He scratches at his scales, looking over the rest of the room. Everything looks alright still. No cracks or twisted flows of energies. All of it looks alright to keep up the healing for them, at least.

"Dream," Techno calls, beak perched on one of the rocks when he looks over, "do you happen to have anything to help take care of feathers? Mine are getting, uncomfortable."

Dream winces slightly, knowing the exact feeling Techno means, "I don't. I use my claws when I need to take care of my feathers."

The dull red embers burst to flaring oranges and yellows as the phoenix lifts his head slightly, "You have feathers that shed? And you aren't reliant on them for flight?"

"Um. Yes? All of my-" He pauses, thinking for a moment, "All of my subspecies switches between feathers and scales. It depends on the season."

Techno hums, head lowering back to the rock though his eyes are still bright and sharp on him, "Would you be willing to help with mine?"

Dream hesitates. He's wanted to. It hurts his talons to see his guest who he's quickly viewing as a friend in what rings as an uncomfortable state of being. But preening is a thing only the closest bonds do. Family, blood friends, mates- It's not a thing to do with someone you've effectively just met no matter how close he feels to them.

On the other hand, Techno is the one who asked. The one who broke that topic in the first place and maybe it's not as big of a deal for phoenixes?

"I can," he says, slowly stepping closer. "Let me know if I do something that hurts or is uncomfortable."

It goes smoothly. Dream runs through the feathers carefully, slowly over hours to make sure he doesn't hurt Techno, but still manages to take out the ones dead and damaged. All of Techno looks better by the time he pulls back. His eyes are closed, chest expanding slow and deep with even breathes signaling sleep. Dream sinks slightly into the ground of the room, moving silently to leave. Techno still needs all the rest he can get.

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Preening is added to the rotation. Dream has to remind himself every time it is just a helping hand. That it means nothing to Techno beyond someone helping to care for the feathers he can't reach while he's recovering. For Dream it's a battle with his instincts as they say this is clearly an indication of interest beyond simple acknowledgement.

His steps are slow as he heads to the room, running through his mind about how this is nothing beyond helping someone he can. Even if Techno is wonderful to talk with, always having a perspective Dream hadn't considered or with things that change the ideas he already had. He's been able to expand the defenses of his portal so much which hasn't helped his tangled feelings, but it's somewhat easier to ignore than the preening. Hopefully Techno's feathers are well enough Dream can maybe keep the topic to defenses or the strange things other creatures do. He had no idea that humans were apparently bonded by blood like dragons.

He pauses, looking up. There's an odd feeling in the air. Not something he's ever felt before, but it doesn't feel... hostile. Bad.

Still, oddness is not always good. He stays steady in his steps as he closes the last few steps, "Techno?"

There's a singing hum, vibrating through the air. Dream pokes his head into the room not seeing any sort of threat at a quick scan so what-

Dream stares. Can feel his jaw hanging open and he can't move.

Techno is standing, perched on a few stones. He's taking up most of the sand pit area, curving back easily at the same level as Dream's shoulder if not higher as a flaring head is working along feathers. Tail feathers fanned out across the easily dozen blocks of sand and reaching the stone surrounding it. All of his feathers sweeping coils of fire crackling with wild life. The room is warmer. Almost burning even from where he's standing at the entrance. The air itself feels full of life, as though an entire forest might pop into existence at any moment.

He... He might get why someone would want to hunt a phoenix, now.

Techno's head shifts, rises clearly over Dream's height on a deceptively delicate neck. He's obviously better. The wounds vanished and not a hint of it lingering as Dream keeps staring. He's, he's going to be leaving soon. Right? He's better so there's no reason to stay. Techno can return to his own nest and Dream should be the one to ask. Make it clear he's not trying to keep him here.

"Would you mind if I stayed longer?" Techno asks, wings beating a few times before settling against his sides. There's glass drops formed where the feathers have hit.

Dream stares at him, mind struggling to catch up with the words, "What?"

"It's nice here," Techno says. "I like the feel of it. How you've shaped and taken care of it." Dream nods, words stuck in his throat and there's another vibrating hum overlapping a chirp as Techno steps closer. "Give me a tour."

And he can't say no.

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AU Notes:

dream is an ender dragon. in this one, they will grow feathers at various points much like other animals will grow thicker coats in the winter.

phoenixes are rare, only really known of in stories. it's nearly impossible to mistake one for anything else simply because of their presence. they are life. techno was injured enough most of his power was focused on keeping him alive so it wasn't present.



• Do Dream and Nightmare preen their wings from time to time? Taking in mind they have feathers instead of membrane Dream is the only one with feathers but yes, he does preen them and he loves to get help with it! It a very nice bonding activity for him, and something I can see the Stars doing together a lot~

• Where did Epic and Cross meet? Epic and Cross technically meet for the first time twice! The very first time was in the XTale version before the current one, in which Cross was actually a completely normal Guardian covered fully with mostly black scales. The meetings were mostly between their respective Gasters but they ended up striking up a friendship that was progressing into something more, until Xtale once again reset and the new version of Cross remembered nothing of Epic until much later.

The second time is when the current version of Cross is kind of between factions. Dream has been trying to convince Cross to join his side as Cross grows less vengeful over his past, which eventually leads him to lose his Carnage claim. This in turn leads to Nightmare growing distrustful of Cross, eventually ordering the others to kill him as he's convinced the guardian has joined Dream's side.

Cross manages to escape, mostly due to Dust sparing him, and he ends up traveling between aus to stay hidden. It's during these travels where he eventually bumps into Epic, who at first doesn't recognize him but slowly connects the dots and figures out who he is. Epic himself is gathering intel from different aus and makes that his main excuse to tag along with Cross while trying to reconnect.

Cross is at first put off with having someone who knows a past version of him following him around, but eventually grows curious and closer with Epic. During this Cross is trying to decide who's side he's really on in the battle between Nightmare and Dream, still holding some loyalty to Night despite everything but also feeling a strong sense of trust towards Dream. Epic is a nice distraction from those troubling thoughts.

After everything, when Nightmare and Dream temporarily defeats the Stalker (impossible to defeat a god completely, but it got them off their tails for a while) and calls a tentative truce, Cross joins Nightmare again but also helps out the Stars when he can. Between that he also visits Epic who he quickly starts to see as his best friend, and someone he can keep to himself without all the drama between his flights, so it takes quite some time for the others to clue into their connection. Cross never quite remembers Epic from the point of view of his past self, he has some small memories and recollections, but not a lot. Epic never tells Cross that they were growing to be more than friends in the past, not wanting to influence Cross' feeling for him, but they do eventually reach that point in their friendship again <3

• Is there an Error equivalent? And is he involved into the gang? Yes there is! Error is part of Nightmare's flight, but he's rarely seen around the others in the beginning. He's a demi-god like Nightmare, but through a gifted claim rather than by blood. He's around Nightmare's size but can and will regulate his size to what he finds the most comfortable or convenient. He is also Nightmare's first mate, something that no one catches onto for the longest time and which pretty much makes Killer see him as a rival for a time (Killer was very determined to become Night's first mate, only to have his hopes crushed when he realized he already had one. It left him quite bitter with Error for a while!) Error also bit off one of Nightmare's tails off when they first met, which is why big void corrupt Night only has three tails instead of four!