Info dump ur thoughts on c!punz' past with c!dream, or his past in general!
honestly this isn't something i'd really thought about before but now i have >:)
i think c!punz and c!dream met a while before the events of the smp but when they were both adults. they were acquaintances really, they knew eachother but weren't really friends. punz worked many different jobs including building for higher and gladiator fighting before settling on mercenary work so he could make a big profit but still have time for his own projects. then, dream hires him and he's excited to work for someone he knows. despite sending him on many very suspicious and risky jobs, even when they first started working together, punz prioritized working for dream over other jobs
im very partial to the "dream is using punz/only views him as a tool" hc so i see them becoming "friends" while punz is working for dream, it sets up greater power imbalance. however, them having know each other for a while gives punz a reason to trust dream
c!punz is a very materialistic person i think, and i would say thats a quality he's had for pretty much his whole life. him valuing being rich and making money to the point that having money defines who he is just the outcome of that- having things is good, but having diamonds is better.