December 12 - College AU

December 13 - Fraternize with the enemy

December 14 - Sneaking Out

December 15 - Fake-out Make-out

December 16 - Practice Kissing

December 17 - Fake Daring

December 18 - Getting back together

Well, Fundy had clearly made a mistake.

“Oh, I’ll go for a walk!” he had decided a few hours prior. “A nice evening stroll through the woods, what could go wrong with that?” he had reasoned. Not in those words exactly, and maybe that was his first mistake. Maybe saying “What could go wrong?” would’ve reminded him about the monsters that roam the forest at night, or made him check the sky for darker clouds at the very least.

It was too late to reminisce, though.

He was currently too busy running for his life from countless monsters through the heavy rain, slipping on the muddy ground and stumbling over roots every couple of steps. He really should’ve just stayed home. Now he was soaked, his uniform would probably forever be stained by at least some mud, and if he somehow didn’t get shot by a skeleton or eaten by a spider any moment now, he’d end up catching a cold either way.

Or maybe he really wouldn’t get that far. Death became a much more likely scenario when he stumbled over another root, but failed to catch his balance and found himself tumbling down a small hill this time. He spotted a creeper in his way and barely had enough time to swear before he crashed into it. For a moment, they both tumbled, but then the dreadful hiss came…

And then, the monster jerked violently before going still, the noise slowly fading out. That still left Fundy lying on the ground, sore and muddied, but it was better than exploding for sure. Except, something must’ve killed the creeper, and the silhouette standing over him didn’t resemble any of the monsters he knew-

“Are you okay?” the person, person standing over him asked, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He could barely hear them over the rain, but they were here and they probably just saved his life. He nodded.

“...Yeah, thanks,” he responded after getting a bit closer to catching his breath.

“Good,” the stranger nodded, briefly pausing to look around. Finally, he leaned over Fundy and offered him a hand. “We need to find a shelter,” he declared, and Fundy knew he was right, so he took his hand. He was pulled back onto his feet within seconds.

…The stranger’s hands were warm, that was the first thing Fundy noticed. So was his voice, he thought, warm and reassuring. It was hard to make out his face, but there was a certain glint in his eyes that Fundy simply couldn’t miss while the man looked around, checking for any dangers. Lastly, Fundy finally acknowledged just how strong the stranger was.

Well. Getting rescued in a situation like this was always welcome, but getting rescued by such a handsome guy-

“I swear there was a cave somewhere around here, we could take shelter there,” the stranger turned around while he tried to see through the darkness and the rain.

That was the moment that Fundy noticed something at the side of his rescuer’s head. An eerily familiar mask-

Oh. Oh no.

His life flashed in front of his eyes when he realized that the handsome guy that saved him just happened to be Dream, of all people! Dream, the man in charge of the nation L’Manburg was at war with! The one person who, the moment he’d recognize him, would probably kill him before Fundy would know what was happening.

…Was it too late to run? Maybe with the weather, Dream wouldn’t bother chasing him?

“There it is,” the man’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Fundy cautiously followed his gaze and sure enough, something that looked like a cave wasn’t all that far from them.

He wanted to run, but… Dream hadn’t recognized him yet, and if he could get somewhere to hide from the rain for a moment, it was really tempting. Besides, it was dark, so the man probably couldn’t see too many of his features, not to mention his now-muddy L’Manburg coat, and…

“I’m right behind you,” he said, and that was enough to have Dream start walking to the cave.

For a moment, Fundy eyed the sword in Dream’s hand. His grip didn’t seem tight, so he felt safe assuming that the man was under the impression that he too belonged to the Greater SMP. Normally, he’d be offended, at least to some extent, but in this situation, that clearly worked in his favor, so he said nothing.

He wouldn’t stick around for too long, just enough to catch his breath and maybe dry a bit. He’d see if the rain would let up, and if it didn’t, he’d probably leave in less than an hour either way. Maybe he’d lie, say he’s off to look for firewood or… something, or maybe he’d just get up and bolt without an explanation.

Or he’d just sneak away! Dream could barely see him as it was, so inside the cave, there was a high chance he wouldn’t notice him at all! So if he was just quiet enough- The moment that Dream made it into the cover the cave offered, he attached his sword to his belt and took something else out of his pocket. Fundy stopped in his tracks, just a few feet away from that sweet shelter from the rain…

With dread, he watched Dream light a torch with a flint and steel that he quickly slipped back into his pocket.

Well. This was as far as Fundy was getting, wasn’t it?

“Are you-” Dream turned to face him, and he fell silent. With a squint, he lifted the torch to light up more of their surroundings.

The light easily reached Fundy’s uniform, and even if the mud coating it was thick, it was still easily recognizable. They both spent quite a while just staring at each other, Dream slowly going over the new information in his head while Fundy desperately tried to find an out from this situation. He briefly looked himself over and spotted his old bow dutifully hanging at his side. 

He took it with him out of habit, he didn’t even bring any arrows along… but now, it could be enough.

He jumped back and quickly lifted it, pretending to pull back an arrow he really wished he had. Dream, in turn, staggered deeper into the cave, but paused after only a couple of steps. Fundy tried to come up with an “intimidating” way of offering to turn tail and run, but before he could get those words out, Dream… lifted his hands in surrender? His expression was intensely unreadable, but it clearly wasn’t mocking.

“...Well,” the man started. Fundy stayed silent, focusing on not making it obvious that he had no projectiles. The moment Dream realized, this would be over. “...How about a truce?”

This was not… Did that mean Fundy could still take shelter in the cave? At least for a moment?

No, this was a trap. It must’ve been a trap. He’d be foolish to even consider-

“...Okay. Leave your sword by the entrance, then,” he demanded, trying to put on an intimidating voice and failing miserably. Still, he watched as Dream slowly lowered a hand, lifted his sword, and rested it against the cave wall before stepping away.

“There,” he answered, and now that was an intimidating voice. “Your turn.”

“...Fine,” Fundy nervously mimicked the motion of sliding an arrow out of a bow and slipping it into some imaginary container again. He finally stepped into the cover of the cave and rested his bow on its other wall. “Truce.”

Dream finally lowered his hands and held one of them in Fundy’s direction, inviting a… handshake? To seal the truce, Fundy supposed. Still cautious, he approached and offered his own hand. Dream’s grip was firm, but he didn’t use the opportunity to throw Fundy against the nearest wall or pull him close enough to stab him, so it was… fine, Fundy supposed.

“You don’t have a sword?” the man asked once their handshake ended. He started walking deeper into the cave, and, not wanting to lose sight of him, Fundy followed.

“No,” he confirmed. “It’d be too dangerous,” he mocked his father’s words before realizing that it was not what he should be telling his enemy. “...For your side. We’re not… that cruel,” he clarified, and oh, it wasn’t any better, was it?

Dream laughed.

It wasn’t a mocking laughter, but a genuine wheeze followed by a few light chuckles, as if Fundy had just told the greatest joke ever. The cave’s echo carried the noise and for a moment, Fundy felt surrounded by it, as if it was the only sound that mattered in the entire world, drowning out the noise of the rain with that sweet-

Yeah. Yeah. It was the echo. Nothing more. He collected himself fast enough to convince himself of that.

“Sure,” Dream nodded, and he thankfully didn’t seem to have noticed anything off about Fundy’s reaction. “So they have you shooting a bow instead?” he asked, and Fundy reluctantly nodded before realizing that he was being interviewed for information about L’Manburg’s defenses. “Is that why your… coat is different?”

“Oh, no,” he shook his head. “It’s a… personal choice,” he declared, and it wasn’t exactly a lie. “But what about you? Do you only do sword fighting?” he asked before Dream could continue his questioning.

“...No,” the man shook his head. “I also use axes. Crossbows, sometimes. They’re more reliable than bows, in my experience,” he elaborated, and that was… a surprising amount of information to volunteer? “I’m still surprised your president lets you add your own touches to his great uniforms, though,” he steered the conversation back.

“Well, it’s not like he can kick me out, and he prefers this over my jacket,” Fundy shrugged. He kind of hoped Dream would ask about that jacket. It was a nice jacket Fundy wouldn’t mind describing.

“Right. Too low on people to kick anyone out, huh?” Dream raised his eyebrows, and oh, he was absolutely interrogating him with this. Even worse, that slight worked.

“No, we have plenty,” Fundy replied, but Dream continued to look at him with anticipation, expecting more of an explanation. An explanation Fundy didn’t owe him in the slightest, it didn’t matter if the man believed him- “...I’m his son,” he admitted.

“Alright,” Dream nodded. “That explains things,” he added, and Fundy frowned at him. “Why he doesn’t want you on the actual battlefield,” he clarified.

“That’s not-” Fundy cut himself off. “Believe what you want,” he muttered instead. He was not giving Dream any more information, he refused.

“I will,” the man nodded, sitting down and placing the torch in front of him. Reluctantly, Fundy sat down on the other side, keeping further away from the light just in case.

Neither of them spoke after that. What else was there to say? Fundy had figured out Dream’s little plot to get information out of him, so he wouldn’t answer any more questions, and there wasn’t really a reason for Dream to volunteer any information.

Their truce might’ve left them in a slightly awkward situation, but at least they were both dry. At least they were out of the rain and safe from the monsters. Their clothes were slowly drying, and it was almost… nice, Fundy thought. If he looked past the fact that it was Dream sitting in this cave with him, it was basically a nice situation. And he could easily look past that one inconvenient fact by simply looking away for what must’ve been at least an hour.

“...Fundy,” Dream was the one to break the silence. His voice sounded stern, almost upset, so Fundy decided against ignoring him.

The moment he looked at Dream, it became obvious that he was the only one finding this situation remotely comfortable. The Greater SMP’s ruler’s clothes still looked absolutely drenched and he could swear there was a slight shivering motion he could see.

“How aren’t you cold?” the man asked in a way that made the question sound more like an accusation. Normally, Fundy would’ve been absolutely horrified, but right now, he was honestly doubting that the man could do him any harm.

“Well, our coats are really well made,” he answered. “Thick, warm, good at keeping you dry,” he named, keeping an eye on Dream’s reaction just in case he’d need to run. The man didn’t appear too angered by the answer, though… maybe annoyed? But not furious, so Fundy figured he could take this just a bit further. “Do you want to borrow it?”

The stare Dream gave him was piercing, but the man didn’t bother moving from his spot. This was… strange. Fundy honestly expected to be forced to start running halfway through his first sentence, but… either Dream really respected their truce or he was very tired.

“No,” the man answered sharply, and the tone of his voice convinced Fundy against trying to do anything else that could annoy him. Who knew, maybe one more snide remark would push him over the edge, and then- “...Or…” Dream continued.

Now when Fundy looked at him, he found him looking down in what he could only assume was something between embarrassment and shame.

“...Wait, do you actually want it?” he asked, making sure his offer sounded at least a bit more sincere. For the sake of the truce, of course. He wouldn’t be doing this in any other circumstances.

“...Yes.”

This was certainly… something.

Fundy doubted that this was a trick of any sort. Sure, Dream was apparently good at being a few steps ahead of everyone, but what good would borrowing Fundy’s coat do him? What, would he try to steal it? What would that give him?

“...Okay,” he nodded, carefully sliding his coat off of his shoulders and approaching Dream. “Here.”

“Thanks,” Dream mumbled while he took it. He looked at it for a moment, and judging by his expression, Fundy was beginning to think that the man in front of him was absolutely freezing. Otherwise, there was probably nothing that would make him sigh and reluctantly try it on.

He paused almost instantly, though. He put the coat at his side and looked down at his hoodie, tugging at its neck opening for a moment. Then, without much of a warning, he pulled it off and threw it aside. It landed with a loud, wet thump. Well, at least he had a shirt under that hoodie, Fundy thought while the man picked the coat back up and finally put it on.

They were silent again, but Fundy could swear he saw Dream glancing at him every once in a while. He supposed he was waiting for him to start shivering without his coat, maybe? So that he could get the last word in, a “Who’s cold now?” or “Do you want the soggy hoodie?”. Well, assuming that he was still putting together that great final line, Fundy decided to interrupt him.

“What?” he asked the next time Dream turned his gaze to him. “Still cold? I don’t know what else I can give you. A hug?” he offered.

As teasing, of course. Teasing for some… truce-related reason. He couldn’t quite figure out what that reason was, but he had one for sure.

Maybe it was to see that glare again. To remind himself that Dream wasn’t a friend, but an enemy. Someone who could not be trusted.

That glare looked just like the one Dream gave him when he offered him the coat. Angry, almost vicious… but at the same time, reluctant? Not to mention, no “No” followed the expression. Huh.

“...If you want one, then, uhh…” Fundy hesitantly lifted one of his arms. “...Since we have that truce, I think that’s… fine?”

“Right,” Dream nodded. “The truce.”

For a moment, they stayed still. Then, very reluctantly and slowly, Dream moved closer.

It was awkward. Gods, it was so awkward. Dream was stiff, and his shoulder dug into Fundy’s side painfully. He wasn’t all that much better, though, he was still trying to keep his guard up during a hug and most of his face was still coated by some mud that he was surely getting onto Dream now. It wasn’t horrible, though. It was warm. Very warm, in fact, and Fundy started to wonder if he actually wasn’t cold before. The embrace also let him, well… judge Dream’s physique better, as he’d prefer to say it. Not in a weird way, of course, but that hoodie did absolutely hide-

Okay, no, weird. Fundy stopped his thought process right there and tried desperately to focus on something else. That led to his thoughts wandering, and that, in turn, slowly made him relax as his current situation was pushed into the back of his mind. He could worry about it later. In the morning, preferably.

===

He fell asleep. He wasn’t sure how, or why, but he absolutely fell asleep right there, on the cave floor, with Dream’s arm over his shoulders and his own wrapped around Dream’s waist. He fell asleep.

Apparently, so did Dream.

And now the torch they were by was nearly burned out, his side was sore and stiff, and Dream was still lying on the ground. Unfortunately, Fundy’s attempts at sitting up and moving away to look more casual lacked a lot of grace and were more than enough to disturb the man’s sleep. While he was waking up, Fundy couldn’t help but look at him. At first, it was to know when to start shooting off explanations, but after a moment he found himself just… staring. Looking at this confusedly-handsome man wearing his coat, slowly turning onto his back and rubbing his eyes halfway through a stretch.

Dream was cute, and Fundy felt no shame in admitting that. The regret of letting himself think that hit him just a few moments after, though, and he didn’t dare to continue the topic in his mind. Other than that, it was a fairly… peaceful morning, he supposed. After a very awkward brief talk they were both obviously desperate to end and returning all the clothes they had to their rightful owners, the tension seemed to drop, and slowly, they made their way to the entrance to the cave, where they could collect their weapons.

“...Is the truce still… you know?” Fundy asked once the first stroke of sunshine caught his eye.

“I won’t try anything,” Dream assured him, and there was something in his voice that Fundy couldn't quite place. It's been there the entire morning, but still, no actual description came to mind. 

Well, there was no time to dwell on that. Soon enough, they were at the entrance to the cave, Fundy's bow and Dream's sword resting against opposing walls. They didn't go for them immediately, but instead took a moment to see the world outside of the cave. It wasn't raining anymore and the sun shone down on them brightly, but the ground was still muddied. Some skeleton bones and rotten flesh were skewed all around the place, too, which meant it was probably safe to leave.

Fundy crouched down by his bow and took a moment to praise it in his mind. He hadn't shot it in days, they were too low on arrows for that, but it still managed to save his life. Probably. It definitely got him a shelter at the very least, along with an interesting "truce". It was a good bow.

“Oh, Fundy, here,” Dream said. When Fundy looked at him, he was already standing outside of the cave, sword firmly at his side and a few slightly-muddy arrows in hand. Offering him the arrows.

“...Why?” he asked, but he still took the arrows. They were useful, even if they were probably dropped by some skeleton.

“So that you can actually shoot something if you need to,” Dream answered casually. It didn't sound like a joke, and Fundy froze. “We're quite far from L'Manburg.”

“...So you know about...?” Fundy let his voice trail off just in case Dream didn't know. Maybe those were meant to be extra arrows or... something?

“That you have no arrows. Yes,” Dream responded, and there went all of Fundy's hope. Well, at least the man didn't seem angry. Frustrated a bit, probably bitter about getting fooled so easily, but... not murderous amounts of anger. “I noticed you didn't have any on you back there,” he explained, motioning back into the cave.

“What?” Fundy followed Dream's gesture. When would Dream notice that? The only moment they were close enough was- “Did you search me in my sleep?” he demanded.

“What? No!” Dream was quick to shake his head. That was surprising, honestly. Even if he didn't, Fundy half-expected some strange mind games to follow. Not a clear answer. “I just assumed they would have dug into me while we were, you know. But you were very sof-” the man cut himself off. “...Arrow-less?”

Sure.

Sure, yeah, if Fundy ignored at least half of that statement, it seemed fine. It seemed understandable. It was something he could go ahead and forget about immediately.

“Sure,” he shook his head. He wiped the mud off of the arrows and slipped them into the designated arrow pocket his coat had. “Sure. Thanks for the arrows,” he mumbled.

He picked up his bow and secured it at his side again. He could forget about this entire night, maybe even convince himself that he imagined it? It wasn't like he'd ever find himself in Dream's arms again, he wouldn't even want that, even if Dream was actually really warm and nice, even if that embrace felt much safer than it had any right feeling-

...Yeah. He needed to stop thinking about that fast, or at least pause the stream of thoughts until he was far away, so that Dream couldn't see his expression anymore.

Thankfully, this was over. This was goodbye. Fundy was thankful, not sad.

“Quick question,” Dream said instead of 'Goodbye forever, if you even mention this I will have you killed'.

“Yeah?” Fundy responded, ignoring the slight relief that came with the realization that this was not, in fact, over just yet.

“Do you even know how to use a sword?” Dream asked, and Fundy's hopeful expression fell into a frown. “They're more convenient than bows most of the time,” he pointed out. Fundy stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out if he should take offense to Dream's question or just settle on honesty to make this probably-last-conversation-between-them a nicer memory.

“...I know,” he sighed after a moment. “But they're too dangerous for me, so... no,” he mocked the last excuse his father gave when he wanted to learn. Dream nodded with a thoughtful hum.

“I could teach you,” he... offered? Or was that just him calling himself oh-so superior when it came to sword fighting. Fundy couldn't tell, but... one option seemed much more probable.

“Yeah, and then I can kill you the next time there's a fight,” he rolled his eyes, and Dream laughed.

“I doubt your father would let you get nearly close enough to use a sword on me,” he crossed his arms, and... Fundy had to admit that he was probably right. “It's just so I'll feel less guilty if you get mauled by a monster if you're out at night again. I gave you arrows, taught you how to use a sword... not my fault anymore,” he shrugged, and Fundy sighed. Sure. Great reasoning. “...So?”

“Wait, is that a real offer?” Fundy asked when it became apparent that Dream was waiting for an answer. The man gave a half-nod along with another shrug. “...Sure, yeah, that sounds nice...?” he agreed after a moment.

Well, he said yes. That meant he wouldn't get to forget about this situation anytime soon, because there'd still be consequences. More meetings. Meetings with Dream. With Dream. Should he go back on his word immediately, and resign? 

That sounded sensible.

That also sounded like not something he'd do. Not after this meeting. This "truce". Now he found himself... curious? He wanted to see where things would go next.

“Great! I'll get the swords,” Dream declared, and Fundy nodded half-absentmindedly. Sure. Might as well happen.

Sneaking out to meet with Dream. Why not? His mind immediately provided at least 7 reasons, but he quickly countered them with "At least Dream's handsome, and his smile looks really cute right now", effectively shutting down his entire brain by the sheer embarrassment using that "reasoning" brought him.

“Alright, I can probably sneak out tonight…?” he suggested because he couldn’t just stay quiet.

“Sounds good,” Dream agreed.

At first, Fundy just smiled, but then his mind wandered to a certain realization. He paused for a moment, thinking back to how all the decisions since they met were made. It was Dream who suggested the truce, Fundy only got to accept and request they leave their weapons. Then it was Dream implying he wanted to borrow the coat or huddle for warmth, Fundy only got to put those requests into words and agree. Now Dream suggested meeting again, all Fundy could decide was the time.

That was probably making Dream more comfortable, being more or less in control of the situation. Well, that was going to change one way or another at some point, and Fundy decided he’d rather know what happens then sooner than later.

He just had to suggest something himself! See how Dream would react to something unpredictable! If it was a bad reaction, he could just never turn up at their next “meeting”! Now he just had to come up with something unexpected!

Not much came to mind. Something about that meeting, maybe? But what? It was technically Dream’s idea, but if he could change something big…

“Great! Maybe let’s make it a date, too?”

Well. Apparently, a part of his mind booted back up. The wrong part.

“Sure,” Dream nodded.

…Was that it? Was that all-

“...Wait, what?” Dream turned to face him.

Well. That was Fundy’s cue to turn tail and run, as he should’ve last evening.

“...Yeah, I need to go, don’t want anyone to notice I was gone- Bye!” he backed away cautiously. Once he was a fair few feet away, he waved his hand before turning and speed-walking away.

Dream didn’t chase him, so… he supposed it wasn’t a bad reaction? He supposed he could still try to sneak out the next night.

These sleepless nights would catch up to him at one point, Fundy knew that well. Nonetheless, he continued staring at his laptop’s dull screen, the only light source in his dorm room, typing away on the keyboard every once in a while. If he didn’t get this code to work within 7 hours, his teacher would absolutely cut his head off, so pulling this all-nighter was his only option, wasn’t it? He supposed so.

Why couldn’t it just work, though?! By all means, it should’ve been up and running hours ago, but every time he thought he was finally done, there was something wrong! Was he missing a semicolon somewhere? Did he forget to close a loop? Mistyped a command? Who knew?! That was, apparently, a secret between this stubborn code and God, and he was neither. He was just a student who probably got less than 10 hours of sleep in the past week or two, barely comprehending the lines his own hands typed out…

He was snapped out of his dramatic internal monologue by something hitting his window.

He almost fell out of his chair and scrambled away until its back hit the wall, that must’ve been the first noise other than an “Error” pop-up he’s heard in the past few hours. It didn’t take him long to relatively calm down, though, and he looked at his window. When he saw a silhouette outside of it, his panic returned full-force, and he quickly unplugged and grabbed his desk lamp to use as a weapon. Just in case, of course. He wouldn't really have to use it for self-protection, it was just another one of those unexplainable thoughts his sleep-deprived brain was conjuring up.

He could ignore this, wait it out, and get back to work, he told himself. Then he realized that the person outside was very clearly trying to open the window, and that hope faded. In a feat of confidence he had no idea where he got, he fixed his grip on his lamp and carefully approached the window. Whoever was breaking in, they probably expected him to be asleep, so maybe confronting them would be enough? And if not, he could break that desk lamp over their head.

In a swift motion, he opened the window and pulled his lamp back, ready to use it if necessary- The man outside was certainly startled, just barely managing to stop himself from falling back, but… he didn’t look like a burglar, though. He looked to be about Fundy’s age and he seemed vaguely familiar, so he probably was another student, and the look on his face was that of pure confusion, not… disappointment, or even fear that would come with getting caught red-handed. For a moment, they both stayed frozen.

“...This isn’t my room,” the man spoke finally. Fundy was so taken off guard that he found himself looking back, as if to check if he wasn’t in the wrong room. He was not.

“...Yeah,” he confirmed, looking back at the fellow student hanging helplessly from his window. Another wave of silence followed.

“...What room number is this?” the stranger asked. Luckily, Fundy didn’t have to go outside to check his door in order to answer that.

“326,” he answered. It wasn’t hard to remember, and the first number was just the floor number anyway- “Wait, this is the 3rd floor,” he realized, and suddenly having a guy outside of his window was much more alarming.

“...I think I’m climbing the wrong building,” the stranger said, cautiously looking down as he probably planned out his climb down.

“Why are you climbing buildings?” Fundy shot back before he could stop himself. He probably would’ve added ‘at this hour’ to the question, but he really didn’t want to check his watch anymore.

“Forgot my keys, my roommate is out for the night… I figured I’d just climb in through our window,” the man explained. That plan had… a lot wrong with it, and Fundy wasn’t sure what to point out first.

“The windows lock from the inside,” he began, it seemed like a good start. The stranger paused for a moment before groaning and resting his face on Fundy’s windowsill.

“...Right,” he agreed, still resting on the cool metal. “I’ll figure out a different way inside, then,” he declared, but he sounded unsure.

He was about to climb back down, Fundy realized, and that did not sound like something anyone should be doing, ever, but especially not something a tired person should be doing while it’s pitch black outside.

“Do you want to come inside and take the actual stairs down?” he offered, and the stranger lifted his head.

“Oh, yeah, thanks,” he nodded. Fundy opened the window wider for him and set down his ‘weapon’ to assist him with getting back in, but luckily that wasn’t needed. The guy was either very athletic overall, or just really good at climbing buildings, and Fundy couldn’t see all that well with all of his lights still out. “...Did I wake you up?” the man asked once he finally made it inside.

“Oh, no, I was just working on something and didn’t bother with the lights,” Fundy explained. “I’ll get them,” he decided, quickly getting to the other side of the room and flicking the light switch. “I’m Fundy, by the way,” he introduced himself before turning around.

Upon seeing the stranger properly, he froze. He was a tall, handsome blond with a face littered with freckles and lit up by the brightest smile on Earth, wearing a very recognizable, but somewhat worn-out green hoodie. Well… Fundy certainly knew why the man seemed “vaguely familiar” even in the darkness. They shared a few classes, including the coding one. All the classes they shared were coincidentally the ones he was struggling with the most. Even more unrelated, he spent at least 75% of them staring at this very man. Oh. Oh, this was-

“Dream,” the man introduced himself. He then noticed Fundy’s expression, probably. “...Is everything okay?”

“Yeah!” Fundy answered instantly, shaking his head and trying to talk himself into getting ahold of himself. “I just recognized you! I think we share a couple of classes!” he explained hurriedly, and Dream nodded in acknowledgment.

“...You do look a bit familiar,” he agreed after a moment.

Well, the guy he’s had his eyes on since the beginning of the school year almost breaking into his dorm room at probably 3 am was one thing. That same guy doing all that and recognizing him too was another. So he nodded and ran his hand across his face in an attempt of checking if it was burning up with a blush. Not yet, luckily.

“Oh, what is this?” Dream’s question snapped him back to reality and he found the man looking at his laptop.

“My code for tomorrow,” he answered, and Dream nodded in thought while he briefly looked over the lines currently visible on the screen. “It doesn’t work yet, but… I’ll get it running soon,” he added.

“Do you want any help?” Dream offered with a smile and Fundy’s heart just about stopped. “I’m done with mine already, maybe I could offer some insight? You know, in exchange for you not making me climb back down outside,” he continued, finally looking up at Fundy.

“Sure!” he answered while he turned around, trying to hide his now-absolutely-red face. His eyes landed on the tiny ‘kitchen’ in his room while he looked for an excuse. “...Do you want some coffee? I have an electric kettle,” he offered. “...Instant coffee,” he clarified.

“Sounds good,” Dream agreed, and Fundy immediately walked over to the cupboard, getting out the jar of instant coffee and two mugs. “Can I look through your code now?” he asked.

“Yeah, go ahead!” Fundy answered, trying very hard to focus on making the coffee at… 3:47 am, as he found out by finally looking at his watch.

Well. This certainly seemed just unreal enough to be a very strange dream he was having with his face on his keyboard, endlessly feeling his program with a string of “jhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh” somewhere where just a “;” would easily suffice.

He decided against pinching himself just yet, though. Who knew, maybe this possibly-dreamed-up-Dream held the secrets to getting his code to work. If not, maybe this imaginary meeting would give him just enough confidence to speak to the actual Dream in person, at least. Or maybe this was really happening, in which case, pinching himself would make him look like an absolute idiot.

So no pinching it was, even if this was most likely a crazy dream.

It quickly became routine for Fundy to sneak out of L’Manburg to meet with Dream. Grabbing his jacket, finding a small gift like a flower or some berries, and going through the gate the moment he saw it unattended were all things he could do automatically most evenings, and later, days.

A lot changed within the first two or so weeks of them dating.

They started out meeting under the cover of the night every two to three days, and started almost all of them with trying to teach Fundy how to use a sword without hurting himself, only getting to the more date-y activities after they were both exhausted. Gradually, these two objectives for their dates shifted, and now they rarely bothered even bringing the swords out.

Instead, they just sat together, talking for hours, joking and laughing, sharing the small meals they managed to smuggle to their date spot, and occasionally cuddling through the colder nights. Soft hours spent together before they’d need to go back to their dull lives, and the War between their nations.

Things seemed to be improving on that front, though.

Fundy wasn’t entirely sure what was happening, but his father certainly stopped looking as stressed as he had for months, and the atmosphere in L’Manburg seemed almost cheerful again. They still kept watch and sometimes someone would go “spy” on the Greater SMP, but as far as he could tell, no actual fights broke out since the day he and Dream met.

That, in turn, made it possible for them to go on dates even more often and during the day. Fundy still had to sneak out for those, but doing so in the broad daylight made it feel less risky somehow. He did get caught a few times, either leaving with flowers in hand or returning with his face still red… but even if it was his father catching him, the consequences were… minimal.

Previously, he probably would’ve gotten grounded for as much as crossing the gate, but now it was just… a lot of pestering for the next hour or so. “Who’s the lucky one?”, “When will I meet them?”, “How did you two meet?”, “Have I ever told you how your mother and I used to…”, the stream of questions and stories seemed endless, but it was much better than the alternative. 

Even if he had to lie about most of the questions. 

Besides, it almost always ended with a “Well, I won’t intrude on you two, take your time,” from his father, and he seemed to keep his word on that. That, and Dream seemed to find hearing about these interactions truly hilarious, so who was Fundy to complain? As long as his father thought he was happy, everything seemed to be getting only better, and no one ever came anywhere close to catching them together, he was very content with his situation.

Their near-downfall came to them in the shape of a jukebox, a disc Dream borrowed from a friend, and a brilliant idea to try dancing together.

“Do you know what song it is?” Fundy asked while he watched his boyfriend slide the disc into the jukebox.

“No idea,” Dream answered with a smile.

Fundy got an actual answer a few seconds later, when the first few notes of “Blocks” filled the air.

“Hm, not bad,” Dream hummed quietly, nodding in approval. After a moment of consideration, Fundy joined his side and tapped his shoulder, getting his attention.

“Care for a dance?” he asked with a grin, holding out a hand. After a second of surprise, Dream laughed lightly and nodded, taking his hand.

“...Is there an official dance for this one?” he asked after a brief pause, clearly trying to recall any mention of it.

“Probably,” Fundy shrugged, gently pulling him away from the jukebox to give them more space. “But I don’t know it either, so… let’s make something up?”

With a nod, Dream took Fundy’s other hand and started to sway, trying to fall into the rhythm of the song. Fundy took just a couple of seconds to admire the sweet, thoughtful expression on his boyfriend’s face before joining in. It started out fun, with the soft music drowning out the usual noises of the forest, letting them focus on nothing but each other as they tried to find a way to dance without stomping on each other’s feet. It was far from graceful, but the sweet smile on Dream’s face was more than enough to keep Fundy trying.

After a couple of re-listens, they almost had it! They were so close to going through it without losing balance, hitting their heads together, or any other issues! Maybe one more try after this, and it’d be just perfect-

“Fundy! Is that you?” his father’s voice rang out very close by.

Even though the jukebox continued playing, there was almost the noise of a record scratching in Fundy’s brain.

Oh no.

He looked at Dream in panic, trying to figure out if there was anywhere for the man to hide, if this was the scene his father walked in on he’d be absolutely grounded, and- Dream seemed to share his want to disappear instantly, and Fundy watched him reach for the spot he usually had an ender pearl or two “just in case”, but there was nothing there- Nowhere to hide Dream, no way for him to escape, so what-

“Fundy?”

Well. With probably less than 10 seconds to spare, Fundy’s mind finally came up with something. A last-ditch effort of salvaging this to some extent. Wilbur’s “I won’t intrude on you two” promise was suddenly fresh in his mind. He’d probably leave them be if he just didn’t realize that it was Dream next to him, but how could he-

“Okay, trust me on this,” he whispered, quickly pulling off his jacket and throwing it over Dream’s shoulders in an attempt to cover that awfully eye-catching green hoodie of his.

“Wha-” Dream cut himself off when Fundy pulled him closer.

There was a slight pause when their faces were oh so close, and Fundy watched as in the last moment, Dream’s expression lit up in recognition and his lips curled briefly into a smile.

Wilbur wouldn’t recognize Dream if he didn’t look at them for more than a second, and with this?

The next thing they knew, their lips were connected and their bodies pressed together while they staggered, trying to find balance. Their arms were wrapped around each other, Dream’s hands resting on Fundy’s back and side, and Fundy used one of his own to keep the jacket on his boyfriend while using the other one to run his fingers through the man’s hair.

For a moment, the world ceased to exist around them. There was no reason they had to start this, no consequence, just the warmth of each other’s bodies and the softness of their touch, a beautifully fulfilling sensation that could last forever-

“Fun-” Wilbur must’ve reached their date spot, but his words faded into a surprised sputter. “Oh, I’m so sorry-”

Fundy pulled away from Dream’s lips and for a moment, he couldn’t bring himself to look away from his boyfriend’s flushed face. He was sure he was not much better, he could already feel the heat radiating off his cheeks, but Dream was just so…

Right, right, his father was still here.

“Dad!” he feigned surprise, turning to look in the man’s direction. Wilbur was already forcibly looking away, staring awkwardly off to the side and red from embarrassment. “...Why are you here?” he kept up his act, and the man shook his head.

“Tubbo mentioned seeing you leave and drop this, I just wanted to, uh,” he stuttered, and Fundy spotted a single flower in his hand. It must’ve fallen out of his bouquet when he was leaving. “I see now, I’ll… uh, I’ll head back, if you need me, I’ll be… in the van? If you want to talk?”

“Yeah. Sounds good,” Fundy nodded. His heart was still in his throat for multiple reasons, but he couldn’t help feeling like the situation was just salvaged.

“...Do you want me to leave the flower…?”

“No, no, it’s fine, I- I got him more,” he explained briefly.

Without another word, Wilbur turned around and left, and Fundy never felt as relieved to watch him going away. The crisis was averted, the world wasn’t over, they somehow managed to hide this for another day.

After a moment spent just watching the place his father was just in, Fundy felt Dream’s hand gently wrap around his own. He turned around to see his boyfriend still bright red but with a grin on his face.

“We should get almost caught by him more often, if that’s the plan for that,” he decided and no, actually, the world might’ve as well ended. Fundy reached up to hide his face in his hands.

“...Look, I’m…!” he sputtered. That was a split-second decision, and it worked! However, even thinking back to that kiss seemed to dull all of his senses and fill his heart with an unsoothable longing for closeness to Dream, and he kind of needed his mind. His boyfriend laughed at his reaction. “I still need to talk to him about this, you know?” he groaned.

“...Right,” Dream seemed to collect himself. “...I’m just saying, if you survive that, we should do this more often,” he continued. Fundy uncovered his eyes to look at him and… oh, how could he say no?

“We can do that without getting caught by my father,” he suggested, and Dream nodded in feigned consideration.

“Maybe,” he hummed. “...That’s probably smarter.”

“Thank you,” Fundy sighed.

That sigh turned into another breath of relief when Fundy realized that his father would not be interrupting this date again. He looked at his gorgeous, handsome boyfriend, and found a very fond smile growing on his face.

Dream was still wearing his jacket. That was not something he was going to point out just yet, if only to see how long it’d take him to notice.

Fundy paused briefly while he looked at his coat hanging off the side of his bed. He got a decent amount of the mud off of it, but there was still an earthy shade to it that he doubted would ever leave. That was… expected, but still unfortunate for two main reasons. One, sooner or later his father would realize. Two, if things were to go horribly wrong with Dream… well, it’d be much harder to forget about him.

Now that he had a few hours to himself and thought everything over, he was aware of a whole bunch of things that could go horribly wrong, too. After going over the events of the previous night a fair few times, he reached a few conclusions, but… they were far from helpful.

He liked Dream a lot. Well, no, not exactly, he just thought the man was really handsome and found him charming when he wasn’t actively trying to murder him! That was all! And that was not the same as actually liking Dream. Not far from it, but… It was different. It had to be.

In spite of that, his mind kept going back to his “attempt at making his own decisions”, to suggesting they “make their meeting a date”. To that, and to Dream not saying no. More than that, to him saying “Sure” and then, after realizing what he agreed to, not trying to go back on it. 

…Did that mean it was a date?

Well, there was one way to find out. The sun was already low but no one was keeping the night watch yet, so if he wanted to sneak out, it was now or never. With a sigh, he scanned his room for anything he could need and, after finding nothing, he quietly left. He didn’t head for the gate straight away, though.

If this was a date, he’d hate to turn up empty-handed, and while he had little he could offer, he did spot a few nice flowers growing by the van earlier that day. That was where he headed first, crouching by its rear end and examining the plants before carefully picking a few daisies and putting them together into a small bouquet. It didn’t look perfect, but good enough… and besides, it was dark, so maybe Dream would be kind enough to just assume they looked nice. 

With that little gift finally ready, he headed for the gates and quietly snuck outside. As soon as he was on the other side of the wall, no more light from L’Manburg reached him, and everything grew dark. He took a moment to let his eyes adjust before carefully starting to walk over to the forest. If he moved slowly and smoothly, no one would notice him-

“Hey!” came a loud voice from the top of the wall, and he stopped in his tracks. “Who’s there?!”

He turned around and sure enough, there was someone on top of the wall, aiming a bow in his general direction. Tommy, if he had to judge by the voice alone, and with his eyes not entirely adjusted yet, he had no other clues. Well. He now had two choices in front of him. He could sneakily throw away the flowers and go back inside, claim he just came back from a walk or… something, or he could-

“Oi, I will shoot!” the person on the wall yelled, and yeah, it had to be Tommy.

Fundy decided to go for his 2nd option.

Silently, he turned around and bolted into the forest, clutching the flowers close to him. After a moment of what he assumed was stunned shock, Tommy fired a single shot in his general direction, missing miserably because his aim was even worse in the dark. That meant Fundy’s road was clear, and he could just-

“Wil! There’s somebody outside!”

Aaand there went his brilliant plan. He knew well how his father was, and he was certain he could expect an entire search party to be outside within a few minutes. Luckily, he was rarely invited to those, they were included in the “too dangerous for my son to take part in” list of activities, so they probably wouldn’t notice him being gone.

Now he just needed to find Dream before they’d find either of them!

…Or before Dream spotted the others and assumed this was a trap. Which would be horrible. With that thought, he sped up and tried to gain as much distance as possible. They didn’t agree on a spot, not really, but he assumed he could find the man somewhere close to where they last met, it would make sense-

The next thing he knew, he had already crashed into something. Someone. Someone who fell back with a groan, so not a monster, but… was that better?

“...Wha-”

“Dream!” he exclaimed, pushing himself up as soon as the familiar voice rang in his ears.

What a great start to this possibly-a-date. Tackling Dream to the ground.

“Sorry! I’m running because someone spotted me and now they’re probably starting a search and, uh-” he paused, suddenly realizing that just because he pushed himself up didn’t mean he got off of Dream. Thankful for the darkness hiding the shade of his face, he scrambled away. “I am so sorry… I’m, uh, here…?”

He held the flowers out for Dream while the man sat up. Yeah, this was probably… a bit too much to cram into the first 10 seconds of their meeting, Fundy supposed when the man spent the next 20 of them in stunned silence. Just then, when he finally seemed ready to say something, someone else beat him to it.

“Are you sure they went this way?”

Fundy’s heart sank a bit at the sound of his father’s voice.

“...That’s what I meant by search-” he tried to whisper, but when Dream nodded, he didn’t bother saying anything else.

“Okay, let’s- that first,” Dream whispered back, getting onto his feet and waiting for Fundy to do the same.

Crouching slightly, Fundy turned to look in the direction of the voice and saw torch light not far from where he heard it. They were close- He looked back to Dream just in time to see him throw something into the air. Well, chuck was probably the better word, the tiny item absolutely went flying.

Then, Dream let out a loud whistle.

“Wait, what ar-?” Fundy tried to ask him in a hushed tone, but before he finished the question, Dream grabbed his forearm and seconds later, there was a sudden sting in his chest. “Ow!” he hissed, bending over slightly and finding himself losing his balance.

“Are you okay?” Dream asked, using his second hand to help him stay steady. For some reason, he didn’t bother keeping his voice quiet anymore.

“Yeah, I- What was that?” Fundy asked, straightening himself again. With a slight, admittedly-very-cute smile, Dream pointed to something hanging at his side.

“Ender Pearls,” he explained. “I figured we could use them, and now they’re busy looking over there,” he added, gesturing vaguely in the direction of a very faint light with his free hand. The other one was still holding onto Fundy’s arm.

“Oh. That’s smart,” Fundy nodded, and found himself relaxing.

“Thank you,” Dream beamed. “We can walk the rest of the way, though. There’s a nice spot close to here, secluded enough to hide in, and I already left the swords there,” he explained. Taking Fundy’s second nod as agreement, he started to lead them through the forest.

He was still holding Fundy’s forearm. Was that a sign? A little hint as to what this meeting was? Or even a question asking the same thing?

Well. Being the one who suggested it in the first place, Fundy felt obliged to answer that. He shook his hand slightly and Dream’s grip loosened, letting him slide his arm out easily. Instead of following through with that, he took Dream’s hand into his. As soon as he did, the man turned to look at him with a slightly surprised expression.

“...I got you flowers?” Fundy said, holding out the daisies again. His little escape did not do them any good, but they still looked decent. “They were less… like that when I got them,” he added just in case Dream wouldn’t assume that.

The man stopped, and Fundy started to wonder if he took a lot of things the wrong way.

“...Thank you, Fundy,” Dream smiled after a slight pause, carefully taking the bouquet from his hand and smelling the flowers. He kept them close to his face for quite a moment, and Fundy could swear he spotted a blush on his face somewhere between the daisies. “...So, that date. Is that… happening?” he asked.

Fundy was prepared to hear that question in an annoyed, confused, or even an upset tone. What he heard sounded hopeful instead, and it took all his might to not jump into eager confirmations and force himself to use the response he practiced in front of a mirror for 5 minutes instead.

“...Do you want it to be?” he asked. “Because I’m… up for that. And I know this is fast, but… Why… not, right?” he added after a moment, and Dream nodded. He finally lowered the flowers and sure enough, his face was red.

“Yeah, that’s… true. I… think I want it to be that,” he agreed, and the smile on his face was brighter than Fundy remembered the sun itself ever being.

“Alright, it’s a date then!” he exclaimed with a grin of his own quickly forming on his face, and Dream laughed quietly. After a moment, the man tugged lightly at his hand.

“Come on, we have some very romantic sword fighting to get out of the way,” he reminded him, and Fundy nodded eagerly.

This was absolutely worth sneaking out for, he thought.

That thought was reinforced when it turned out Dream wasn’t lying about the sword fighting being romantic. Just the man showing him how to hold the weapon correctly while conveniently keeping his arms around him at almost all times was enough to melt him, and by the time they got to their first little spar?