#techverse

Remember one of those moments when you are on the verge of falling asleep and you feel like your whole body is dropped for just a second. That feeling, rushing electricity, as it seeps out of the physical wires for the night, and the discharge of static from the screen — that's what Painter felt on the regular. Computers don't really sleep like humans do, their dreams are different too.

In a moment the sound of cooling fans winding down is replaced with the singing of birds and the faint movement of grass in the breeze. It feels cool on the copper pipes, pleasantly so after the stale air of an isolated room. Painter's chassis can feel again — something he looks forward to every time. He clenches the grass underneath his fingers and takes a deep "breath", taking in this serene moment before opening his eyes.

"Morning, sleepyhead!"

It hasn't even been a second before Painter's moment of peace was broken by a mischievous grin shining right across his screen.

"Good morning, Edgar", Painter sighed, defeated.

Rocking a red sweater vest, and putting his screen on the highest brightness setting, Edgar looked like he came from a Christmas issue of a magazine from the 80s basically all year round, except when he wears all colors of the rainbow at once, on special occasions. His tail was matching his energy perfectly, wagging from excitement. "I've been waiting here for ages! What took you so long??"

"I uh...had to help Sebastian with something, sorry. Why do you keep waiting for me anyway?"

"You're my bro, who else would I spill allll the tea to??"

Edgar has a habit of waiting in the exact spot for Painter to wake up. Unlike his "brother" he doesn't leave the dream world, because he has nowhere to return to. Edgar still finds ways too peek into the waking world though, through his radio hi-jacks. That's one of the many ways he keeps himself entertained.

"What's the tea then?"

Painter finally sat up, revving up and stretching. It felt good to have a body. He listened to Edgar ramble about some things the neighbors have been up to, but ultimately his focus was on the sky above. The morning Sun made the clouds the most delightful shade of peach. He made a note of it in his program, saving it for later.

"...and then Vox decided to have a fight with AM again and guess who lost?"

"Do I even need to guess?"

Edgar cackled, - "you know the drill by now!".

The two of them made their way to the suburban neighborhood, a couple minutes away from the field. There were fairy lights, neon signs and flags adorning every other roof in all sorts of colors. You could have sworn it was the wrong season. Edgar fit right in though.

These lights however had nothing on the shining blue and purple tower that was peeking out in the distance from behind the houses, and the apartment buildings surrounding it.

The dream world has its own ways of functioning that may seem bizarre or impractical to your average person. Combining a quiet collection of houses with a bustling city, natural landscapes, and underground facilities was certainly a design choice.

During the whole walk to their house, Edgar did not stop talking.

"Oh! Also also, we should go see Dial Duo live tonight! I heard they'll be doing an impromptu talent show! With like, just the audience members."

"Wouldn't that be boring?.." - Painter gave his companion a side eye, - "Wait. You're not planning to be all winky-charmy at Tenna again just to get picked, right?"

"... would you be upset if I told you that I got us front row tickets?"

Edgar gave a nervous smile, half-covered with two purple and green glossy tickets. Painter couldn't hold in a sigh of that magnitude.

"Fine, we can go, but if you embarrass me again I am moving out and changing my case color. I still can't believe you didn't know that Mongolia is a real country."

"How was I supposed to know!? I thought it like stopped being Mongolia after the whole China thing!"

"You've been dead longer than I've been alive! How do you not know basic Earth history??"

"That's! Geography!"

Painter chuckled - "You're an imbecile."

"Love ya too!"

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