A God Chained To Its Own Temple

Okay so I've been insane about this for A While now, but I rly wanna talk about it now. Like, the parallels between cQ & cSam and cPhil & cTechno in regards to cDream. Like with how one in each pair is a mostly humanoid bird hybrid(the duck hybrid!Q hc) who's smaller than cDream and the other a giant mob hybrid. The way one of those pairs made cDream a wreck(okay he was a wreck before that but yk what I mean) and the other pair is helping him heal from being a wreck. But then it's like, you look at both pairs and how they are with cDream, or literally just in general. And they couldn't be anymore differant. Like the initial parallels between the pairs could make sth feel too familiar in a bad sense, but then realizing, that it's just cTechno and cPhil, he'll calm down. In itwall, you even mentioned the parallells between cQ and cPhil and like how cDream could mistake them for each other and stuff.

Hope this makes sense and that I got the point of my little ramble across lol

YES this is big-brained. i can't believe i've implied this so many times yet never said anything outright about it.

techno and sam, both giant mob hybrids, serve as guardians. these are the people dream is most physically comfortable with, and who he trusts most. techno moreso guards dream himself while sam guards "the prisoner," if that makes sense, and techno encourages freedom while sam denies it. in ttdtn, techno jokes a bit about their roles being reversed ("think of it as a visitation system"). i like the idea of techno being the tallest on the server and sam being the second tallest; the competition between them is palpable.

phil and quackity, both bird hybrids and both shorter than dream, are more active agents of change. quackity was more, uh, "hands on" with dream in the cell, and i wrote philza as being the more knowledgable and active healer in itwall. these are the ones who create either pain or comfort, and unfortunately for dream, they're easy to mistake for each other. dream struggles with things like that. i particularly like designs where phil has massive wings (that are broken) and q has small, useless wings.

shrink him :))

memes that make no sense

It's for a drawing

He is thinking .

He broke Dream out of Pandora's Vault just so he could keep making homeless jokes

handmade warmth

for the @sixteenth-day-event

The cold made Dream’s leg hurt. He rubbed a hand over his residual limb, massaging the scarred flesh and the muscle remained. It was a phantom pain and it annoyed him, that unwanted reminder of what had happened in the prison. He had told Techno that if it was in his mind then he should be able to control it and Techno hadn’t laughed but had given him an oddly tight smile and said he wasn’t sure it worked like that. Leaning forward, Dream held his hands out to the fire. It was low now, as the evening had dragged into night, and that was letting in the chill that caused the aching in his joints.

He thought about calling for Techno, who had disappeared upstairs for something he promised was important, to add another log. He could do it himself on a good day but he was tired and the muscle spasm in his leg when he had moved still hadn’t faded. Some rational part of his mind said it had been barely over a month since he had escaped the prison and it made sense he wasn’t up to much yet. Dream had been studiously ignoring it.

The metal poker was just within reach if Dream tipped the chair over just a little.

“If you fall, I am gonna laugh at you,” came Techno’s voice from behind him.

The chair dropped back to floor with a thud and Dream turned around with the best scowl he could manage, cheeks red and hot.

“I’m not—Shut up, Techno, you’re—you’re the one who left me here for, like, three hours,” said Dream, eyes flicking to the window as he tried to judge how much time had passed. The snow outside, tinted purple by the beacons, made it difficult.

“Bruh, it was not three hours.”

Dream rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, sinking into the chair.

“It felt like three hours.” Dream glanced down. “What’s that?”

The ‘that’ in question was a large package that was tucked under Techno’s arm. It was wrapped in paper decorated with snowflakes and holly and it was lumpy. The bow that had been carefully tied around it was crushed a little. Techno held it out and patted one hand against it.

“It’s a present, Dream,” he said, crossing the room to stand in front of Dream. He set in his lap. “Merry Christmas, man.”

Blinking a couple times, Dream ran his hand over the package and then frowned.

“It’s not even Christmas.”

Techno glanced at the fireplace then reached for a log. He carefully placed it on top, the flames licking at his fingers, and if it burnt, he didn’t seem to notice. Pulling his rocking chair a little bit forward, he sat.

“Eh, it’s Christmas Eve. Close enough.” Techno shrugged. “Beside, that’s as much for me as it is for you. Go on, open it, man.”

In the fireplace, the flames licked up the new log. Dream’s frown deepened. There were half a dozen protests he could make – that Christmas Eve still wasn’t Christmas, that he hadn’t gotten anything for Techno – but he began to carefully tear open the paper.

“Whatever,” he muttered. The embarrassed blush was still on his face.

Once the paper was removed, it took Dream a moment to figure out what it was. He ran his fingers over the soft fabric, a patchwork of different patterns and colors. Flowers and swirls and geometric shapes. Greens and blues and spots of reds. Dream unfolded the quilt partially. The back was three large blocks of fabric, all shades of dark navy that reminded Dream of the night sky in the arctic. He looked up. Techno was watching with a satisfied expression, mouth curved into a smile, tusks glinting in the firelight.

“What d’you think? Now you can finally stop hoggin’ my blanket,” said Techno.

Dream pulled the quilt further into his lap, letting it spill down across his legs. It was thicker than he had first realized. The weight on his lap was surprisingly comforting. It was warm. The mismatch of colors was pretty and Dream knew it’d be prettier once it was spread out. He loved it.

He said, “Heh. Hogging.”

In the chair across from him, Techno groaned and slapped a hand to his face in an over-exaggerated manner that was mostly to hide the grin. He got to his feet.

“Alright, that’s it. I’m takin’ it back, you’re outta here.”

Those words would’ve once caused a flutter of panic in Dream’s chest, would’ve birthed a snarky comment about wanting to leave, but Techno didn’t mean it. He knew that. Dream tugged the quilt up to his chest.

“No, fuck off, Techno. You made it for me, it’s mine.”

Laughing, Techno bent and tucked the blanket up around Dream’s shoulders.

“Yeah, you got me there, man,” he said. “I’m guessin’ you like it, then.”

The phantom pain had subsided. Dream shifted in the chair and rubbed his chin against the soft fabric of the quilt. A smile slowly worked its way across his face.

“Yeah.” A beat. “Thanks, Techno.”

Writing prompt: Techno absentmindedly touches Dreams hair (commenting on the length or something). And poor touch-starved Dream makes a noise and when Techno realizes what happened he offers more. Dream ends up falling asleep, getting the first good sleep he's gotten in a long time.

TW: everything pandora's box related, torture tw, amputation of sheep horn tw, crying, touch starving,

Techno had been surprised by the sound which escaped Dream's mouth. Both their eyes had been closed and it had been a silent day in their shared cell. Not many words had been uttered but both men had been okay with it.

~~~~~~

A few moment after Techno had entered the cell and the first few tensions had left, he offered Dream his cloak, after seeing the other man trembling without any signs of stopping. Dream's shaking didn't really stop, especially not in his hands but since he could bury his hands into the soft fur of the cloak now, they had something to keep themselves busy with.

Techno had taken in Dream's appearence and a cold shudder ran through his body even though it was unbearably hot inside the cell, even for a piglin hybrid. The first thing he had noticed was the shoulder long white hair, which Techno had definitely been blond before, not white. Between the hair were horns which had different length. He only noticed then that one of the horns had been broken off violently, leaving sharp and ragged edges behind. Techno hadn't known about Dream's sheep hybrid status, he doubted anyone had. Sheep hybrids were stereotypically quite and docile beings, more calm and submissive in their actions. Often not taken seriously by humans and other hybrids. It made sense that Dream had tried to hide his hybrid side behind the hood of his.

Dream always had a thin frame, especially compared to his own bulky piglin brute frame which always towered over people, making them seem small in comparison. But Dream had never seemed small when standing next to Technoblade. He had always held his head high, an aura of confidence whirling around him. Untouchable. Undefeatable. Dream now was... differently. Slouched posture, even more than Tommy. But Dream's bad posture was definitely of different nature than Tommy's. Dream slouched because he was afraid of someone raising a hand against him, flinching at the smallest sound, trying to make himself as small as possible, leaving only a small surface which could be attacked behind.

Dream's clothes were ripped and Techno guessed that for the entire 5 months he had been imprisoned, he never had the chance to change clothes. From the smell which came from the sheep hyrid, he probably never had the opportunity to take a bath or wash himself too. Scarily enough, most of the smell was coming from Dream's wounds, clearly infected and baldy, or not at all, treated. It seemed like bandages were covering every inch of Dream's body, only leaving out some part, but even those weren't free from scars or open wounds. Dream just wasn't allowed any more bandages.

~~~~~~

The whine which had left Dream's mouth started Technoblade. Both were leaning against the hot obsidian wall, Dream curled up in Techno's coat, and against the body of the piglin hybrid. Technoblade had mindlessly scatched the scalp of Dream gently mumbling something under his breath.

"If you keep this up, your hair will be as long as mine." He had commented and the second his fingers touched Dream's skin, the whine espcaped his mouth.

Techno's hand stilled and Dream ripped his eyes open, breathing stopped. Even beneath the bandages, Technoblade could see the redness creeping up Dream's neck. Techno chuckled and his hand returned its previous motion. He could feel how Dream tried to fight with his body on what to do.

Technoblade wondered when Dream had ever got some touches without having to fear of them being negative. He didn't need to have telepatic powers to know what had happened inside of the prison. Wounds like the ones on Dream's body didn't just come from a person sitting in solitary confinement. Someone had inflicted those wounds onto Dream and Techno didn't have to guess long to find out. It had been one of the first names Dream had yelled at him once he arrived.

Quackity.

Technoblade had never quite liked Quackity, for obvious reasons but not even he had guessed that the duck hybrid had been capable of something like that. He was probably also proud of himself for breaking the big bad villain Dream.

The big bad villain Dream, who was leaning aginst him, curled up in his cape to stop his trembling form. The big bad villain Dream, who couldn't stand up for longer than a minute because the pain of his broken legs was just too big for him to handle. The big bad villain Dream, who flinched at every movement, spiralling deep into his mind, seeing enemies which weren't there, begging invisible bodies to leave him alone, that he is sorry, that he will be good. The big bad villain Dream, who accidentally called Technoblade "sir" and freaked out afterwards, scared of punishment for not calling him "sir" sooner.

Techno could see through all of the titles Dream voluntarily or involuntarily carried. Moster, villain, freak, tyrant, dictator, ...

Person.

Because after all this time, Dream was still a person. A living being, more complex than any title his enemies could give him. There were sides of Dream no one had ever seen and Techno knew that Dream hadn't been a good person, hell, Techno hadn't been a good person. No one on this server had been a good person in a long, long time.

But laying next to him, was Dream.

Not the tyrant. Not the monster. Not the villain.

Just Dream.

Dream who whined at a simple nice touch, too touched starved to say anything.

It was just Dream, who had sobbed into his hands, seconds after he started writing the book for him, because his hands wouldn't stop trembling, leaving his handwriting illegible.

Just Dream who fell asleep cuddling Technoblade, who had scratched his head for a few minutes.

Just Dream. And just Technoblade.

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