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A God chained to its own Temple

a better proposal

the continuation of my fake marriage c!dnb au written for @alterdnbweek!

The cloak was spread out on the floor of the prison cell with one edge rolled up into the world’s most pathetic attempt at a pillow. Dream was resting his head on the lump of fabric, staring up at the ceiling, his intact leg bent at the knee and swaying back and forth. He had given up on trying to sleep and Techno had given up on trying to get him to sleep. The bags under his eyes said he needed rest but it didn’t come easy in Pandora’s Vault even for Techno who had always been proud of his ability to sleep anywhere. Techno yawned, not bothering to cover his mouth. At the sound, Dream turned his head and looked at him.

“Did I disturb you, Dream?” asked Techno with a grin.

Dream gave a quiet laugh.

“No.” The expression on Dream’s face was one Techno was familiar with and he readied himself for whatever nonsense specifically designed to make him shake his head was about to come out of Dream’s mouth. “I was just thinking…”

The grin on Techno’s face widened fondly.

“I’m sure, I’m sure.”

For a moment the tables were turned and Dream shot Techno a look before rolling his eyes.

“Fuck off, Techno, I-I am,” he said. “I was thinking, how—how did you propose to me?”

Techno blinked.

“Heh?”

The question hadn’t been what Techno was expecting and he stared at Dream who raised his shoulders in an awkward shrug before folding his hands across his stomach. His eyes were back on the ceiling.

“We’re pretending to be married, right? So, I mean, you had to propose, right?”

Glancing up at the ceiling as if he thought he could find whatever inspired Dream to go down this line of questioning, Techno mimicked his shrug.

“How d’you know I was the one to propose? Maybe you were the one,” said Techno.

Dream scoffed and rolled slightly onto his side to stare at Techno.

“It’s your idea that means you were the one to propose.”

The logic was flawless, Techno had to admit. With a groan, he stretched out onto his belly until his face was only a few inches away from Dream’s. Dream watched with what Techno thought was suspicion and a bit of eagerness.

“Alright, you’ve got a point.” Techno propped his chin up on one hand. “Lemme think. It had to be something epic, obviously.”

Dream nodded, face serious.

“Obviously.”

This close, it might have been possible to count the freckles on Dream’s cheeks and nose. He was watching Techno intently, eyes never leaving his face, and Techno felt a blush rising. The thought that they were close enough he could kiss Dream wouldn’t leave. He cleared his throat.

“It was the middle of battle. You were surrounded by enemies—”

One of Dream’s hands darted out and smacked Techno lightly on the arm.

“Hey!”

Techno caught Dream’s wrist. Dream wasn’t that much shorter than him but he had always been lithe and the starvation had taken that into painfully thin territory. Techno could wrap his fingers completely around his wrist.

“Remember, I’m the one proposin’ here, Dream, that means I get to decide.”

“Alright, fiiiine,” said Dream.

It would’ve been easy for him to tug his hand away – the grip was gentle – but he didn’t. Techno’s fingers moved upwards until he was able to lace them together with Dream’s.

“Where was I before I was so rudely interrupted?” Dream rolled his eyes and Techno grinned. “Oh right, so there you were, surrounded by enemies. I had already finished off the guys I was fightin’, obviously.”

Dream rolled his eyes again but he was smiling.

“Obviously,” he said, the sarcasm thick and amused.

Techno squeezed Dream’s hand a little.

“I saw you were in trouble and pearled right in the middle, just in time to parry a fatal blow. Together – see, I’m givin’ you some credit, Dream – we finished off the rest of ‘em just as the sun began settin’. In the orange light of the sunset, you actually looked kinda pretty.”

In the orange light of the lava, Dream did look kind of pretty, Techno thought, even with the feigned look of annoyance. He was still looking at Techno and he had leaned in closer and Techno didn’t think he had realized it.

“Then?” Dream prompted.

Techno shifted where he lay. He hadn’t realized he was staring.

“I took your hand,” he said, squeezing Dream’s hand, “and got down on one knee, askin’ you to marry me. Of course, you were ecstatic and said yes, Techno, I’ll marry you because I can’t believe someone as cool and handsome as you would want to marry a homeless guy.”

The laugh Dream gave was loud and delighted.

“Oh my god! What is wrong with you?” His voice rose and fell, squeaking out as his cheeks turned bright red. “You—That’s the worst proposal ever, Technoblade! Y-you didn’t even give me a ring or flowers or—or kiss me!”

The thought that had been stuck in Techno’s mind was white hot. He leaned in a little.

“It was the middle of a battle, Dream, I didn’t have time to stop to pick flowers, alright?”

Dream tilted his head up. His breath was warm on Techno’s face.

“Lame. I could—I could definitely do better.”

Techno’s laugh was soft and amused.

“Yeah? Alright, man, you tell me how you’d do it,” he said.

It was quiet for a moment and Techno was certain he could hear Dream’s heart racing just as quickly as his own was.

“I would’ve, like, done the whole candlelight dinner thing. I mean, I can’t really cook but whatever. I would’ve gotten you flowers,” said Dream, triumphantly, as if he had won the game they were playing.

Rubbing his thumb against Dream’s knuckle, Techno nodded slowly as he considered Dream’s words. He was considering a lot of things, like the curve of Dream’s mouth and the butterflies in his stomach. He was trying to ignore the way Dream was looking at him because he had a feeling it mirrored his own expression.

“Oh, I see, I see. You would’ve gone full rose petals on the floor, huh?” Dream didn’t answer because Techno had leaned in close enough that his snout was just barely touching the corner of his mouth. They both held perfectly still until Techno raised an eyebrow and said, “I guess you would’ve kissed me, too.”

When Dream answered, his lips brushed against Techno’s skin. He said, with no sarcasm, “Obviously.”

A shiver went down Techno’s spine and it pained him to move away.

“Y’know what, Dream? I’ll give it to ya, yours was better.”

Watching as hell rains from the skies An angel of death standing on high A warrior beneath in enemy lines [X]

— Reblogs>likes! Click for better quality!

do you have any,,,post prison mute dream stuff??? or like, severely quiet, silent and obedient dream shtuff?? and the consequences thereof??? bc im reading your drabbles and i am in literal awe

aww, thank you so much !! yeah selectively mute dream post prison is absolutely a hc i love and write smtimes - it’s already been suggested in canon, and it’s super fun to play w/ in post-canon works. here’s some fluffy syndicate!dream bc gosh knows we need it after the angst that we’ve been getting 

tw: implied torture, panic attacks, trauma - all v short mentions. this one’s definitely on the lighter side! :D

“I didn’t know you knew sign.”

Dream startles, arms flying to cover his face, and the crow he had been signing at squawks angrily when it turns towards Phil. He ignores its chatter, smoothing his own flinch behind a smile, lowering his wings, bringing his hands, palms up, in front of him at his waist - this song and dance has become all too familiar in the weeks that Dream’s resided with the Syndicate, and Phil is nothing if not patient.

Slowly, the boy uncurls from where he’d huddled into himself, arms clasped firmly around his ribs like someone will try and take them from him if he doesn’t hold on tight enough (and maybe, Phil thinks, imagining the messy lattice of scars underneath Dream’s loose-fitting hoodie that he has only seen a few times since they brought him over, someone has - but those are thoughts that are better left untouched for as long as he can manage it.) Dream’s eyes raise, flick over his face, his breathing quieting down from the discordant rattle it had been, and tentatively, ever slowly, he raises his good hand in a loose fist, letting it bob up and down. Yes.

Phil settles into the armchair across from him, raising his own hands. His fingers feel clumsy, but the memories come back with more ease than he would’ve expected - I know a little. Dream’s eyes don’t quite brighten, but his shoulders fall down from where they’d been hunched up to his ears, the hand he keeps tucked to his chest trembling slightly less, and it’s as much as a win as he’s ever going to get.

The silence stretches, familiar in its awkwardness, and Phil stifles a grimace as he forces long-forgotten memories to the surface. Dream’s hands, from what little he had seen from the doorway, had practically flown as he spoke to the crow still sitting by his right side - obviously practiced even with the still-healing injuries tracing over both arms. How did you learn?

We- He hesitates, left hand trembling violently, before pushing on, we all learned with- he signs a C, then lifts his hands to his head in a sign that Phil vaguely remembers as being the one for deer. Dream must see the questions written in his expression, because his cheeks flush as he backtracks. C-A-L-L-A-H-A-N, he finger spells, and Phil nods. That makes sense.

Some of the crows in the house must have noticed Phil’s arrival, because they storm into the room from the doorway, awkwardly hopping across the door with their wings waving by their sides as they eagerly voice their displeasure at the lack of attention. He’s not in the mood to pick out the words between their angry caws, so he simply watches as they scatter all over the room. Something almost like a smile tugs at Dream’s face as he watches them enter - the kid has grown inexplicably fond of both his flock and all of the assorted animals that Techno drags back into the house whenever he goes out, and Phil has long since resigned himself to being outnumbered one hundred to one by a literal army of mobs wherever he goes. Some of the crows had been pretty wary of Dream at the beginning, but after a few weeks more or less the entire flock has become viciously protective of the kid, sufficiently won over by gifts of head scratches and berries and various shiny things. Sure enough, the birds form a dark, squawking circle at Dream’s feet, a few flying up to tug impatiently at his clothes, and despite the (very obvious) favoritism, Phil smiles; the flock is good for Dream, as annoying as they can be.

DADZA, one calls, its lone cry soon echoed by the entire group of fluttering feathers gathered on the floor, DADZA AND DREAM DADZA DADZA. Phil laughs, a familiar warmth and exasperation filling his lungs, and he turns his attention back to Dream.

You up to some more? He tries; it’s a chance, for sure, and he brushes away the creeping anxiety crawling up his neck; he doesn’t want to make Dream panic, hopes that he’s doing the right thing. I could always use the practice.

Quiet, once again, only broken by the murmurs of his birds eagerly awaiting Dream’s answer as the boy rocks side to side in deliberation, and Phil is halfway through working out a frantic you don’t have to if you don’t want to when Dream raises his own hands.

Sure, he signs, a forced smile on his face but eyes still clear and bright, why not?

Somehow, they end up in a bastardized version of twenty questions, surrounded by birds that do not hesitate at any chance to voice their own opinions. They work through favorite colors (green), favorite flowers (roses for Dream, peonies for Phil), favorite mob (Phil answers this with a pointed definitely-not-crows, staring at the flock who have been shouting over themselves naming different colors for about five minutes, which immediately makes them devolve into screaming caws and divebombs at the edges of Phil’s cape that leave him thoroughly occupied for the next ten minutes), and at some point Phil falls further into the cushions of his chair and Dream’s legs lay against the sofa instead of being drawn up to his chest and it’s almost normal.

By the time Techno finds them, they’ve forgone structure all together, Dream watching intently as Phil signs out an embellished tale of one of the Antarctic Empire’s exploits with a crow held gently in his hands. Techno’s voice behind him startles him bad enough to send his wings snapping outwards, feathers standing on end, but Dream doesn’t react much beyond a twitch of his lips - he must’ve seen the piglin hybrid and tag-teamed to prank him, Phil realizes with a half-hearted grumble. Techno’s eyes sparkle mischievously, definitely planned, then.

“Hi Phil, Dream,” Techno shrugs off his cloak and drapes it over the back of Phil’s chair, “Looks like you’ve been busy. Can’t say I’m not feelin’ a bit left out, though; Phil, you never told me you knew sign language.”

“You never asked, mate,” he quips, even as Dream signs animatedly from the corner of his eye. T-E-C-H-N-O-L-O-S-T.

Techno narrows his eyes. “I get the feelin’ that you’re messin’ with me, nerd.” Dream blinks faux innocently, smiling wider, and Phil picks up on the bit. Oh, this is fun.

He can’t understand us, he assures Dream, feeling a wicked smirk of his own growing on his face. So what do you think for dinner?

“Phil- the betrayal!” Techno splutters, voice going high and pitchy, and that reaction alone would’ve made the prank more than worth it - but Dream’s shoulders shake, eyes glittering as his fingers fly almost too fast for Phil to catch, and oh, that’s laughter, tiny, breathless giggles falling from his lips, and Techno must catch it even as he begins to berate the voices in his head, “This is not a bruh moment, Chat, don’t you start-”

Stew? Dream signs, still snickering, and he looks happy, more than Phil has ever seen him, the sight of him smiling and bright-eyed with amusement almost enough to cover for the gaunt quality of his face, the pale scars left all over his skin.

Of course, mate, Phil signs back, throwing in a do you think T-E-C-H-N-O ended up lost in those same woods again for good measure, rewarded when it sends Dream into another round of giggles. Techno grumbles without any real heat behind it, plopping himself down in the remaining chair.

“Ok, nah, no more of this exclusive club; you guys are teachin’ me this tonight before Chat loses it - yes that was an insult, don’t you start it with the E’s,” and Phil laughs, hard, the flock cawing and beginning to spam E on their own, for some reason, and Dream signing through the alphabet with the biggest grin on his face, and-

“Oh, Prime, this is going to so scuffed,” Phil says, breathless, his warning unheeded as Techno finishes his rant at Chat to focus on Dream.

And it is scuffed - it is so fucking scuffed, between Phil’s lackluster memory and Techno’s frequent interrupting to quiet down an extremely rowdy Chat and the incessant calls of the flock further egging them on, but it’s warm and Dream doesn’t stop smiling and Techno looks more relaxed than he has in weeks and the helpless, singing urge of protect protect protect that has lived in Phil’s head ever since Techno had carried Dream, beaten and bloodied and broken, through their front door finally, finally, begins to quiet down.

He tunes back into the impromptu lesson - they’ve finished the alphabet, seemingly having moved onto common words and objects, and Dream- hesitates, raises his hand, all five fingers drawn together, to the corner of his mouth and then pulls it back. Home, he signs, moving to fingerspelling, H-O-M-E. Home.

For a moment, they’re all quiet, Dream’s hand still raised by his face, even the crows falling silent as they all stare at each other. Phil watches, breath caught in his throat, as the planes of Techno’s face soften, the teasing edge of his voice, for once, leaving. “Yeah, nerd. You’re home.”

Home, Dream signs again, then again, looking up, eyes bright, hopeful. Phil thinks, proudly, that it looks like a new beginning. I’m home.

He is thinking .

Anger

[Don’t let them take me: Chapter 10]

Reminder!!!

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Reblogs > Likes

Offering help in a dark place

TW: blood, prison, torture, broken bones, generally injuries, amputation (of hybrid traits), maiming,

I didn't prove read this, so I'm sorry if you find mistakes, it was just too long ;n;

Techno decided that he had waited long enough and it was time to break his rival out of prison. He discovered not only what had been going on in the prison but also some secrets of Dream himself.

The weight was heavy on Techno’s back. There was no strength left in Dream who was now resting on his back. It’s not like he was heavy. He would have probably been a little bit heavy a few months ago when he still had muscles and fat on his body, but now he looked like a skeleton covered in bruises, cuts, and wrongly healed broken bones. The cloak which was wrapped around his shoulders was the only thing which kept him warm.

So, Techno fought his way through the snow, waiting for the familiar sight of his home to appear on the horizon.

------

When Techno broke into the prison through the roof and landed quietly in a pool of blood, he didn’t recognize Dream at first. He even thought the cell was empty at first glance. Well, empty apart from the blood on the floor and walls, chains and half eaten, raw potatoes laying around. Did he miscalculate and enter a different cell? Techno quickly threw away that thought when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye.

He quickly pulled out his sword, slowly creepy closer to the mystery which was hidden behind a simple chest.

What he saw, almost made him drop his sword in shock. There he was, the person he had been looking for.

He looked horrendous.

There was Dream, curled up in a corner, hands gripping the chest tightly, blood covering nearly every single spot on his mangled body.

Techno had seen the half eaten potatoes, did that mean he only got raw potatoes to eat? Techno himself was a potato lover, everybody knew that but raw potatoes, not only were they bad for your health, toxic even, but they also didn’t have enough nutrients for a grown man.

The next thing Techno noticed was Dream’s hair. It was longer than he had ever seen before. It was extremely dirty and he could easily see the knots and clumps in the hair, so unkempt. It was almost the same length as his own, but it seemed lighter than before, almost white. Maybe it was the reflection of the lava in the grease of the hair or it had actually turned white. Or both. There were still a few flecks of dirt and blood in the hair, which tainted its whiteness.

Looking at Dream’s visible body, which wasn’t covered by the orange dark brown fabric of the prison uniform, Techno had to swallow harshly. He saw various cuts and bruises and both of Dream’s legs seemed broken, sticking out in weird angles, even though he had pulled them closely towards his chest. Techno knew a lot about injuries, both receiving them and giving them to others. He knew how injuries looked on a person who just had a friendly fight with someone, he knew how injuries looked on a person who had a life and death fight and barely got away with their life, and he knew how injuries looked on a person who had been in a fight in which they couldn’t defend themselves, had no chance of winning, and were basically just a punching bag.

And he knew what tortured looked like.

Techno didn’t know how to approach the trembling mess which was his rivals. Still was his rival. The first thing he did was putting his netherite sword back, because through the curtain of hair, he could see one of Dream’s green eyes, ripped open in plain and simple terror, staring at it.

“Dream?” He simply asked, trying to get the apparently unmasked man’s attention on him. What he didn’t expect was Dream flinching back violently at the sound of his own name and hiding his face in the crook of his elbow, pressing himself even more into the corner of the cell.

Techno himself flinched back seeing the reaction of his former ally. It was so very unlike Dream. He usually stood tall and strong, rather choosing fight than flight but also knowing when he couldn’t win.

Dream, the master of parkour, winding himself around obstacles no one else could, climbing the highest trees, and pulling the most unusual tricks out of his sleeves, was cowering in fear of Technoblade in the corner of a hot, humid, and extremely disgustingly smelling cell, which walls were covered in blood.

Techno had noticed the bandages which had been clumsily and badly wrapped around the skinny extremities, probably by Dream himself. That told Technoblade a lot, because that meant that no one bothered to look after Dream’s health, not even taking care of life threatening injuries. The molding potatoes in the corner weren’t any better.

Glancing slightly to his left, Techno noticed a cauldron with water in it. It was murky, slightly tainted in a pinkish tone. There was a slight movement on Techno’s right side, which told him that Dream had moved. He glanced over to the prisoner, who froze mid movement, eyes staring at him.

Both men stood still.

But Dream quickly pressed himself into his corner, face hidden in his arms again.

Techno sighed, and decided to sit down. He knew that his pants and cloak would probably get extremely dirty, covered in grime and blood from this. Still, his plan was to make himself seem approachable and not like this terrifying monster, Dream was probably seeing at that moment.

“Dream, it’s me. Techno.” He said once again, voice barely above a whisper. When Dream didn’t move, he continued. “I’m here to get you out. To break you out of prison.” A small smile spread on Techno’s face when he saw one of Dream’s eyes again, peeking through his hair, head slightly raised.

“Yeah, I’ll get you out of here, don’t worry.” He chuckled and reached out with his hand. Big mistake on his part. Dream immediately flinched back, staring at the hand now. Techno slowly pulled his hand back, slightly raising them in apology.

“I’m sorry if I scared you. Can you give me your hand? I just wanna see if you are fine.” Techno asked, slowly holding his hand out again. He could see Dream’s eyes switch from his hand to his eyes nervously. “I just want to help, I promise.”

Slowly, a trembling hand, which had been wrapped in bandages but still had blood seeping through, extended. When it rested in Techno’s hand, he rubbed over the back of the hand, trying to show peacefulness and comfort.

Techno noted that the first thing he will have to do, once both of them are safe in his house, was washing all the dirt and blood off Dream, cutting his hair, because a lot of it he won’t be able to save, cleaning his wounds and rewrapping them.

Techno was shocked by various things when looking at Dream’s hand. He could see that 4 out of 5 fingers were missing fingernails. On his palm between the bandages which were easily moved to the side, was a smiley cut in. At first he thought it had been Dream’s signature smiley, but it was different. The smile seemed more rectangular, which reminded him of a certain duck hybrid on the server. Trying to tune out the voices and not let rage take over by the implications of that, Techno turned the hand around again. gently covering it with his second hand, holding it gently.

“See, I’m not going to hurt you.” Techno quickly replaced the bandages and kept rubbing his thumb over the dry hand. Dream didn’t answer, he just kept staring at Techno.

“I’m going to remove my cloak now and give it to you, ok. It’s raining outside and where we are going will be extremely cold.”

A long time he got no answer from Dream, until he felt the boney hand gently press his own. He barely felt it but it was there nonetheless.

“I’m going to let go of your hand now, ok?” Techno asked and got another squeeze from the still shaking hand.

Gently he retracted his hand, and so did Dream. He unclasped the golden buttons of which kept the cloak around his shoulders and barely stopped it from falling into a puddle of blood.

“I need you to lean forward, so I can wrap it around you.” Techno advised but Dream kept still. He let a few seconds pass but nothing happened, so he slowly raised his hands with the cloak in them. He edged closer on his knees, trying not to scare Dream. Once he was in front of the man, he held his hands over the cowering man. He could see Dream hiding his face in his arms again, apparently expecting to be hurt even more. Techno quickly twisted and flicked his own arms, the cloak fluttered down behind Dream’s back. Leaning back a little bit he connected the golden string with the buttons again, so it won’t fall off Dream's narrow shoulders.

Satisfied, Technoblade leaned back and looked at his rival drowning in his royal cloak. He was rather closer to Dream’s head right now and the man in question peek through his hair up at him. Suddenly he noticed something sticking out of Dream’s head. At first he thought it was just a clump of blood, but upon further inspection he saw that it was solid.

Scared that it was something which was hurting Dream he gently touched it, only for Dream to flinch back and cover his head with his arms, head tucked between his legs. Being a hybrid himself, Techno didn’t need a long time to identify what he was touching, if only it was just for a second.

Those were horns from a hybrid.

“You are a hybrid, Dream?” He asked stepping back again, eyes still focussed on the horn sticking out of the apparent hybrid’s head. Techno raised an eyebrow in thought because he couldn’t think of an hybrid who only had one horn, which wasn’t even centered, unless it had been…

Oh.

It was very dark in the cell, except for the glowing lava and the mushroom light glooming in the corner but Techno’s piglin side had very good sight, so he could easily see the jacked ends of a clearly cut off, or rather cracked or ripped off horn. Closing his eyes, he could think about what happened to Dream’s other horn.

“okay…” Techno put his hands on his legs. “we have to go now, it’s time.” He gently put his hand on Dream’s shoulder, surprised when there was no flinch. He could still see the watchful eyes of the apparent hybrid on him.

“I’ll have to carry you. It doesn’t seem like you can walk on your own.” He slowly moved around, so his back was facing Dream’s chest. “I’ll give you a piggyback ride. I have to use my tools to get us out of here okay?” There was no sound coming from Dream and Techno slowly wondered if his rival could even speak anymore or if it was just the terror and panic Dream was probably feeling right now.

“I need you to move your arms over my shoulders, so I can pick you up. Can you do that?” Surprisingly his sensitive ears could hear shuffling behind him and suddenly he felt a weight flop against his back and two thin arms appear on each side of his head. Dream had just thrown himself against his back, too weak to even hold himself upright.

“Alright. I’ll just move my hands under your thighs and we’ll be off.” Techno didn’t expect an answer but he could hear a tired and quiet hum close to his ear, where Dream’s head was resting against his shoulder.

The piglin hybrid got hold of Dream’s thighs which were as thin as the rest of his body. Dream had always had lots of leg muscles coming from the manhunts, the running he did and the parkourin, but all these muscles seemed to be gone now.

Techno leaned forwards a little bit, so Dream didn’t have to hold on too tight while he got his trident out of inventory. Both men now stood under a hole in the prison roof, where Techno had mined into before with the help of Philza and lots and lots of buckets of milk.

“You hanging in there, buddy?” Techno asked while they stood in the rain for a second. “I need you to hold onto my neck tightly for like three seconds, so I can trident us out of here.” Techno could feel the arms around his neck slightly tightening. It wasn’t a lot but it was enough that Dream wouldn’t fall off mid flight.

Not waiting any longer, Techno threw one last look at the dirty and blood covered cell, closing his eyes for a second to feel the cold raindrops on his face. It was quite the change from the temperature of the cell, he couldn’t imagine how Dream was feeling.

The flight up to the roof was done in 2 seconds and Techno squatted down on the roof while landing, trying to make the impact as soft as possible for Dream.

He heard steps beside him and saw the familiar face of Phil staring down at him.

“Oh my god.” He just said, upon seeing the condition of the former ruler of the smp.

“I know, I know, let’s talk about this at home, okay?” Techno cut off Phil, before the older man could say anything else. What surprised the piglin hybrid was the arm on the left side of his head which suddenly started to move. It extended, palm up, and trembling fingers were hit with cold water droplets.

“Haven’t seen or felt rain in a while now, huh?” Techno grinned while he stood up, watching Dream’s hand getting wet. He heard a quiet hum next to his ears.

Techno could also see a small smile appear on Phil, who still had worry written on his forehead.

“We need to go now, you’ll get sick if you stay too long in the rain with these clothes.” Phil mentioned and they walked to the edge of the prison, ready to jump down. Before they did so, Phil opened the screen of his inventory and pulled out an invisibility potion.

“I’ll splash the two of you with invisibility, so you can walk through the mainland without anyone seeing you.” Phil explained and threw the bottle on the ground and Techno with Dream on his back disappeared.

“Be safe.” Phil said, before he spread his wings, ready to fly off. “Both of you.”

With those words, Phil was gone, only a small dot on the horizon, disappearing quickly.

“Ok, nerd. You have to hang on tight onto me one last time, while we jump off. I’ll also hold onto you, so don’t worry. I’ll trident us to the land, so we won’t hit the water.” He muttered softly and he could feel a nod on his shoulders.

While they were falling freely for a few seconds, the arms around his neck tightened again and Dream pressed his body tightly against his back. Techno made sure he landed as softly as he could with a trident in one hand and a prisoner on his back.

“You good?” He asked once he stood steadily on the ground. Another hum reached his ears in affirmation. “Alright then, let’s go.”

------

Techno gasped when he finally saw his house behind the mountain. The travelling through the nether had been bothersome for Dream due to the drastic temperature change and the apparent fear or nervousness around lava.

Both of them had been travelling for a few hours now, the invisibility potion long ran off.

“We are nearly there, Dream. Only a few more minutes.” The man on his back was shivering with his entire body and his fingers and toes had turned from red into a slightly blue hue. “Just a little longer.”

There was no response from Dream and Techno worried if he fell unconscious, if he was just sleeping, or he just couldn’t answer because of the cold and exhaustion. The familiar feeling of worry, which he normally only felt for Phil, was seeping through his body, forcing his legs to hurry up even more.

The closer he got, the clearer could he see the silhouette of Phil waiting for them on the wooden connection between their houses. When they were close enough, Phil quickly disappeared into his house, only to reappear after seconds, running towards them with something in his arms.

Philza greeted him with a nod and Techno could finally see what Phil had been carrying. A few blankets were resting in his hands which he all threw around the two of them, so Dream was encased in blankets on his back and his front was protected from the cold by the body heat of Techno.

“Get him into the house quickly. We’ll warm him up inside.” Phil grabbed Techno’s arm and dragged him towards the two houses. He quickly ran up the stairs, shooing away curious dogs and sleeping polar bears. Phil held the door open for them to pass through.

“Lay him on there.” He pointed on a bed which had been sat next to the wooden box, which had been Tommy’s hiding place a few months prior, and a few chests. There was a bowl of hot water, a few bandages and various colored cloths on the chests, waiting to be used.

Techno sat down on the bed, gently coaxing the freezing arms from around his neck, only to turn around and gently let Dream’s body fall onto the soft mattress. Looking at Dream in normal daylight made everything worse.

The hair was splayed around his head, clotted together in blood and in grease. Dream’s face was covered in fresh wounds, some with reopened crusts. Blood was everywhere. There were bruises in the forms of hands around his neck, fresh and old, clearly from being choked. Cuts and bruises littered the entire body in front of him and blood was everywhere. It was mostly dried old blood, but some wounds have reopened and were now leaking blood, already soaking up the mattress below.

The legs were the worst of all the injuries. Dream’s feet looked unregular, like they had been broken multiple times, which was probably the case. Dream’s right shin looked like it had suddenly sprouted a joint, bending in another way midway through. Clearly broken. Dream’s left leg didn’t look any better with bruises of what seemed to be a hammer head spread all over.

“I don’t even know where to start.” Phil ruffled his own hair in uncertainty and desperation. “There is so much.”

“You start with the legs, I start at the head?” Techno suggested and Phil nodded quickly. Both took a cloth in their hands and dipped it in the hot water. Techno scooted up, so he could sit next to Dream’s head. At first he removed the bandages which were still loosely hanging off his face. Some of them he had to pry off because they were stuck to Dream’s head, glued to the face with dried blood.

“Did you know Dream was a hybrid?” Techno asked while starting to clean the cuts on his rival's face. While Techno kept working, Phil stopped.

“A hybrid? What kind of?” He mused, while going back to work. “Normally hybrids have some visual traits which indicate they are one. I mean not every hybrid has them but I’d say 90% do.”

“He has horns.” Techno answered. “Well, had. Kind of.” He carefully parted the long, now clearly white hair, to inspect the horns closer. Now he could see that the second horn, which he didn’t see in the darkness of the prison had been cut off completely at its root. It was a clean cut, probably done with a sword or a saw. The edges were still a little rough, so probably a saw. Only a cut off stump remained. The other horn was still there, though not completely. Like he had thought before it had been ripped off, or cracked like a glowstick. The edges were sharp and unregular, probably ripped off with brute force. “Come see.” He nudged his head, waiting for his old friend to come closer.

He could see Phil glancing over his shoulder and his breath stopped when seeing the maimed horns. “Fuck.” He said and sighed deeply. “What kind of hybrid do you think he is?” Phil asked while going back to try and relocate the bones without causing too much stir up or pain.

“Knowing Captain Puffy is… was his mother, probably something like sheep or goat.” Techno pointed at the limp but still fluffy tail which peaked out of Dream’s prison pants.

Phil chuckled.

“Never thought big bad Dream would be a sheep hybrid.”

Techno only hummed in response, turning his attention back on the man on the bed.

Both men worked in silence for a few minutes until Techno spoke up again.

“I think we should cut his hair while he is asleep.” Phil grabbed a few of the bandages. After he had relocated and taken care of the broken bones, he wanted to wrap them up again with fresh and new bandages.

“Don’t you think we should wake until he is up. Getting his opinion on it?” Phil suggested.

“Normally I’d agree. But I doubt Dream would trust up with scissors or shears near his body. You didn’t see what the inside of the cell looked like.” Techno sighed. “There was blood everywhere. Look at my pants! They are drenched in blood and I just sat there for a few minutes. I honestly don’t know what happened in there. My best guess is torture.”

Phil tied off a knot on a bandage of Dream’s left leg. The bandage started the knee and went down to his ankles. “Torture, are you sure?” He asked and grabbed another roll. He dipped the cloth back into the water, which slowly changed colors into pink.

“Check out his hand.” Techno took the now cleaned hand into his own, and turned it around, so his palm was visible. Phil scooted closer and gasped when he saw the lines resembling a smiley cut into the soft flesh.

“That’s… that’s Quackity, right?” Phil asked and Techno only nodded. “I don’t know what he wanted from Dream but this is definitely his work. He was never a fan of Dream.” Techno slowly started wrapping the hand back up.

“The question is was Sam in on this?” Phil asked, now finishing off Dream’s left leg, moving to his right.

“He must have, from what people have told me, you can only go into the prison with Sam’s permission. He has keycards which are needed to open doors.” Techno finished with the hands and now moved to cut open Dream’s torn prison uniform. He gasped when he saw how starved his rival looked, with every broken rib visible. “Niki even told me that you have to leave all your items in a locker, and you are being killed two times. So Sam makes sure that you can’t smuggle anything in. Sam must have been in on it, Quackity wouldn’t be able to bring all those weapons into the cell without him.”

Techno finished wrapping the torso, while Phil was nearly finished off with Dream’s legs. The entire time Dream had been quiet, the only sounds were an occasional whimper or a groan.

“Do you think you can do anything for his horns?” Techno asked while he stood up and stretched his body. He was exhausted from the long travel and the breakout.

“Let me see. But if they are already cut off, I can’t do much.” Phil squatted down at the head of Dream and gently parted the long hair. Phil hummed and Techno already knew the answer from looking at Phil’s face. Eyebrows scrunched up and lips pressed into a thin line. “No, sorry. The best thing we can do is clean them up and let the wounds heal.”

Technoblade didn’t know what he expected but he was disappointed nonetheless. Traits like horns were important for hybrids, they were a sign of their identity. Them being cut off or maimed like Dream’s were, wasn’t only extremely painful but also bad for the moral and psyche of the hybrid.

“Let’s clean them up and rest for the night.” Phil suggested after he stood up. Both men nodded and went to work.

------

Phil and Techno had decided that one of them should stay with Dream for the night. Techno had volunteered, after all, his face was familiar and safe to Dream, after he broke him out of prison.

His head was leaning against the armchair he was resting on, eyes closed. Suddenly he heard rustling and he immediately opened his eyes. He turned to look at Dream, who was staring straight at him. Technoblade didn’t want to admit it but he flinched a little bit, surprised by the nearly glowing green eyes staring at him in the darkness.

“I see you are awake, nerd.” Techno sat himself up straight, Dream’s eyes following his every move. “You remember what happened?”

Dream gave him a nod and blinked a few times.

“Good, good. Phil and I cleaned you up and rewrapped your wounds. We also cut your hair, it was getting in the way while we healed you up.” Technically that was a lie but they didn’t want to deal with a terrified awake Dream while they were handling sharp scissors. The hair was too clumped up, unsaveable, so they just cut it off.

Dream nodded again and kept staring at Techno, who fiddled awkwardly with his fingers.

Suddenly Dream let his arm fall out from under the covers and motioned for Techno to come closer to him. Techno obeyed and sat next to Dream’s head, waiting for what the other hybrid wanted. Dream fumbled to grab Techno’s hand. He had pity on Dream and gently placed his hand on the other’s. Dream patted rhythmically on the back of Techno’s hand.

Morse code.

- .... .- -. -.- / -.-- --- ..-

Techno’s moae code knowledge was rusty but he still understood what his rival meant.

“You are welcome, nerd.” He said and for the first time in months, Dream smiled.

cDream feeing lost in a snowstorm and wishing he had cTechnos cape or cPhils wings, lying cold and scared on the freezing snow until they find him and rush him back inside for warmth

not that techno and phil regret living in the arctic, per se, but protecting a little human is much harder when a few minutes outside could kill him. they'd be worried sick, sifting their hands through snowbanks in case he was already buried beneath one. imagine techno digging and making contact with a little human hand, wearing an old pair of phils gloves. maybe he's been passed out there, maybe he buried himself for some protection from the wind. either way techno is panicking and yelling for phil.

baby dream trolling badboyhalo