Chapter Text
Things… were different now. It was… different now.
And it was… nervous? About this all, wasn’t it? It was certainly unsure if it would last, but it wouldn’t be lying if it said that it wanted this to continue.
Dream was enjoying this life.
So it let itself relax.
A few days after the incident, it found itself absently sprawled out on top of Bad in its basic form, the demon having made a reappearance after the Crimson’s control had finally fully vanished, which was a delight. Because fuck, Bad gave good hugs, the demon hugging it to his chest with a low hum. Skeppy was propped against the near wall, Bad’s head in his lap as the man played with the demon’s hair.
Bad and it had talked for some time. And it had been just as tense yet relieving as the talk with Sapnap and George.
Dream sighed softly. It still had so much to talk over with others, but hey, it was getting there. It was learning to understand. To realize. To change.
And that was… something.
This all was something. To be here. To be in this moment. Each new day. It was… nice.
The next day would find it sharing a smoke with Wilbur.
Dream grumbled under its breath as it tried to spark a flame between its claws, but the curse of this form being too magically unstable to extend its control to cast spells seemed to have remained.
Though at least its form seemed stable enough that it wasn’t in much physical or mental pain as it had once remembered. So…at least that was a plus.
It sighed as it gave up, moving a hand under the mask as it rubbed tiredly at its face before Wilbur offered it a flame instead, the admin accepting it with a low dip of its head.
Wilbur was getting better, too, it seemed. The man talking about how he’d managed to rope Ranboo and Tommy into his latest scheme, some hot dog van or something. It was mostly just a dumb prank it seemed, and that, well, it sounded like it was fun.
Probably good for Wilbur to get that manic energy of his out like that anyways.
Dream laughed easily, “That sounds ridiculous. The man that fought against me in wars going to make hot dogs now?” It took a short drawl before exhaling, letting Wilbur snatch the pipe from its fingers.
Wilbur cackled, throwing an arm over its shoulders, waving the hand holding the pipe, the smoke trailing in an absent little swirl, “You mean genius? And fucking hell, not like you’re doing much yourself nowadays, are you?”
It grinned easily, “Nah. But seriously, hot dogs, Soot. Really?”
The man just laughed, free and sharp. Dream laughed with him, wheezing and breathless.
The next day it spent outside, sparring with Technoblade. Philza watching with amusement as his crows brought him trinkets.
The brute weaved away as Dream dove forward, Techno moving to arc his blade up as the admin hurried to keep its balance and move to block.
It hadn’t been able to change back for long or completely since the incident with returning Ranboo’s pearl. So it had been training this body as well, Dream was used to being able to turn his peg into a functioning limb with the divine magic it had. But, well, now that it was stuck, it figured it might as well learn to be as graceful in this form as it was in previous ones.
Dream grinned as the blades screeched against each other, managing to hold its own before they separated in their dangerous dance.
A week later would find it talking to Puffy, nervous and confused and horribly exposed.
Dream had finally managed to settle itself into more humanoid appearances, but it seemed that the damage of reality on an eldritch being had done its work.
This form was just a weak shell of the power it had held when it was mysterious and feared, but it seemed that this was the price it had to paid.
So be it.
It absently twirled its hair, which had remained white, the other hand delicately running its fingers over the living night of its skin. It swallowed and tapped its foot, having taken the prosthetic leg Phil had helped design for it off at the moment.
Puffy cleared her throat and Dream swallowed again nervously. Fuck, its mouth was dry.
“So, Dream… do you have anything you want to talk about?”
It fiddled with its fingers before looking up finally, voice barley a whisper, “…I- I don’t know.”
The faun merely gave a patient smile, “That’s okay, we can take this slow for now, how about if I ask some questions instead and you answer them to the best of your ability?”
Dream gazed over her face with a frown as she merely gave it an encouraging look. “And if you don’t want to answer a question or talk about a certain subject, we don’t have to. This is a safe space afterall.”
Dream nodded, finally weakly smiling, “Okay.”
And so that became its life. Being able to try to reconnect with friends, avoiding the temptations of power, and learning to live again instead of just pretending.
It was nice.
Dream was happy.
It laid curled up on the couch without a false skin or false intentions. Merely existing, George sprawled lazily on the floor with Sapnap as they talked about whatever came to mind. The fireborn absently twisting his engagement ring as they did.
While Sapnap's, Karl’s, and Quackity’s marriage had been called off, due to tensions that arose due to the prison and Dream situation, they still cared for each other. It was a work in progress, as most things were at the moment, but they seemed to at least want to try.
Though. Dream didn’t know if it would even be able to even look at Quackity if that day came. It would of course attend, but… it shook its head.
One ear twitched as it heard movement in the kitchen.
Techno was currently in there with Niki, Puffy (the faun had started to finally reconnect with the other woman, which delightfully meant more treats were made that it could steal), and Ranboo (while the ender was still distrustful of it, for obvious reasons, they seemed to have settled into a neutral acceptation of the other, which worked perfectly fine with it).
It could hear the piglin brute muttering about ingredients with Ranboo, Puffy and Niki absently flirting. It wondered absently if Puffy and Niki would try to date again.
It smiled faintly at that.
Philza was off with Tommy and Wilbur for the day. It seemed that Tommy was trusting Techno and Philza again, though Dream and the teen avoided each other like the plague. It was best for everyone if it remained like that.
It was best for both of them.
Tubbo came around for Ranboo, and it seemed he still hated its guts, but like all that shared the feeling, it understood easily why. It didn’t mind.
It was healing its way, they were healing theirs, and there was no need to overlap. Dream wasn’t sorry for its actions, though it held some regrets, and it didn’t need them to accept it into their lives.
They were happy with their progress. And it was happy with its.
Dream flicked its tail absently to smack Sapnap in the face, wheezing at the sputter and tackle that followed. The admin yelping as Sapnap tried to get its head in a headlock, Dream being careful of its horns as it managed to avoid the other’s grasp.
It laughed as it managed to get loose, hurrying to its feet before fleeing outside with a taunting yell, “Too slow as always, Pandas!”
The fireborn merely yelled back, “Fuck you!” Dream grinned as it dashed into the snow, the chase probably wouldn’t last long since neither of them had grabbed their coats, but it was fun either way.
It merely wanted to bask in the moment. Happy. Content. And smiling.
Things were healing. Dream was healing.