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It was difficult to say when precisely it had happened. Maybe after the cave spider incident, or after that one nightmare, or the elytra, or, or, or. There were a hundred possible places. But regardless, at some point, Techno had come to consider Dream one of his closest friends.
He realized it one day, sitting with Dream by Floof's pen, just talking. He couldn't even remember later what the conversation was about. But Dream had seemed a little upset that day, and Techno had made a joke to cheer him up, and Dream had laughed so hard he could barely breathe. And it was like a puzzle piece sliding into place, a quiet realization of oh. He's important to me. I really care about him. When did that happen?
With that realization, however, came consequences.
Techno didn't know much about his family or his heritage; he'd been young when Phil became his home. All he knew - and all he cared to know - was that he was at least part piglin. And unfortunately, that came with some weird personality traits, particularly involving friends, family, and gold.
He had started by just giving people he cared about gold nuggets, whenever he could get them (and Phil was happy to give him some every now and then once he explained what he needed them for). And that had been fine for a while. But then, like an itch under his skin, it began to bother him that they didn't keep the nuggets. They were always put into common chests, forged into ingots, and used for other purposes. He was happy his gifts were being useful, of course he was, but they didn't keep them. He wanted them to keep them.
He didn't want to just ask people to hang on to the nuggets he gave them, though; it wouldn't be good or special that way. They needed to keep them without prompting.
So Techno had started learning to forge.
It was difficult at first, of course. He had to try four or five times before he made something acceptable. He ended up with a small golden ring with uneven edges and uneven thickness, and he had given it to Phil without looking him in the eye. He had been too nervous.
Phil cried. Techno panicked. Phil hurriedly reassured him that he was crying because he was happy. Techno didn't get it but was relieved Phil wasn't upset. And Phil had found a small chain and hung the ring around his neck like a pendant, gladly keeping Techno's gift. Success.
He'd made rings for Wilbur and Tommy, too, and eventually Tubbo. Wilbur wore his on his right middle finger, Tommy wore his like Phil's, and Tubbo kept his in his Ender chest so he would never lose it.
Knowing that they had golden things that he'd made them was comforting, and for a while he hadn't thought much about it.
Then he started to care about Dream.
Soon after his realization, he started getting that itch again, and the urge to give his friend gold got stronger the more he ignored it. It made sense to ignore it, though, he reasoned; Dream would probably get confused if Techno suddenly started giving him gold. He didn't have much gold at the moment anyway. Dream wasn't family, surely he only got the urge to give gold to family? He was overthinking and it was fine to ignore the feeling like ants crawling over him, like electricity humming under his skin, like static in his head and in his fingers every time Dream was nearby.
So he ignored it. Until the day at the beach, where Dream looked so happy and relaxed that he couldn't ignore it anymore. He had slipped a gold nugget into Dream's hoodie pocket just before his friend had put the hoodie back on, and the relief was so instant and total that he almost fell over. He'd thought that would be the end of it for a while.
He was wrong.
It started up again the next time he saw Dream, knowing somehow that he didn't have the nugget on him anymore, and this time it was worse. It was like eating a tiny bit when you're hungry, and suddenly realizing you're much hungrier than you thought.
When Dream had to ask him three times if he was okay before it registered, Techno realized he probably needed to do something about this.
So there he was, pickaxe in hand, walking through Pogtopia's Nether portal.
The warm hum of energy wrapped around him as usual, pulling him into the heat of the Nether and closer to his goal.
"Okay," he hummed, glancing around at the surrounding netherrack. "Most of the gold around the portal's been taken. If I were a gold vein, which direction would I be in?"
There was no reply, of course. Just some faint popping sounds from the nearby lava.
Perhaps, Techno mused, it wasn't so much a question of where the gold was so much as where Wilbur and Tommy hadn't been. Wilbur had mostly stayed in the overworld, so before Techno had stepped up to help, it had mostly been Tommy who would have gone to get gold. And Techno had of course been gathering gold himself (he couldn't use that for his gift, though, it had to be gathered with his friend in mind to feel right), but he had started off on Tommy's path away from the portal. So maybe...
Techno rounded the portal and headed away from it. Tommy, who liked left and right rather than east and west, would consider that going backwards, and he didn't like going backwards.
Sure enough, after a few minutes of walking, Techno found a large pocket of gold ore. He looked around a little longer and found a few more veins - you could never have too many golden apples, after all - before heading back.
"Hey Techno!" Tommy greeted him as he walked back through the portal. "You're back early."
"Didn't need much," Techno told him absently, already planning out the best place to set up a forge. He had space in his little bunker, didn't he?
Tommy frowned, leaving whatever he was doing to follow Techno along the ravine floor. "You good, big man?"
"I'm fine. Just thinkin'."
"Yeah, see, that's why I never think. That way I'm always focused!"
Techno hummed in acknowledgement. Yeah, he should have space, and he had blast furnaces and an anvil. That should be enough. He had regular furnaces, too, if the blast furnaces were too hot.
"... Tech? Did you hear me?"
"Uh-huh."
Tommy darted in front of him and stopped, arms crossed, brow furrowed in a surprisingly serious glare. "See, I don't think you did, because I left you an opening to pick on me and you didn't even notice."
Techno, forced to stop as well, hesitated. "... Sorry? I guess?"
"What's going on? Is something wrong?" Tommy asked, the glare subsiding a little. When Techno didn't reply, he asked "Is it to do with Dream?"
Techno was good at hiding his emotions. He could keep the same flat look on his face no matter what was happening around him, and this was no exception. He was not, however, good at lying, so when he gave Tommy a short "No" and pushed past him, he knew Tommy knew the real answer was yes.
"Do I need to stab him?" Tommy asked with childish glee.
"Please don't."
"Tech, can I please stab him? You can help if you want!"
Techno turned to give his little brother a baleful glance. "You go after Dream and I'm not helpin' you. You're on your own."
Tommy pouted for a moment, then hurried forward again to catch up. "Well if it's not a stabbable offense, then what is it? Are you two fighting?"
"Toms, I'm kinda busy at the moment," Techno snapped, stopping once more so he could turn and look at Tommy properly. "If you agree to leave me alone and let me work, I'll answer one question."
He saw Tommy almost start to protest - only one question? - before realization dawned and he frowned thoughtfully. One question, answered honestly and without deflection. It had better be a good one.
After a moment, Tommy sighed. "Okay, big man. I've got a question."
"Go for it."
His little brother seemed almost... hesitant. He wouldn't quite meet Techno's gaze and was fidgeting slightly with the hem of his shirt. "... Are you making another ring?"
Techno blinked in shock. How. How in the world.
"... Yes," he admitted quietly.
Tommy nodded, and it was suddenly very obvious that he'd grown up somewhat without Techno noticing. His expression was serious, and he sounded like an adult when he said "If he ever does something worthy of a stabbing, let me know. I've got a knife with his name on it."
Techno chuckled, wondering when this irritating little kid had gotten so smart, and ruffled Tommy's hair, ignoring his protests. "I know, Toms. Thanks."
"And if you make his nicer than mine I'm disowning you!" Tommy warned him, sprinting off to another section of Pogtopia.
(Techno was absolutely planning to make Dream's nicer than Tommy's, because he'd made Tommy's years ago and his skills had improved since then, and he couldn't do any less than his best when he made a ring like this. But Tommy didn't need to know that.)
The actual forging process didn't take too long, relatively speaking. It was just a simple gold band, after all, without any extra frills or complications. Techno may have spent a little longer than strictly necessary polishing it, mostly due to anxiety and wanting it to be perfect, but it did leave him with a ring that was one of his best, in his opinion. Now he just had to actually give it to Dream.
He briefly entertained the idea of doing what he'd done with the nugget and just leaving it in a place where Dream would pick it up. The more he thought about it, though, the worse that idea appeared. The possibility of Dream finding the ring, not understanding what it was, and getting rid of it made him feel sick. So it seemed he'd have to take a more direct approach.
Techno wrote a message, checked it over five times to make sure it was perfect, and agonized over it for at least ten minutes before sending it.
You whispered to Dream: hey when you have time can you stop by my base?
Thankfully, Dream responded quickly.
Dream whispered to you: yeah sure! I can be there in a few minutes, that okay?
You whispered to Dream: yeah that's fine
A few minutes gave him enough time to finish cleaning up his workspace, make his bed properly, and take his hair out of its messy bun before Dream splashed down into his base.
"Hey," Techno offered weakly. The ring was wrapped in a small scrap of leather and stuffed in his pocket, there was no reason to feel that it was burning a hole through the fabric.
"Hey!" Dream was bouncy, which meant he was in a good mood, but the bounciness faded slightly as he got a proper look at Techno. "... Everything okay, dude?"
"Yeah, everything's fine." Give him the ring give it give it give it
Dream unlatched his mask, stowing it in his inventory so Techno could see the worried look in his eyes. "Tech, you've been acting kind of weird recently. If something's wrong, you can talk to me."
"It's..." Techno struggled for the words. He wanted Dream to understand this. "Dream, how much do you know about piglins?"
Dream was visibly taken aback. He obviously hadn't expected the conversation to go in this direction. "Um. They like gold? They'll trade with people, they live in the Nether, um... That's about it, honestly."
"The gold is the important bit," Techno assured him. He sat on the edge of the bed and patted the mattress next to him, continuing once Dream had sat down as well. "They - they give each other gold, too. Like other members of their group. That's, um. Important."
Dream tilted his head to one side. "Important how?"
Important like breathing. "Important as in you feel like you have to. It's like... like givin' them gold means you're protectin' them even when you're not there. And if you don't do it, it's kinda distractin', because all you can think about is the fact that you should give them gold, even if you don't really know why." The feeling was really hard to explain, and Techno didn't know if he was doing a good job, but Dream was listening, at least.
"Not the weirdest thing I've ever heard."
Well. That was a good sign. Techno took a deep breath and took the ring out of his pocket, sliding the little leather package across the blanket toward Dream.
Dream's gaze flickered between the little bundle and Techno's face. "... Is that for me?"
Techno nodded. He didn't meet Dream's eyes.
He watched, though, as Dream carefully unwrapped the leather, and he heard the tiny gasp as he saw the ring for the first time.
"Where'd you get this?" Dream breathed, picking the ring up to examine it.
"Made it."
Dream stared at him. "No way."
Techno shrugged, trying for nonchalance. "Rings are easy and people keep them. I've gotten good at it."
"Dude, this is amazing! Why didn't you tell me you could do stuff like this?" Bouncy Dream was back, Techno noted with relief.
"Didn't think it was important," he mumbled. He took a small chain out of his inventory and handed that over as well. "If you don't want to wear it like a normal ring, you don't have to. Phil wears his like a necklace."
Dream took the chain, put the ring on it, and clasped it around his neck like it was the most precious thing he'd ever held. "Thank you."
Techno shrugged again. "Don't mention it."
They talked for a few more minutes - nothing of importance, just chatting about their days - before Dream had to leave again, but as he did, Techno felt lighter than he had in a while.
And the next day, after seeing the outline of the ring under Dream's shirt, Techno grinned like an idiot for several hours, but he could pretend that it was because he immediately went to farm potatoes all day. He liked farming potatoes, of course he would be happy while farming. Or at least that's what he told anyone who asked.