Chapter Text
Dream prayed to both XD and Prime while hoping at least one was willing to listen to his prayers honestly, although he wonders what he’s done to deserve being in such a humiliating situation like this. Okay that was a lie on Dream’s behalf, he knows he’s probably in this scenario because he helped blow up some homes and killed a kid – but he wasn’t expecting something like this to happen.
The green Teletubby shivers as his small body rests inside an abandoned shack like structure that’s falling apart, hating himself for coming out into the snow – but he needed to know what Technoblade was up to right now. Although if there’s one thing he’s thankful for is that he only partial shifted into his smallest marshmallow like form, in that only his body changed but his mind did not – but Dream can feel himself slipping as he holds in a pathetic whine.
He wishes he was back home when this happened so he could curl up around a fire, although he knows this is his own fault despite the curses that had filled his mind. But to be fair, it’s not like these past few months had made it safe for him to shift into his more vulnerable side – though he is glad that he hadn’t uttered a single word to anyone who would use this against him seriously.
But he spots the red and pink walking past outside the decrepit shack and perks up before letting out a hopeful chirp and hopping over to the entrance, beginning to chitter loudly to get the Piglin’s attention – relieved when he spots the ears perk up and the figure turning to face him slowly. If Dream were anyone else at the size he currently is, he would be scared out of his mind – but he’s Dream and it would take more than that to scare him.
Although a faint pink tints Dream’s face from embarrassment as the Piglin laughs before moving closer, but smirks as he picks up the vulnerable green blob that’s now at his mercy. “Well if it isn’t Dream, what brings you all the way up to my part of the world?”
Dream chitters his answer since he can’t exactly form words right now, revealing that this wasn’t a willing shift but a forced one – of course Technoblade knows about the shifting, since he is the last person who would use this seriously against Dream. Technoblade would always mock Dream and hold it above the blob that he was so small and defenceless, but he would never try to capture or contain Dream like this nor tell anyone without Dream’s permission – refusing to hurt the blob like this.
“A forced shift? Sucks to be you then, doesn’t it. Well I’ve got a fire back at my place and we can warm you up there, because there’s no way I’m staying out here to wait for your homeless ass.” Dream purrs at the thought of getting warm back at Technoblade’s place, letting out a small whine when he’s jostled around only to purr louder when he’s placed into a warm pocket of Techno’s shirt.
Dream can feel his mind slipping to his small mindset as he sits surrounded by warmth with Technoblade’s strange scent, since he oddly smelled of cooked marshmallows, campfires and metals – he understood the campfires and metals, but the marshmallow part had always confused him. But the blob begins to fall asleep due to the slight rocking motion due to the way Techno’s currently walking, not minding all that much since he knows Technoblade will keep them safe.
Techno of course was going to mock the homeless blob so much once they’re both at his home, although that would have to wait until Dream shifted back – whenever that would be. Since forced shifts for Dream always varied in time lengths depending on how long Dream had gone without shifting, or so the green Teletubby had said.
Techno definitely preferred Dream as a blob though since he barely took up room, and when completely shifted of his own free will he was actually a pleasant addition. He’s speaking from experience since eight or nine times out of ten the admin would come to him once he’d discovered what Dream shifted into, although the discovery had been completely an accident.
Dream had been injured by some mobs after getting into a fight with the rest of the Dream Team, and so he had shifted since as a blob his human form could heal much quicker while the blob didn’t have any injuries itself and mobs became unaware of his presence – not to mention animals were friendly too. Techno of course had seen Dream right as he shifted into his blob form, but he hadn’t known that Techno saw until said Piglin had actually picked the blob up – receiving a startled squeak from the blob.
Dream’s mindset had shifted since his forms had shifted as well on top of it being a willing shift, and oddly enough the blob side actually adored the blood thirsty anarchist - so he chittered happily to the Piglin once he got over his shock. Techno of course was amused and gently poked the stomach of the blob, trying to embarrass Dream by calling him a ‘cute homeless blob’ – surprised by the purr he received since the blob was focused on the cute part.
Unlike Dream, Dre (which Dream revealed to Techno is what he had named his blob side, when the Piglin asked what to call him while he’s a blob) actually enjoyed being called cute and having someone look after him – happy to have a carer since Dream only had himself. That was a bit awkward when Dream shifted back since he was so embarrassed at his behaviour, which wasn’t helped when Techno teased him for it.
Of course when Techno kept this useful information to himself Dream couldn’t help seeking him out, demanding an answer from the piglin about why he kept it secret – only to be shocked when Techno revealed it wasn’t his place and he respected Dream still. However at the beginning (to Techno’s dismay), that encouraged the homeless Teletubby to come over to the piglin’s home for his shifts so he would never be forced to do so.
But oddly enough Techno found himself quickly warming up to the small figure that barged into his home once a week in the beginning, since Techno found that despite enjoying the silence and his alone time – the blob added that bit of presence so Techno wouldn’t feel overwhelmed, but also wouldn’t feel alone. Although the visits began to dwindle down to once a fortnight after the election and then once a month, until he never visited anymore.
Techno figured that Dream was just shifting elsewhere, but now he can see that’s not the case at all. Dream had explained that he would begin to shift after two months if he didn’t do so of his own free will, but if he kept his body for a human without shifting for a month after the attempts - than without warning he would be forced to shift by his body.
Techno’s glad he won’t see Phil or Ranboo for a while since he doesn’t want to betray Dream’s trust, because at this point in time he’s the only person who hasn’t betrayed him despite giving help – unlike Tommy and Tubbo. But he’s relieved once they reach his home before hurrying inside, checking up on Steve and feeding the bear as he sets a reminder to check on the dogs with Dre – since for some reason the dogs loved Dre and would chuck a fit if they couldn’t see him but could smell his scent.
He looks into his chest pocket and snorts at seeing the small blob figure curled up fast asleep, but avoids waking him for now – instead going to his kitchen to grab a few things. He grabs a bowl and a mug but fills both with hot chocolate, having learned his lesson from last time when he gave Dre a mug – since the blob could oddly enough drink from the bowl but would knock over mugs. Of course he had to keep an eye on the blob while he drank it, since Dre had a tendency to jump into the liquids if he was feeling like Techno wasn’t paying attention to him – well mostly the warm ones since the cold ones had him too stiff to move and caused him to tremble.
But once done Techno moves into his living room and gets the fire going to really warm up the room, wanting it to be nice and toasty even if it was already warm – thanks to a bit of admin magic from Dream that stopped it from catching fire but was constantly heated to avoid freezing. Techno was surprised to discover that bit of information since Dream hadn’t said anything, having only found out when Steve accidentally knocked one of the legs partly into the fire – Dream revealing he did it when Techno told him about the incident.
However the piglin grabs a pillow he has specifically for Dre before putting it on the footstool by the fire, gently placing the bowl of hot chocolate there since there was enough room for both. Once Techno made sure both was set up he gently retrieved the blob from his pocket before carefully placing him on the pillow, noticing the movement woke the blob up partially since Dre bobbed his head.
Dre of course didn’t like being woken up like this since he was quite comfortable and warm to be honest, chittering angrily to let his carer know he didn’t like this – but he still flopped face down on the soft fabric beneath him. He didn’t care that his chitters were muffled after that, more content with just laying happily on the pillow.
Techno snorts at watching the blob flop onto the pillow before taking a seat in the arm chair nearby before picking up the book resting on the arm, choosing to ignore the angrily chittering blob for now as long as he didn’t do anything – like face plant or swim in the hot chocolate.
Dre finally smells the hot chocolate and perks up at that before sitting up, only to carefully shift forward so he doesn’t face plant in it – not in the mood to swim even if the idea is tempting right now. Of course he chooses not to since he’s comfortably warm for now, instead drinking from the bowl before turning his attention to his carer.
Technoblade glances up from his book to see Dre looking at him, raising an eyebrow as the blob continues to stare at him – but he puts his book down as he sees the blob shifting to the edge of the foot stool. Sighing as he holds his palms out and allows the blob to jump into them, snorting when he receives a purr and nuzzle from the homeless Teletubby.
Dre happily chirps as he looks at the book since he’s curious about what his carer is reading, hoping the hybrid will read to him – not wanting Techno to read so he can take in information but because he wants to hear Techno’s voice. Since Techno has such a low tenor kind of voice, which was much more soothing to him unlike George’s.
At the thought of George though also brings the thought of Sapnap, causing Dre to whine as he misses the blaze hybrid since he was always so warm and funny. Dre had cuddled sometimes with Sapnap as a blob and as his human self, but Dream made sure that Sapnap had no clue about his hybrid nature since he didn’t know if Sapnap would slip up or not. But Dream made sure to let Sapnap know that if anything happened to Dre he would hunt down the man himself, even if he technically wouldn’t have been able to do anything since he was Dre.
Techno hated listening to Dre whine since it sounded so pathetic and he never liked Dre acting so disgustingly, so he gently prods the blob to get his attention before gesturing to the book when Dre looks at him. “I’m going to read that, but I’ll put you back on the pillow first.”
Dre nods as he accepts that now that he’s snapped out of his sad thoughts about his old friends, allowing Techno to gently place him back on the pillow before he settles down and looks up at his carer attentively.
Techno snorts as he watches Dre become so patient and attentive once he settles down on his pillow, causing the piglin hybrid to wish that Dream would be a bit more obedient like Dre. Although he knows he doesn’t really want Dream to do that, since he actually enjoys the banter between them – especially when the homeless teletubby tries to deny being homeless.
But Techno will stop calling him homeless the day he actually sees a liveable structure that Dream lives in, at least semi permanently – but until then he will continue to mock the green blob about this fact mercilessly.
For now though the piglin hybrid gently picks up the book and gets comfortable on the chair once again, looking at the blob for a few seconds before opening the book up – checking once again that Dre has settled down before he begins reading.
“The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected. The art of war, then, is governed by five constant factors, to be taken into account in one's deliberations, when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field. These are: The Moral Law; Heaven; Earth; The Commander; Method and discipline. The Moral Law causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger. Heaven signifies night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons. Earth comprises distances, great and small; danger and security; open ground and narrow passes; the chances of life and death. The Commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerely, benevolence, courage and strictness. By method and discipline are to be understood the marshalling of the army in its proper subdivisions, the graduations of rank among the officers, the maintenance of roads by which supplies may reach the army, and the control of military expenditure. These five heads should be familiar to every general: he who knows them will be victorious; he who knows them not will fail.”
Dre closes his eyes as he listens to Techno’s voice fill the quiet air, relishing in the soft low tones of his carer’s voice – content to lay on the pillow. The blob has always felt safe around Techno, and that was never more noticeable then now in moments like these – when Techno was reading to Dream and said blonde was in his most vulnerable form despite knowing what Techno could do to him.
Dre of course knew his human counterpart was listening since both sides actually enjoyed listening to Technoblade, it’s just that the human side was too embarrassed to admit to how he feels – not wanting to admit that he’s at least partially attached to the Piglin.
Dre decided he needed his human counterpart to restore their visits, hating that he’d gone so long without his carer – although Dre was mad at Dream he didn’t blame the human half of himself. Since no one but Technoblade could be trusted with their vulnerability, neither wanting anyone to take advantage of them.
But for now in this moment as he sits upon a soft pillow by a softly crackling fire and a bowl of hot chocolate at his side, Dre listens to Techno continue to read out ‘The Art Of War by Sun Tzu’.