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Techno hadn’t originally planned to get stuck in Pandora’s Vault, but he can’t say it wasn’t worth it in the end.
Well- okay, no, the added scars and the new hatred towards a vegetable he once loved dearly wasn’t worth it, but he left that obsidian hell with a lover in his arms, so, really, Sam was doing him a favor by sticking him in there.
Okay, maybe he should actually start listening to Phil when he talks about using humor to cope.
Whatever.
It’s been an entire year since Techno and Dream were rescued from Pandora’s Vault, and Techno would like to say that they’re doing pretty well. They’ve got a house far, far away from the mainland and everyone in it, and Phil is the only person besides them who knows the coordinates; they spend their days doing whatever they want around their land; and they only have to visit the mainland once every month, so Dream can do his admin duties and Techno can attend Syndicate meetings.
Sure, they had to sleep on the floor together for the first month or two after escaping, but now they have a huge bed with a shit ton of pillows and they’re both perfectly happy; and sure, they both loath obsidian, but at their house, high above any natural-spawning obsidian, they’re safe from the horrid rock; and sure, they’re both plagued by nightmares, Techno’s consisting mainly of flashbacks to when he was chained down and had to watch Dream be tortured, Dream’s containing flashbacks of the months-long torture, but Phil has been helping them immensely, and the memories have slowly started to leave their minds.
The main problem they’ve faced is Dream’s new eyesight.
Or, lack-thereof.
Techno doesn’t like to revisit when he was chained to the wall and forced to watch his belovedーwho wasn’t his beloved at the time, since it was only three weeks into his stay in the prison, but there was something more than roommate-friendly feelings during that timeーget doused in blinding potions, then get his eyes mutilated by an axe that he previously owned, then get respawned in their little pool in the corner, before the process was repeated four times, but it comes back in his nightmares enough that the scene is always fresh in his mind.
That was the first night Techno held Dream. He had wrapped his cloak around the sobbing body, which was desperate for any sort of touch to try and make up for the lack of sight, and held him until his shaking stopped and he fell limp in his arms. Techno had sworn that day, both out loud to the person in his arms and to himself, that he would do anything to get Dream out of there. He had thought Dream was too delirious to hear what he said, but the blond had confessed to him, about a month or two ago, that he heard every word and it was enough to lull him to sleep in Techno’s arms.
After that, sitting near, or even on top, of each other had become a common occurrence, and it helped Techno as much as it did Dream.
With nothing else to do to pass the time between torture sessionsーwhich sounds terrible looking back, but that’s the only way the two could ever keep track of timeーthe two of them talked, and talked, and talked, until Techno had felt stripped bare in front of the blond. Dream had shared everything, from his, frankly, fucked up, childhood to going into depth about all of his past torture sessions, which he had apparently documented in his little journalーwhich he refuses to get rid of, despite it holding detailed documentation of the hell he went through, since Dream apparently first wrote about his growing feelings for Techno in there before he lost his sight.
Techno can’t pinpoint when he started to see Dream romantically, but he knew it only grew over time. Even now, after it’s been roughly a year and three months since he and Dream confessed to each other, he still finds something new everyday that makes him fall in love just a little bit more. Their relationship had been borderline-romantic only a few weeks into their stay together, formed from a mutual need for closeness and understanding, but somewhere over time, Techno had actually fallen in love with the blond.
It’s a good thing Dream felt the same, too, since it’d be terribly awkward for them to be permanently stuck in each other’s spaces 24/7 while trying to avoid each other.
Now, the two are constantly in each other’s spaces, but this time it’s willingly.
A body shifting under Techno’s arm breaks him out of his thoughts, causing his face to scrunch up from where it’s stuffed into messy blond hair. He groaned, tightening his hold around Dream’s waist before clenching his eyes shut, desperate for more sleep. Techno had managed to sleep through the entire night without waking up from either him having a nightmare or from Dream thrashing in his arms from his own nightmare, and he was desperate to savor the feeling before he inevitably breaks his streak again.
Apparently, his body had other ideas, for his mind refused to fall back asleep no matter how long he laid there with his eyes closed. He sighed heavily, the body in front of him shivering at the rush of air on their neck. After stubbornly keeping his eyes closed for a few more minutes, he resigned himself to his fate, opening his eyes before immediately shutting them again at the light filtering in through the large windows Dream made him install; Techno suspects he did that for Techno as much as for himself, since it opened the room up and made it feel larger than it actually is.
To show his appreciation for Dream, even though the blond is too unconscious to realize Techno’s reasoning, he starts peppering kisses along the back of Dream’s neck. The skin is warm under his lips, a sharp contrast to the cold chill that encased it during their time in prison, one that Techno had once thought would be permanent. Dream squirmed where he was laying, not getting far due to Techno’s arms around his waist; he loosened the limbs a tiny bit in case Dream actually wanted to move, letting out a pleased hum with the blond settled back into him instead.
“Morning, Tech.” The words were grumbled, slurred together with sleep, and Techno chuckled against the soft skin in front of him, placing a barely-there kiss on a small scar on the upper part of Dream’s neck.
“Mornin’, sleep well?” Techno could feel Dream nod against him, and he finally decided to open his eyes, at least one of them should probably be able to see. He was met with a sight that he missed before, the sun much more bearable now that he was ready for it. The morning light gave Techno the ability to finally look at his lover, smiling at the sight of the blond peacefully tucked up between him and a multitude of blankets. Dream, as if sensing his gaze and deciding to give the piglin hybrid more to look at, shuffled where he laid and flipped over, facing his lover, who still had his armsーloosely, not restrictive, never caging ーwrapped around him.
Dream’s eyes were open, allowing Techno to see the milky irises gazing in his general direction. A splatter of scars spread across both of the blond’s eyes, matching a handful of other ones scattered around Dream’s face, but through it all, small constellations of freckles decorated Dream’s cheeks and the bridge of his nose. Techno had counted them one time, when Dream had fallen asleep against the pinkette’s shoulder, after another day of Quackity feuling Techno’s loathing for him, and now, Techno makes sure to keep exactly 173 individual rose plants in the little underground greenhouse he has with Dreamーnot that the blond knows why he has so many, since his dignity won’t let him confess that the number of Dream’s favorite flower is the same number of freckles he has on his face.
“I can hear you thinking.” Dream’s hearing has been majorly heightened since he lost his sight, and Techno doesn’t doubt his words for a second, even if he knows the blond is being sarcastic. A hand is clumsily brought to Techno’s cheek, landing on his neck and then running up his chin before reaching its destination, and he leans into the touch. Techno wasn’t one for much physical touch before he was trapped in prison, not disgusted by it, but also not seeing a need for it, but now, he’ll willingly take any and every touch Dream wants to give him. “You okay?” Dream tilted his head questioningly, a tiny furrow in his eyebrows, and, not for the first time, Techno wonders how he didn’t fall for the blond earlier.
“Just fine, my love.” Dream seems satisfied at that, a smile appearing on his face, and Techno was sure that if he wasn’t already blinded by the sun that morning, then he surely would be joining the man in front of him in eternal darkness at the sheer beauty in front of him. In truth, Techno was more than fine, but he’s sure that he would stumble through his words if he decided to voice every little, sappy thing he feels about the man in front of him. “What do you want to do today?” Lately, they’ve been on a streak of sitting either near the fireplace or near the large windows in their living room while Techno reads to Dream, and Techno can already guess what Dream’s answer to his question is going to be.
“We’re almost done our book, aren’t we?” How Dream knows that without knowing the amount of pages the book has, nevermind what page they’re actually on, is beyond Techno.
“We are, wanna finish it?” As if he didn’t know the answer before he asked it.
“Yes, please.” Techno smiled slightly, Dream’s smile broadening when he felt the skin under his hand move, before beginning to get out of the covers blanketing him. Dream whined slightly, reaching out for the pinkette, before placating once Techno grabbed his hand.
“Want me to carry you?” Dream visibly perked up at that, propping himself up on an elbow before flopping forward, Techno catching him before he could hit the mattress face-first. He hoisted the man up in his arms, grunting from the sudden weightーnot that he’d ever complain, preferring to put more effort into carrying his beloved than going back to the blond being stick-thin like he was during prisonー, before leaving the bedroom with Dream tucked in his arms bridal style.
He sat on the couch right underneath one of the large windows in their living room, setting Dream next to him before lifting his legs onto Techno’s lap, earning a giggle from the blond who tucked himself into Techno’s side, grabbing the book off the table next to the couch before resting one of his hands on Dream’s ankle, the other propping the book up so he could read. True to Dream’s word, they were only roughly 50 pages to the end of the book, and Techno was sure they’d be able to finish it before lunch time.
Sitting under the morning sun, with his lover tucked up against his side and listening to him speak, Techno decides that retirement isn’t that bad.