Chapter Text
The ballroom was… a change for sure. It was big and spacy, its walls weren’t made of stone, but instead of wood, and rather than being dark, torches and lanterns made everything inside seem brighter. It was nothing like battle fortifications, it was cozy and friendly, it allowed people to reconnect. With its soft music and the sweet foods available to all, it assured them that the war was over. And while sure, most attendees preferred sticking to their long-time allies than their previous enemies, a few people dared to engage in conversation with the ones from the opposing side.
Dream kept leaning against the wall and enjoyed the chill breeze that reached him through the cracks. The wood was thick, so it wasn’t as cold as the air usually got when it was snowing, but it was refreshing enough. Every once in a while, he took a moment to look for his friends, and each time his gaze reached them, they seemed to be having fun. Good, that’s what they were there for, after all. And while he did promise to them that he’d do the same, he never said that his definition of fun wasn’t simply supporting a wall.
A tap on his shoulder almost caught him off-guard, he could’ve even flinched if it wasn’t the 5th time he felt it during the same night. With a quiet sigh, he turned his head and looked at Sapnap, the one responsible for tapping him. His friend was almost breathless, which wasn’t too surprising. From what Dream saw so far, when he wasn’t busy bothering him, he was dancing with anyone willing. And the two men who just recently arrived at this part of the land seemed more willing to dance the night away with him.
“Still no one?” Sapnap asked, still catching his breath. Dream nodded.
“No one seems too interested in me,” he admitted, briefly gesturing to all the people in the building.
“Or they’re too scared to ask you for a dance,” the man suggested. “So why don’t you do that?” he asked, and Dream could only shrug. Why didn’t he? “What, you don’t know who to ask?”
“...Do you have any suggestions?” he muttered eventually. Sapnap stifled a laugh and looked around the ballroom.
“Hm, well, I mean, I won’t mind you stealing one of those guys for a dance,” he suggested, glancing towards the two men he was spending his night with.
“I wouldn’t do that to you,” Dream shook his head.
Before Sapnap could throw out another suggestion, there came a loud crash. They both turned their heads towards one of the tables with food and saw a fox hybrid wearing a pastel-coloured L’Manburg suit standing over a broken plate. Just seconds later, Wilbur was next to him, the two exchanging some words too quietly for Dream or Sapnap to hear. Eventually, the fox turned and left, walking over to an empty bench and sitting down only to glare at his country’s leader.
“...Do you know who’s that?” Dream asked, turning to look at Sapnap again. The other man almost managed to stop himself from laughing quietly.
“Yeah. If I’m not wrong, Fundy? But look out, if you decide to ask him for a dance you might start a second war. It would be funny, though,” he joked. When Dream didn’t quite react, he sighed. “He’s Wilbur’s son,” he clarified. The masked man nodded briefly. “So?”
“Don’t you have people to get back to?” Dream asked, motioning to the two men Sapnap’s been dancing with. His friend sighed.
“Sure. Good luck with finding someone,” he wished. After Dream answered with another nod, he turned and left.
The man closed his eyes and leaned against the wall again. He admired how fast Sapnap seemed to move on from the war and how easily he found himself in this ball, but that was not something they had in common. With the chilly breeze keeping him company, he let out a deep sigh and got to relax for a whole minute until someone tapped him on his arm again. Expecting it to be Sapnap, he opened his eyes and turned towards him.
“Back already-” he started, but quickly noticed that the person next to him was not his friend. Instead, he was now face to face with the fox hybrid they noticed before. “Oh. Can I help you?” he asked, puzzled.
“Probably,” the fox, Fundy, shrugged. This only baffled the masked man further.
“...What do you need, then?”
“Well, you see… I kind of overheard you a moment ago?” he started, and Dream was very grateful for his mask covering his expression. Before he could figure out how to answer, Fundy went on. “And, as you could’ve noticed,” he gestured briefly to the broken plate still on the ground, “I’m kind of looking for ways to annoy my father? So, uh… Do you maybe want to... I don't know, hang out or something?”
Dream barely stifled a laugh of relief, this was quite a good outcome of an “I heard you talking about me” situation. And if he agreed, Sapnap would stop worrying about him and focus on enjoying the ball for himself. And annoying General Soot in a harmless way seemed like a great way to pass the night. And, well, Fundy certainly seemed like an interesting guy too. All things considered, he nodded.
“You know what? Sure. Do you have anything in mind?” he asked. After a short pause of surprise, Fundy’s face lit up with the brightest smile Dream ever got to see.
“I don’t know, I didn’t think you’d- uh- Do you dance?” he suggested finally. After giving it a second of thought, Dream fully pushed himself off the wall.
“I certainly try,” he answered. Somehow, Fundy’s smile grew wider as he held out his hand.
“Let’s try together, then,” he grinned. Taking the fox hybrid’s hand felt like sealing his fate for the night… but there wasn’t anything Dream wanted to do more.
They walked further from the wall and closer to the jukeboxes. The music left much to be desired, not one song played until the end ever since Tommy and Tubbo got their hands on the discs prepared for the ball and played them in a way only they truly understood. But it wasn’t too tragic, it was still good enough for a dance or two. Or three. Or four. Or- which dance was it, again?
The time they spent holding hands and swirling to the music was not what they expected it to be. Dream, who originally accepted the offer as more of a “why not” felt himself get almost giddy, and each time a song stopped, he found himself quietly praying that the next one would come on before his partner would decide that they spent enough time together. Luckily for him, Fundy didn’t even consider letting go first, and while his original intention was enjoying the shocked and annoyed looks Wilbur shot at the two, he barely acknowledged anything or anyone that wasn’t the masked man swaying with him or the music anymore. Only when their legs were barely able to hold them up and their hands were starting to ache each time they dared to raise them, they slowed down and stumbled over to a pillar, next to which they could catch their breaths.
“...Do you want to get some food?” Dream suggested once he decided he recovered enough. Once again, he got to see Fundy’s face light up at the offer.
“Yeah, sure,” he nodded with a grin before pushing himself off the pillar. “Let’s go.”
Without truly acknowledging it, Fundy grabbed Dream’s hand and led him to one of the tables. While he could blame it on being tired, it still took the masked man an embarrassing amount of time to realize how he was following so close behind. When he did finally notice the fox hybrid’s hand over his own, leading him through the ballroom, the idea of pulling away didn’t even cross his mind. They soon reached the table, where they took some of the more interesting-looking foods, neither of them sure if they ever got to try those before.
They sat on one of the benches against the wall and tried all the snacks they managed to carry with them. Some were sweet, some were bitter, and some were so terrible they’d never touch them again. Even so, Dream found it strangely endearing to watch Fundy’s expression change each time he tried something bad. He didn’t even mind the risk of tasting something absolutely disgusting each time Fundy passed him a piece of food without a word, it only made the few actually tasty foods much sweeter.
Just as they were running out of snacks and were more focused on sharing a conversation filled with quiet laughs and silly jokes, someone approached them. The man standing at their side cleared his throat, and they both fell silent. They looked up and saw Wilbur, and while his arms were crossed, his face indicated defeat. Even so, Dream noticed Fundy’s grip on the bench they were sitting on tightening.
“Fundy, do you have a moment to speak with me?” he asked finally. The fox hybrid hummed quietly.
“Well, uhh…” he muttered. Figuring he was looking for an excuse, Dream decided to jump in.
“Can we step outside before that? This music really isn’t helping my headache,” he asked, directing the question at Fundy.
“Yeah, sure!” he nodded quickly before looking back at Wilbur. “Uh. Maybe when I’m back?” he suggested with a nervous smile. His father sighed, but nodded.
“Don’t catch a cold in the snow,” he said before turning around and leaving. Once he was gone, Fundy audibly let out a sigh of relief.
“Do you actually want to go outside?” he asked finally. Dream wondered for a second before nodding.
“Fresh air is always good,” he pointed out, getting to his feet. Fundy did the same before looking around the ballroom.
“There’s an exit right there,” he noticed, taking the first couple of steps towards it.
This time Dream had to admit to doing it consciously, but as he followed the fox hybrid, he found himself reaching out to grab his hand. The second he did, Fundy paused and turned to look at him. For a moment, everything seemed to stop, and Dream already prepared for his hand to be shaken off and pushed away. Instead, he got to once again see that endearing, bright smile appear on Fundy's face as he continued on his way. Behind his mask, Dream smiled back, and while his grin was just as genuine, Fundy wouldn’t know.
They made their way outside and into the makeshift, snow-covered garden. While the main building for the ball was built with attention to detail and the most skilled builders were working on it for a little short of a month, the garden was a last-minute addition and lacked the same care. It didn’t matter too much, though, it was much more quiet and the small snowflakes falling from the sky made it look almost magical, even if it was slightly asymmetrical. The two stopped by the frozen fountain and leaned against the cool, smooth stone at its side. Their hands were still connected, but neither of them seemed to pay too much attention to it anymore.
“So, do you have any idea what he wanted to talk about?” Dream asked after sitting in silence for quite some time. Fundy shrugged.
“He probably wanted to tell me he won’t make me attend any other balls and that I can stop hanging out with you. Doesn’t matter, I’m having fun anyway,” he answered.
“Did he make you come to this one?”
“Basically. He said it’s too important to miss and all that. Did someone make you attend this too?” Fundy asked. Dream shrugged.
“Uh… not really. I mean…” he hesitated. How should he even put this into words? Absent-mindedly, he reached to the back of his head and undid his mask. Maybe some snow actually falling onto his face would help him? “My friends made me promise to come here and ‘have fun’, and I didn’t want to go back on that.”
“U-uh-huh,” Fundy hummed after overcoming the surprise that stopped him from speaking at first. Dream turned to look at him, and found him glancing between the man and his hands. Or rather, his mask in his hands. Oh .
“O-oh, sorry, I- uh-” Dream stuttered, slapping the item back onto his face. It was there for a reason, and- why did he take it off again? He wasn’t usually this comfortable around strangers. Around anyone, actually, so why-
“Oh no, it’s- it’s fine, you can keep it off if you want!” Fundy assured him quickly. “I-if you want, I don’t-” he tried to elaborate, but he was at a loss of words, and Dream was already lowering it again. More cautiously this time.
“...Are you sure?” he asked. People… didn’t usually like what they found under it. Fundy’s awkward expression was once again brightened by his smile as he nodded.
“Yeah! It’s cool,” he confirmed.
With a soft smile on his own face, Dream put the mask on the edge of the fountain and allowed the snow to touch his skin for the first time in forever. The silence he and Fundy fell into was strangely comfortable, and neither of them seemed to really mind it. Sure, the man could feel the fox hybrid’s gaze on himself every once in a while, but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t guilty of doing the same, of glancing at his companion and… He was never so grateful for snow. It was a good enough explanation of the red shade tinting his face.
“Hey, uh, Dream…” Fundy started, finally breaking the silence.
“Yeah?” the man answered immediately. Perhaps a bit too fast? It certainly took Fundy off-guard, but he managed to collect himself.
“So… I know this was all meant to just annoy my dad and such, but…. Do you want to meet again sometime?” he offered. The surprise on Dream’s face must’ve been obvious, and it certainly took away the fox hybrid’s confidence. His ears flattened against his head and he was just about to stutter out some excuse for asking, but the man managed to regain his voice just in time.
“Yeah! I’d love to!” he nodded, and couldn’t help a small smile crossing his lips. Fundy visibly relaxed upon hearing that. Then, there came excitement.
“Really?! That’s- Yes! Okay, so, uh- when?” he stuttered out, barely keeping himself in one place. And yet again, that bright smile on his face… Dream would do anything to see it every day.
“Whenever you want to,” he answered. Suddenly, he felt just as giddy, and he really hoped that Fundy would pick a date that would come soon. He couldn’t wait-
“Uh- Tomorrow?”
“...Sounds perfect.”