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"Introduce yourself, Techno," Phil said, pushing his son forward.
Techno scowled, but did as he said, "Technoblade," he grunted, sticking out his hand.
The other six year old huddled even further behind his mother's leg. Techno's scowl deepened as the cowardly action. They wouldn't make very good friends if he couldn't even say hello. And he knew that was what his Dad wanted. For them to be friends. He wouldn't have dragged him out into the forest if that wasn't the case.
The boy's mom, Phil had introduced her as Puffy, smiled kindly at him, "This is Dream. He's a bit shy, but I'm sure you two will get along great."
Techno was much less sure.
"Cmon honey, don't be shy. Say hi to Techno."
Dream waved at him.
His eyes were really green.
"Techno, Dream is going to be staying with us a bit while his mother is on a trip."
"How long?"
"She'll be gone two weeks."
Dream's grip tightened on his mother's pants but, thankfully, he didn't cry.
"We just wanted to introduce the two of you before I had to say goodbye," Puffy said, her eyes kind, "Philza and I are good friends, and he's told me a lot about you, Techno. I trust that you'll be a good friend to Dream."
Well great, now he has expectations resting on his shoulders.
"I'm going to be heading out tomorrow," Puffy continued, oblivious to Techno's inner grumblings, "So we'll be back then. Does that sound alright."
Phil smiled, "That sounds great, Puffy. See you then."
"Alright Dream, come along now," Puffy glanced back up at Phil, "And thank you for this, Phil. It really means a lot."
Phil rested a hand on her shoulder, "Of course."
//
Technoblade was scary.
Dream had already spent a whole twenty four hours in the Craft household, and he had yet to gain the courage to speak with Phil's son.
He had pink hair, which Dream thought was cool, and tusks.
Well, Dream was pretty sure they were tusks. He was too nervous to ask.
"Dream, could you pass the eggs please?" Phil asked. The trio were all seated at the Craft's too small dining table.
Dream hurried to comply.
"I was thinking," Phil continued, now dishing eggs onto his plate, "That you and Techno could go outside, today. Maybe explore the forest a bit. I was a little nervous to let Techno go alone, but with the two of you I'm sure it'd be fine."
"Uhm..." Dream was unsure, but he couldn't exactly say no. It'd be rude.
"That's fine," Technoblade said, accepting the offer for Dream, "We can go after we put our dishes away."
"Great! Have fun boys."
"C'mon, Dream. Into the forest!"
Dream definitely knew his way around the forest better than Techno - he'd lived there his entire life, after all - but didn't dare say anything as the boy marched resolutely into the foliage, leading the way.
The pair were nearing ten minutes of silence when Dream finally spoke, "Uhm, are you a pig?" he asked hesitantly.
Techno snorted. Very pig like in Dream's opinion, "No. I'm a piglin. Hybrid."
That piqued Dream's interest, "Like, from the Nether?"
"Yeah."
"Cool. Do you... know where we're going?"
Techno stopped and turned to look at him. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "No."
"Oh, well, I know a clearing that's around here, one with a spring. We can go to it... if you want."
Techno stared at him with his red eyes. He was so scary, "Alright, let's go."
//
Three long years later, Dream had certainly come out of his shell.
"Techno!" the blonde called happily, running ahead of his mother to greet his friend.
Techno looked up from his book and grunted in acknowledgment, his lips quirking upwards at the edges, "Nerd."
"Don't be mean, Techno," Phil said, swatting him lightly on the back of the head.
"Nice to see you, Phil," Puffy said, her frizzy white hair pulled back into a ponytail, "I'm afraid I can't stay for long, though. This is pretty urgent."
"I won't keep you then, Puffy. Have a safe trip." He pulled his old friend into a hug.
Puffy leaned down to kiss her nine year old son on the forehead, one last goodbye before she set off.
"Techno!" Dream said again, eyes bright with excitement. He'd certainly gotten louder as the years had passed, "Mama taught me some new trick, I wanna show you. Lets spar, lets spar, lets spar."
Phil chucked, ruffling Dream's golden hair fondly, "Hold on there, bud. Why don't we get you settled in, first?"
In truth, that didn't mean much. Over the three years that Dream had been staying with them, the boy had started just keeping random essentials at the Craft's house. Now, all he brought were new clothes to replace the ones that didn't fit him anymore.
Still, Dream waited until after lunch to drag an amused Technoblade out to their little clearing.
There was a small cliff that arched out above the water and Dream walked right up to it, "Watch, Techno, watch."
"I'm watchin'," Techno promised, leaning against one of the outer trees.
Without hesitation, Dream jumped to one of the narrow footholds on the side of the cliff, and Techno sat up straighter, the ten year old suddenly attentive and ready to catch him is he were to fall.
Luckily, though, Dream didn't even stumble. Hopping effortlessly from foothold to foothold until he was standing triumphantly on top of the cliff.
"Techno! Techno did you see that!" he asked, jumping around and waving his arms excitedly.
"I did!" Techno shouted back, begrudgingly impressed.
Dream jumped back down, landing in the water below and getting his clothes wet.
"Hey!" Techno complained as Dream splashed him, "Nerd."
Dream stuck his tongue out, treading water, "If I'm a nerd you're a nerd. You're the one who's always reading books."
"Books are for smart people."
"So nerds." Dream climbed out of the water, shaking his blonde hair to dry himself.
"Whatever. Come spare with me," Techno said, tugging on Dream's damp sleeve.
Dream giggled, eyes unimaginably fond, "Sure, idiot."
Technoblade crossed his arms, defensive, "I am not an idiot."
//
At eleven years old, Technoblade was awakened in the middle of the night by a blood curdling scream.
It was Drea, writhing beneath his covers and clutching desperately at his head.
"Dream," he said, frantically shaking the younger boy's shoulder, "Dream!"
Dream didn't respond, he only sobbed louder.
Technoblade's vision clouded with fear and panic. He tried to pull Dream's hands away from his head, but his fingers came back stained with blood.
"Ph-Phil!" Techno stuttered, staring in shock at his blood-coated fingers, "Dad! Dad!"
Philza burst through the door, alarm coating his features, "Techno! What's wrong?"
Techno did his best to hide the shakiness in his voice, "Dream, h-he won't stop screaming and his head is bleeding."
"He's bleeding?" Phil asked, concern brewing in his eyes. He moved to stand by Dream.
The boy's sobbing had mostly quieted, but his hands were still glued to his skull.
With a gentle but forceful grip, Philza pried Dream's hands from his head, hissing in alarm.
"Dad?" Techno asked worriedly, peering over his father's shoulder.
"His horns are coming in," Philza said grimly.
"His horns?" Techno asked, mirroring his dad's tone.
"He's a sheep hybrid, remember? Having your horns grow in is extremely painful from what I've heard. I only wish his mother was here to help him."
"Is there anything I can do?" Techno asked, going into problem solving mode.
"Rags. I need rags, and I need you to fetch some clean water from the well. We need to clean up some of this blood."
Techno nodded, "Right."
//
The trio stayed up late into the night. Technoblade had passed out somewhere around five am, the eleven year old having overextended himself. Philza had carefully tucked his son into his own bed, returning to Techno's room to tend to Puffy's son.
It really was unfortunate that Puffy wasn't there to assist them. In recent years, the woman had been gone more and more often, leading Dream to spend nearly half of the year in the Craft household.
Dream awoke the next day dreary and miserable. His head was still throbbing with pain and the light streaming through the windows hurt his eyes.
"Techno?" he murmured sleepily, rubbing his palm into his eyes.
"Dream?" Techno said, glancing up from his book. He immediately placed it down, rushing to the blonde's side. His hands hovered hesitantly above Dream's skin, nervous to touch him less he hurt him more.
Dream, however, had no such hesitations, and he rubbed his cheek against Techno's arm, searching for comfort.
"A-are you okay?" Techno asked, resisting the blush that was rising to his face.
"Head hurts," he groaned pressing his cheek further against Techno.
"Yeah. Your horns are growin' in."
"They are?" Dream yawned.
"Yup. Started last night."
"That's good. Mama said I was supposed to start last year."
"Mmh," Techno said, running his hands through Dream's fuffy hair.
"I'm gonna... go back to bed," Dream mumbled after a few moments of silence.
"Okay," Techno said just as quietly, "I'll be here if you need anythin'."
A sleepy smile spread crossed Dream's face, "I know."
//
"I win!" Dream yelled triumphantly. At fourteen years old, Dream had really started to grow into his abilities. The gold chain that Techno had gifted him swayed gently between his horns.
Techno resisted the urge to stare at the mesmerizing swing of the chain, "That's 'cause you cheated, nerd."
"If using my sheep abilities is cheating then you're not allowed to use your... everything."
Techno raised an eyebrow, "My everything?"
"You know what I mean. I'm fast and you're like... strong and stuff," Dream eventually forced out, averting his eyes from Techno's smug face. Ever since Techno had hit fourteen, he'd grown tremendously. In more ways than one, too. Looking at him now, Techno's chest looked two feet across.
"Strong and stuff?"
"You know what I mean. Idiot."
"Sure I do. And get back down here, loser."
"How can I be a loser if I won?" Dream asked, but did start working his way down from the tree."
"You haven't even touched the ground of the clearing so, if we think about it, were you really first?"
Dream rolled his eyes, "Don't be a sore loser, Technoblade."
Techno huffed out a disgruntled breath, blowing his long hair upward in the process, "Anyway. Come spare with me for real."
"You're on, idiot."
//
"Techno?" Dream asked later that month as the pink haired man's fingers combed gently through Dream's hair.
"Hmm?" Techno hummed distractedly, more focused on the golden hair running like silk between his hands.
"Do you think... do you think Mom leaves so often cause she... you know. Doesn't really like me that much?"
The finger in his hair stopped. Dream made a noise of annoyance and they began to move again.
"Dream... why would you think that?" Techno asked cautiously. He was in unfamiliar territory, talking about emotions. He much preferred helping Dream through his anger by sparring. Definitely much more effective.
"I dunno. Just thinking about it, I guess."
"Your mother loves you a lot, Dream. That's clear just by seeing how she looks at you."
"How does she look at me?" Dream asked, leaning back so he was lying against Techno's chest.
Techno wrapped his arms around Dream's torso. Even at fifteen years of age, Dream's horns weren't big enough to stop Techno from burying his face in Dream's hair, "Like you mean that world to her."
Dream sighed, "That's good."
//
Two years had passed.
"That was a low blow!" Dream shouted as he parried another of Techno's strikes.
"You did the same thing to me last week!"
"And?"
"I hate you sometimes, you know?" Techno muttered through gritted teeth.
Dream shot him a knowing smile, "No you don't."
Techno sighed, stance relaxing a bit, "No, I don't."
Seeing an opportunity for victory, Dream lunged at Techno's loose form.
Only for Techno to flash him a smirk of his own, "Gotcha."
As Dream lunged, he swung his foot, swiping at Dream's legs and causing the younger to tumble down to the floor.
The stumble caught Techno as well, though, and he quickly followed Dream's fall, landing on top of the other. The only thing stopping Techno from crushing the poor sixteen year old was the arms he had placed on either side of Dream's head.
A furious blush covered Dream's cheeks as he stared up at Techno's face. His mouth was open in a surprised 'Oh' and the tips of his hair were brushing Dream's nose.
"Uh," Techno said, but made no move to get off of Dream.
The two stared at each other in silence. Dream studied Techno's face with bated breath. The crease between his eyebrows that formed when he frowned, the small scar on his chin Dream had accidentally given him when they were twelve, the barely visible tusks that poked above Techno's pink lips.
And his lips.
Dream couldn't stop looking at them. Very suddenly, Dream felt overwhelmed with the need to kiss him.
Or maybe it wasn't all that sudden. Maybe Dream had been wanting to kiss Technoblade for a very long time.
Dream's eyed flickered back up to meet Techno's, only Techno's red eyes weren't looking at him, either. Techno was staring at Dream's mouth.
Dream's tongue flicked out to lick nervously at his lips.
Techno's blush deepened.
"Dream...?" Techno whispered, almost hesitant to break the strange tension that had settled over them.
Unable to stand it, Dream surged upward, pressing their lips together in a desperate motion. He hadn't realized how long he'd been waiting to do that.
The two rolled over in the grass until Dream was on top of Techno, straddling his waist as he kissed him.
Dream kissed him until he ran out of breath.
"I thought I was gonna have to be the one to do it," Techno said, tusks on full display as he grinned.
"So why didn't you?" Dream asked, mirroring his smile.
"Shut up."
"I win!" Dream shouted through his giggles, flopping down to lie next to Techno on the grass, "You were too much of a baby to do it, so I win."
"I was about to do it!" Techno defended. Absently, he threaded his fingers together with Dream's.
"Sure you were."
Techno scoffed, sitting up and placing a kiss on Dream's upturned lips, "See. There."
Dream wrinkled his nose, "Doesn't count, idiot." he said, bringing his hand up to cup Techno's face, which was still hovering above him.
Techno scowled in face annoyance and he leaned down to place their foreheads together, "Then I guess I'll just have to kiss you as many times as I have to until it counts."
Dream's hand moved to comb through Techno's cherry blossom hair, "Alright," he said softly, smiling into the kiss as Techno leaned farther downward.
"Alright."