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Laughter rings throughout the skating rink, a very playful and not-at-all serious sound. One would expect a rink full of medalist figure skaters to be quiet except for the sound of blades scraping ice, but the skaters that train under Coach Puffy and Coach Niki are a lively bunch, to say the least. When they’re not training, such as right now, they can almost certainly be found goofing off with each other.
“Sam, give me my hoodie back!” a tall blonde with ice blue eyes yells as he chases after an even taller greenette.
“Nuh-uh,” Sam replies, grinning. “You took my hoodie last week. This is payback.”
“Sam, throw it!” a young male sporting messy black hair calls, waving his arms from the other end of the rink.
“Go long!” Sam cries, throwing the hoodie. Being floppy and not very aerodynamic, it travels a few feet before flopping to the ice.
“Hah!” Punz exclaims triumphantly. He skates over and picks the hoodie up. “You failed.”
Leaning against the wall, Dream watches her friends bicker and rolls her eyes fondly. They’re always stealing each other’s clothes and water bottles and tossing them about the ice. Not that she’s much better- half of her closet consists of Punz’s hoodies or George’s sweatpants or Sam’s shirts.
“Speaking of which- Dream, can I have my hoodie back?” Sam asks as he glides over with Punz. The overly tall greenette is a fellow American and one of Dream’s closest friends. “You’ve had it for, like, 3 weeks now.”
“Nope,” Dream replies sweetly. “It’s mine now.”
“C’mon, Sam, you know how Dream gets,” Sapnap says, skating over and throwing an arm around Dream’s shoulders. “She hoards our clothes like a puppy hoards toys.”
Dream scowls up at her pair skating partner and childhood best friend. “Say that again, I dare you.”
Sapnap puts his hands up in surrender. “Hey, I’m just saying.”
“That’s it. Punz, you’re my new partner.”
“Ayy, let’s go,” Punz says, grinning.
“No, that’s not fair,” Sapnap whines. “You’re my partner, Dreamie.”
“Yeah, and you’d be lost without me,” Dream replies.
“I know,” Sapnap agrees, wrapping his arms around Dream and hugging her close. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Just then, one of their coaches, Puffy, comes skating over. “Okay, guys, I have something to announce before we go back to training,” she says. “You know the Essempee hockey team? Well, their coach- Coach Phil- decided they needed more training, but the rink they practice on doesn’t work with their new schedule. So starting today, they’ll be using our rink.”
“At the same time as us?” Sam demands. When Coach Puffy nods, he frowns. “Won’t that be inconvenient for both of us? This rink’s big, but not that big.”
“I know,” Coach Puffy admits. “It’s not the best, but Coach Phil and I have already talked everything over. It should work out.”
Punz scowls. “I don’t like hockey players,” he mutters. “They’re so… indecent . And they tend to be horny.” He glances at Dream. So do the others.
“Why are you looking at me?” Dream demands. “I can defend myself, y’know.” She might be the smallest person here at 5’6, but any man that’s tried to have a go at her has gotten a bloody nose or a kick to the nuts- and trust her, a lot have tried. Still, she also doesn’t like the idea of sharing the rink with a bunch of buff, sweaty men.
To be fair, she does find buff men attractive, but when said men are hockey players and she has to share a rink with them? That’s a whole different story.
“We know,” Sam says. “It’s just…”
“We wanna protect you, Dreamie,” Sapnap says, resting his chin in Dream’s hair. “And buff hockey players sound like bad news.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Coach Puffy assures them. “I’ve talked to Coach Phil. He’s a very nice man, and his boys are probably the same. There’s nothing to worry about. And now that that’s out of the way, everyone go back to practice.”
“C’mon, Sap, let’s go.” Dream tilts her head around to nudge Sapnap’s chin. Like always, he smells of firewood. “Should we do our lifts?”
“Sure,” Sapnap agrees. He unwraps his arms, links hands with Dream, and together, they skate off to practice.
---
As Techno enters the skating rink, the first thing that reaches his ears is the sound of blades scraping against ice. He supposes that’s to be expected- Phil did say that their practice and the figure skaters’ practice will overlap, so both parties will be on the ice at the same time. It’s not ideal, but the hockey team does need extra practice, and this is their best option to do so.
“Alright, boys, follow me,” Coach Phil says, waving them along. “The changing rooms are down that hallway, so that’s where we’ll change after practice. And remember not to get in the way of the figure skaters. Stick to one half of the ice, and everything will be fine.”
“Why do we have to share with figure skaters again?” Tommy, the youngest player on the team, mutters.
Techno smacks the blonde lightly across the shoulder. “Don’t be disrespectful. This is technically their rink- they could kick us out if they wanted to.”
“But I don’t like it,” Tommy whines.
“Stop complaining,” Wilbur snaps. “It’s not a big deal.”
“Fine.” Tommy stops, although he does continue to mutter silently under his breath. After a moment, Tubbo leans over and whispers something to him, and he stops entirely.
The team soon arrives at the actual rink. Through the plexiglass, Techno can see 6 people skating around. As he watches, a tall green-haired male slams his foot into the ice and leaps into the air. He spins so fast Techno can’t count the rotations and lands neatly, one leg extended behind him.
“Woah,” Fundy breathes. “That’s so cool!”
“That looks hard,” Ranboo muses. “Wonder how they do it.”
A woman with light pink hair skates to the edge, steps off the ice, and walks over to them. “Welcome!” she greets cheerfully. “I’m Niki, the other coach.”
“Hello, Niki,” Coach Phil replies, dipping his head in a respectful manner. “Thank you for letting us share the ice.”
“It’s no problem.” Coach Niki points at the rink. “I’ve instructed my skaters to stay on the right half, so you can use the left half.”
“Thank you,” Coach Phil repeats with a grateful smile. “C’mon, boys, let’s go.”
They step out onto the ice and glide to the left half of the rink. While Tommy, Tubbo, and Ranboo set up the goal, Techno leans against the wall and watches the figure skater. Most of them are skating alone, but there’s a pair that catches his eye. A male and a female are clasping hands and performing a step sequence across the ice mere yards away, their movements graceful and perfectly in sync.
Pair skating , Techno thinks to himself. He plays hockey, but he knows a decent amount about figure skating due to watching the Olympics. No matter how much he watches, though, he cannot for the life of him figure out how skaters do those crazy spins and jumps. It seems like gravity simply doesn’t exist for them.
He continues to watch the pair. Their steps have brought them closer, allowing him to see more of their facial features. The taller of the two is a young male with unruly black hair and fiery eyes. The shorter is a female with fluffy golden curls reaching her neck and a small, curvy body. Despite her diminutive stature, though, one look at her strong, lean legs tells Techno that she’s powerful.
He can’t help but think that she’s also very, very pretty.
“Techno, stop ogling them and get over here!” Wilbur calls from behind.
“I’m not oglin’,” Techno grumbles, pulling his eyes away and skating over.
“Sure, bossman,” Tubbo says with a grin.
“I’m not,” Techno insists. “Whatever. Let’s just practice.” He picks up his stick and takes a deep breath to get himself into the training mindset.
Who cares if the female skater is way too attractive. He needs to focus on his practice. Hockey is his passion, not women. That’s Tommy’s passion.
He aims at the goal and shoots the puck.
---
2 hours later, Techno leaves the changing rooms, his hockey gear in his bag and fresh clothes on his body. The rest of his team has already left, but he’d taken longer because of his need to shower and brush out his hair. Growing it to waist length probably hadn’t been the best idea, but it’s part of his aesthetic now, so he can’t change it.
He rounds a corner and almost runs right into someone. Startled, he stumbles back. “Sorry,” he says, looking down.
And that’s when his heart stops in his chest.
The person he’d almost crashed into is the female skater from earlier, and up close, she’s even prettier than he’d thought. Her hair is the color of fresh honey, curling around her ears and her nape. Her eyes are like emeralds, shining even in the fairly dull light of the hallway. Freckles dust her cheeks, and her lips are painted with pink lipstick.
“Uh,” Techno stutters. “Sorry, I-”
“You’re fine,” she says, and her voice is silky smooth on his ears. “We’re all a bit clumsy off of the ice.”
“Y-yeah,” Techno agrees. He swallows, then blurts out, “What’s your name?”
She raises an eyebrow. “Are you hitting on me?”
“No!” he yelps. “No, I just-”
The female laughs, a pleasant, tinkling sound. “I’m just kidding. My name’s Dream. Yours?”
“Techno.”
“Techno as in Techno Blade?”
“Yeah, that’s me.”
“Hmmmm.” Dream tilts her head and gazes up at him, her expression thoughtful. “You’re more polite than I would’ve thought.”
Techno frowns. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Just that most famous hockey players I’ve met are not the nicest.”
“Well,” Techno says slowly. “I can prove you wrong.” He’s never been the best at flirting, but in front of this gorgeous skater, he feels suddenly bold. “When are you free?”
Dream smirks. “Now you’re hitting on me. Fine, I’ll give you a chance. I’m free Saturday afternoon.”
“Great. Um…” Techno trails off, trying to think of a place to go. “That cafe near the library at 2?”
“Sure,” Dream agrees. “This had better be good.” She must’ve noticed his stricken expression because she laughs. “I’m just teasing you, pretty boy.”
“Uh-” Techno stammers. Did she just call me pretty ? “Okay. Um…”
She laughs again. “I think you need to work a little on your flirting, but that’s okay. I’ll still give you a chance. Goodbye, Techno.” With that, she throws him a wink and walks away.
For a very long time, Techno simply stands there, cheeks flushed and heart pounding. He feels the most flustered than he has in a while. Girls don’t usually affect him, but Dream? Dream is different, with her gorgeous curls and mesmerizing eyes and teasing words.
“I’m such a simp,” Techno mutters to himself as he finally begins to head to the exit again. “If Wilbur finds out about this, he’s never goin’ to let me live it down.”
Indeed, when he reaches his car, Wilbur takes one look at his flushed face and bursts out laughing. “It was her, wasn’t it?” the brunette cackles. “That pretty skater.”
“Shut the hell up and get in the car,” Techno grumbles. “Now I need to learn how to flirt.”
Wilbur grins. “I can teach you. You just need to be smooth.”
“Gee, helpful.”
“Can’t help that you’re awkward.”
“Even more helpful.”
“I know. I’m the most helpful person ever.”
“One more word out of you and I’m throwin’ you out the window.”
“Okay, okay. Geez, I get it. Do you want some actual advice?”
“... fine.”
---
“I saw you with that hockey dude,” Sapnap says as soon as Dream gets into his car. “Did he hurt you?”
Dream shakes her head. “No. He asked me out on a date.”
“What?” Sapnap yelps, whipping his head around. “He did?”
“Yeah. Start driving, you idiot.” Since their apartments are only a few blocks away from each other, Sapnap always drives Dream to and from the rink.
“Sorry. I just-” Sapnap pauses to focus on pulling out of the parking space before continuing. “He asked you out? Did you agree?”
“Yeah, I did,” Dream says. Before Sapnap can fly into a protective rage, she keeps talking. “He just seemed different from other hockey players. He was really polite when he almost crashed into me. And he stuttered a lot. Less like a buff sports guy, more like a nerd.”
Sapnap frowns. In the dim light of the car, his eyes glint worriedly. “I dunno, Dream,” he murmurs. “I don’t trust this guy. What’s his name?”
“Techno. He seems nice, Sappy.”
“They always seem nice at first.” Sapnap sighs, taking a hand off the wheel to run it through his already messy hair. “I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
“If he tries anything, I’ll punch him,” Dream promises. “And I’ll tell you, and if you want to beat him up, I won’t stop you.”
“Okay,” Sapnap relents. The car pulls to a stop in front of Dream’s apartment building, and he leans over to give Dream a hug. “Stay safe, Dreamie. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“See you, Sap.” Dream brushes her lips against Sapnap’s cheek, an platonically affectionate gesture she’s been giving him since they were teens, and clambers out of the car. She waves goodbye through the window before jogging up the stairs and letting herself into her apartment.
---
The week comes and goes, and before Dream knows it, it’s Saturday. After eating a light lunch, she goes into her bedroom to get ready for her date. She puts on a green crop-top sweater, a knee-length black skirt, and a pair of her cutest boots. In the bathroom, she applies light lipstick and mascara. Then she grabs her wallet and phone, bids goodbye to her cat, Patches, and leaves her apartment to start the walk to the cafe.
When she enters, she finds Techno already waiting for her at a table. Even sitting down, he still towers over most of the other patrons. Dream still remembers how absolutely tiny she’d felt when she’d run into him after practice. She’s only 5’6, and he’s at least 6’3. At least he’s not taller than Sam- that’d be more scary than attractive.
“Hello,” she greets, sitting down across from Techno. “You’re looking very handsome today.” She watches smugly as Techno’s cheeks flush bright red.
“Thank you,” the pinkette mumbles. His glasses slide down his nose, and he hurriedly pushes them back up to his ruby eyes. “So are you. Do you want somethin’ to drink?”
“Sure,” Dream says, glancing at the menu. “I suppose I’ll have a vanilla latte.”
“Alright.” Techno stands up and hurries to the counter. A few minutes later, he returns with two cups of coffee. “Here you go, madam.”
“Well, aren’t you the gentleman,” Dream teases. She takes a sip of her latte, humming contentedly at the taste. “Do you like to read?”
“I do,” Techno replies. “I like classics. Shakespeare, Dickens, Sun Tzu…”
“I see.” So Dream’s suspicions are correct- Techno is, for lack of a better word, nerdy. He likes to read, at least, and in her opinion, any man who loves books can’t be too bad.
There’s a moment of silence. Techno breaks it by asking, “Tell me about figure skatin’.”
Dream sets down her cup. “What about it?”
“Anythin’. Everythin’. I’m curious. Who’s your partner?”
“His name’s Sapnap. We’ve been friends since we were… oh, I don’t know, 4 or 5? We both wanted to be figure skaters, so we decided to go into pair skating as a pair.”
“Is he your boyfriend?”
Dream snorts. “God, no. He’s cute, but he’s my closest friend and the biggest idiot I’ve ever met. Also, he’s gay and has 2 boyfriends.”
“What about you? I’m guessin’ you’re not lesbian…”
“Nah. I’m pan. I’d date a hot guy or a sexy girl or anything in between. It really doesn’t matter.”
“Hmm.” Techno takes a sip of coffee. Dream watches his Adam’s apple bob with the movement. “You struck me as the type to not be very into men.”
“I don’t like men when they’re only trying to get in my pants,” Dream says. “Otherwise, I’m in.” She smirks and winks, shrugging her sleeve off of her shoulder for extra effect. Techno turns bright red again, and she suppresses a laugh. Oh, it’s just too easy.
“That’s not fair,” Techno mumbles.
“What’s not?” Dream asks sweetly.
Techno’s cheeks flush even more. “I…”
Giggling, Dream adjusts her sweater so that her shoulders are covered again. “You look like a tomato.”
“Yeah, because of you,” Techno mutters, hiding behind his cup of coffee. “You’re a hazard to the male species.”
“I am,” Dream agrees. She might not be interested in dating (except for Techno, she’s definitely interested in Techno), but she does know the effect she has on men. “I either give them erectile dysfunction by kicking them in the nuts or fluster them to the point of combustion.” She winks again. Techno’s cheeks turn from tomato colored to tomato-covered-in-blood colored.
“Stop doin’ that,” the pinkette whines. “My circulatory system is not prepared for this much blushin’.”
“Do more cardio, then.”
“I do 45 minutes of it every day, plus hockey!”
“Honey, I do an hour every day.”
Techno grumbles something unintelligible under his breath. “Fine, you got me,” he mutters.
“I know I did. You make it too easy,” Dream says. In her pocket, her phone dings. She pulls it out to see a bunch of texts from Sapnap.
Dreamnap <3
Sap: dreammmmm
Sap: dream are u done with ur date
Sap: im bored and i wanna go get ice cream
Sap: dreamieeeeeeee
Sap: are u with the guy?
Sap: is he hurting u
Sap: do i need to go beat him up
Sap: DREAM
Sap: ANSWER
Dream snorts. “Oh my god, Sapnap, you’re so dumb,” she says absentmindedly. She types out ‘be home in 20’ and tucks her phone away. “Sorry about that.”
“What did he say?” Techno asks curiously.
“He wants to get ice cream, but he can wait a few minutes,” Dream replies. “Also, he was threatening to beat you up.”
Techno pales. “What?”
Dream laughs. “Don’t worry about it, I’ll keep you safe.” She winks.
“Um, okay.” Techno turns red once more. “Do you have to go?”
“Yeah,” Dream admits. “I enjoyed this, though. You may be the least smooth guy I’ve ever met, but you do know how to take a girl on a date.” She gives Techno a sweet, genuine smile. “Thank you, Techno.”
“It was no problem,” the pinkette replies, smiling handsomely back. “Do you, uh, wanna do it again sometime?”
“Sure,” Dream agrees, standing up. “Same place, same time next week?”
“Works for me.”
“Alright. Bye, Techno.” Dream blows Techno a kiss as she heads out the door. The last thing she sees before walking away is Techno’s beet-red face.
---
On Monday, Techno arrives at the rink early to get in some extra practice. He quickly changes in the changing rooms and pulls on his skates. With his stick in one hand and a puck in the other, he clunks his way to the rink and steps out onto the ice.
To his mild surprise, there’s someone else there as well. It’s Dream, which is both incredibly fortunate and incredibly unlucky, depending on how Techno sees it. On the one hand, it’s Dream, the gorgeous girl he’s been crushing on and simping over for the past few weeks. On the other hand, it’s Dream, who will probably distract him with her fluttering lashes and lipstick-coated smirks and make him crash into the wall.
It appears that the blonde is feeling merciful today, though, because when she skates over, her face is devoid of makeup (not that the lack of lipstick and mascara makes her any less beautiful), and her smile is soft. “Hi, Techno,” she greets. “Here for extra practice?”
“Yup,” Techno replies, setting the puck down. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t you need Sapnap to practice?”
Dream shrugs. “I mean, it’s better when it’s both of us, but I can still practice jumps on my own.” She glides a small distance away and performs an almost absentminded jump.
Oh, and because Techno’s the biggest simp ever, he’s been reading up on figure skating jumps and can now recognize that Dream had just done a double salchow. He really doesn’t have anything better to do in his free time than consume knowledge to impress a girl.
“Nice,” he says as Dream skates back over. “Still can’t figure out how you do that.”
Dream runs her hand down his bicep. Her lips twist, and there it is- that smirk that makes Techno’s heart pound and his cheeks flush and his hands itch to grab Dream, pin her against the wall, and kiss the lipstick off of her perfect lips. “Do you want me to teach you?” she asks.
“Uh…” Techno stutters. “I… am not confident in my ability to learn jumps.”
“We can just do a step sequence,” Dream says. “Here, put down your stick and take my hands.”
Techno’s weak heart can’t refuse anything Dream says, so he sets down his stick and takes her hands. They’re small and warm and fit perfectly in his own. He notices that her nails are painted in an alternating pattern of green and orange. “Nice nails,” he says.
“Thanks,” Dream replies. “Sap and I did them for each other so we could match. It’s our signature colors.”
“That’s cute.”
“Cuter than me?” Dream’s voice wavers on a pout, and her eyes widen slightly, and she is so doing this on purpose, and Techno is a weak idiot who can’t bear to see his crush like that, even though he knows that she’s just faking it.
“‘Course not,” he says hurriedly. “You’re much cuter.”
Just like that, the pout disappears, and the smirk returns. “I’m glad,” Dream says, fluttering her eyelashes. “Now pay attention.” She clasps his hands tighter and instructs him on how to move, where to step, which side to lean to. They slowly make their way across the rink, Techno stumbling occasionally and Dream gliding along with ease.
“This is so hard,” Techno grumbles after a few minutes of this. He pauses but doesn’t let go of Dream’s hands. “I give up. I’m goin’ back to hockey.”
Dream giggles. “Whatever you say.” She squeezes his hands briefly before letting go. “By the way, when’s your next game?”
“Uh, next Friday, 7 to 10.”
“Alright.” Dream smirks up at him. “What would you say to me coming to your game?”
Techno’s breath hitches. So does his heart. “I’d… love that,” he says softly.
“Mmm,” Dream hums. “Well, I might be there.” She winks before skating away, leaving Techno to stand there like the lovesick fool he is.
(Dream does end up going to the game, and when Techno looks up and sees her cheering him on in the crowd, her smile fills him with a flood of energy. His team easily wins that game, and afterwards, he thinks it’d been both their skill and a stroke of luck from the gorgeous blonde in the stands.)
---
Techno wakes up to something warm pressing against his side. He groggily looks down to see Dream curled up next to him. A smile crosses his face at the sight of her messy hair and slightly scrunched brows. His girlfriend- yes, girlfriend- always looks so cute when she’s asleep.
For a while, he simply lies there and gazes at her. After a few minutes, her eyes flutter open. She blinks sleepily, yawns, then fixes Techno with a half-hearted glare. “Stop staring at me, you idiot,” she mumbles.
“Sorry,” Techno chuckles softly. He tilts his head down and presses a kiss to Dream’s fluffy curls. “You awake?”
His girlfriend’s response is another yawn. She rolls out of bed and stands up. Her hoodie- which is actually Techno’s- falls down to her knees, and Techno can’t help but think that she looks absolutely adorable like this, eyes still blinking sleepily and small body practically drowning in his hoodie.
“C’mon, let’s go,” Dream says, stretching her arms above her head. “I’m hungry.”
“Alright, coming.” Techno gets out of bed and joins Dream. She leans against his side as they walk into the bathroom.
They brush their teeth together, taking their time. Today is Saturday, which means no practice, no training, and no need to rush. Dream carefully twists Techno’s hair into a braid. Techno runs a comb through his girlfriend’s curls, relishing in their softness. Once done, he easily scoops Dream up with one arm and takes them both into the kitchen.
He sets Dream down on the countertop and begins to grab things to make breakfast. He cracks some eggs into a pan, starts the coffee machine, and moves to stand in front of Dream. His hands move to her waist as he nuzzles into her neck.
Dream laughs softly. “Someone’s affectionate today,” she teases.
“Can’t I just appreciate my girlfriend?” Techno murmurs, kissing Dream’s pale neck.
“Careful,” Dream warns light-heartedly. “You remember what happened last time you left hickeys on my neck, don’t you?”
Techno does, unfortunately, remember. Punz, one of Dream’s friends and fellow skaters, had seen the purple marks on her neck and immediately went to give Techno a good punch. Luckily, Dream had stopped anything from happening. The blonde really does have a lot of power over her friends. Not that Techno’s much better- he’s probably the biggest simp in the world by now.
“You’re beautiful,” he says softly, kissing Dream’s neck again.
She giggles. “Simp.”
Techno pulls back and presses a gentle kiss to Dream’s lips. “Only for you, darlin’,” he whispers. “Only for you.”