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"Hurry up, Hob, we're going to be late!" Johanna's voice rings through Hob's entryway.
Hob sighs as he pulls on his jumper. It was way too bloody early in the morning for this. "Jo, sign ups don't open for another hour!” he yells from his bedroom. “If you think they're going to run out of spots…"
"I heard Dream's going to be showing up today." Johanna interrupts, appearing suddenly at his bedroom doorway, holding Hob’s sneakers. “Come on, then! There’s going to be a line!”
Well shit. Hob throws on his messenger bag, grabs his sneakers from Johanna and runs towards his front door.
"I knew all I had to do was say your boyfriend's name and you'd come running," Johanna grins as they dash to the tube.
"Shut up, Johanna,” Hob snarks back at her.
Honestly it's not that Hob doesn't want to see Dream. Hob’s been playing Magic: The Gathering for almost five years now, and Dream has been a consistent staple throughout that entire time. They’ve gotten more friendly in the last couple of years, and Hob’s even snuck a surprise win or two from the other card player.
The thing is, Dream’s also one of the most beautiful men Hob has ever laid eyes on.
Hob had walked into a Jace Beleran cardboard display the first time he laid eyes on Dream almost three years ago at a tournament. Then his girlfriend at the time, Alianora, had shown up shortly after to look over Dream’s shoulder as he finished up his game. Hob thought he’d actually died and gone to bisexual heaven looking at the two of them. Except heaven did not smell like day old body odor, so he was definitely still alive.
Hob had been knocked out of his rounds earlier that day, so with nothing better to do, he’d joined the crowd forming around Dream and Alianora to watch the other man in his Constructed match.
Hob’s always gone for a more aggressive playstyle, favoring red and green decks with plenty of easy to summon monsters. He tends towards quick matchups, but every once in a while, he’ll get giddy when he builds up enough mana on the field to summon some massive creature with Trample to end a match in one move.
Dream is the exact opposite. His play style relies heavily on counterspells and using his opponents' creatures against him, leading to longer, drawn out matches. With his gothic persona to top it all off, it only makes sense that he goes for a blue and black combination.
All that to say, Dream’s poor opponent didn’t know what hit him.
Hob would later realize that one of Dream’s favorite strategies would be to let an opponent think they’re about to win, only to use an instant on said opponent’s turn to clear the entire field. Dream would then use all his mana to summon some abomination with haste on his turn to win the match. Which is exactly what happened to poor Simon. Or Steve. Hob can’t remember the poor bloke’s name.
From that first match, Hob had been determined then to play against Dream himself. He started brushing up on the current standard sets and strategies, and tested out what he could at Friday Night Magic. It took time but he'd improved his skills slowly, but surely. Enough at least to at least not get knocked out immediately by the competition.
Hob did eventually manage to face off with Dream and he was just as dazzled facing the man head on as he was just watching him play.
But Hob’s not the only player dazzled by Dream. Dream’s reputation makes him practically a celebrity in their local community. Everyone scrambles for a chance to play him at least once, just for the privilege of saying they faced him and lost.
Hob considers himself lucky to have faced Dream more than once. Always in Limited format though. There’s no way Hob would beat Dream in Constructed or Commander, so on days when Dream chooses to competes in those formats, Hob's just happy to watch and cheer.
With that in mind, there’s really only so many tournaments and so many hours in the day so really, getting matched up with Dream is like winning the lottery. Which is precisely why Johanna is here with Hob, at 8:00am on a Saturday morning. Dream’s so popular that any rumor of him showing up to a tournament draws lines before sign ups officially open. It’s insane. Hob knows he’s going to be miserable waiting in line while Johanna runs off to go resell.
Johanna had, up until six months ago, shown absolutely no interest in Magic. She and Hob have been close for years and she’d spent almost that entire time making fun of Hob’s vested interest in the game.
Still, Johanna indulged him through the years, buying Hob packs for all sorts of occasions: his birthday, passing a test, as a pick me up after a breakup. She also didn't mind the larger tournament scene, as long as there were other things for her to do, she'd tag along for events at the bigger conventions so she could walk around and look at the floor while Hob parked himself for the day at the tables.
It was at one of these conventions that Johanna learned of the trading card resale market. Suddenly, Hob's entire rares collection went from "a bunch of useless cardboard" to liquid gold. Come to think of it, it was also at that same convention she’d seen Alianora for the first time. She and Dream had broken up by that point.
Ever since then, Johanna’s stuck to Hob like glue. She’s constantly trolling the markets for rare card finds, arguing with vendors to get the best resale value for cards she already does have, along with cards Hob no longer has a use for, and somehow finding time to flirt shamelessly with Alianora, who still shows up to tournaments to play.
“Earth to Hobsie,” Johanna’s voice trills, snapping Hob out of his trip down memory lane. “This is our stop.”
“Right, right,” Hob nods. “You actually going to sign up with me this time, or are you leaving me to the wolves as per usual?”
“Hob, Hob, the hustle never stops,” Johanna grins. “Promise I’ll bring you back enough to buy at least one box from the new set though, as an early birthday present. I won’t even try to buy Sacred Foundry from you if you pull it.”
“Wow, how generous of you,” Hob rolls his eyes, but it’s fond. Johanna takes his arm and they run up the stairs together towards the convention.
Hob barely manages to get a spot in Sealed. It’s not his favorite format, but Dream’s apparently signed up for Sealed today so that’s where Hob goes. Their block doesn’t start for another two hours, so Hob wanders off to find Johanna on the convention floor.
He's so focused on looking for Johanna's signature beige trenchcoat that he doesn't quite notice the figure all in black until he runs right into him, nearly knocking both of them over. Luckily, Hob's got good balance, and he manages to steady the both of them, grasping the slightly taller man in his arms.
"Sorry about that mate," Hob apologizes. "Was too focused looking for my friend and whoa hey, Dream?"
Dream stares for a moment before recognition flickers across his face.
"Hello Hob," Dream greets warmly, and Hob could just melt into the floor. Dream is normally rather stiff and standoffish during tournaments, which leads a lot of other players to mistake him for arrogant. But Hob learned from sticking around to chat with Dream after all the matches were done that Dream just gets super hyper focused when he's in the zone. He's otherwise rather friendly, if given the chance. Still, it's rare to see Dream on the floor of a show, normally the man showed up to these things only to play, very rarely to browse.
"Fancy seeing you here, old friend," Hob replies, grinning. "Looking for anything in particular?"
"A few things," Dream confirms, but doesn't elaborate. "And yourself?"
"Looking for Johanna until matches start," Hob replies. "I saw you signed up for Sealed. Hopefully I'll get to play you later."
Dream's lips quirk in a barely there smile. "We shall see."
Before Hob can come up with an excuse to keep them talking, Johanna tackles Hob from behind. She's got plenty of bags in her arms which tells Hob she was successful at whatever she was doing. Unfortunately, said bags also hit Hob square in the back along with his friend.
"Oof, hey what the hell Jo," Hob groans.
"You'll never believe how much I got from that rat Vinny for that Chalice of the Void !" Johanna's extremely giddy so Hob's guessing she's made her sales for the day.
"Let me guess, Vinny was short of willing to part with his firstborn?" Hob jokes.
"You bet!” Johanna grins. “Happy Birthday Hobsie, I got you two boxes of Guilds of Ravnica!"
"It's your birthday?" Dream asks once Hob has had a moment to admire his new toys.
"Not for another week," Hob answers. "But it's close enough."
“Happy early Birthday then,” Dream says, a genuine and rare smile gracing Hob’s vision. Hob grips Johanna tightly, suddenly feeling faint. He can feel her judgment emanating off her as she pats his elbow.
“You should come with us, we're going out tonight to celebrate!” Johanna declares.
Dream pauses. He looks unsure, like he wants to accept but feels like he shouldn't.
"I…am not the biggest fan of bars, unfortunately," Dream admits, as if this is something to be ashamed of and not the norm for most people Hob knows. "They are a bit too crowded for me."
"Well it's not like the people there smell any better than here," Johanna says, shrugging. Hob sighs. Johanna needed to learn more tact around nerds.
“Besides,” Johanna adds, “Hob's uncle owns The New Inn, so we'll have a private room and everything, so no worries there!”
Dream blinks and turns to Hob. "Your uncle owns The New Inn?" he asks, awed.
"Oh yeah, I guess it's never come up," Hob replies sheepishly. Hob knows The New Inn is a local favorite in the area but he hates telling people about his connection because they always inevitably ask for free drinks. Not that Hob wouldn’t give Dream free drinks if he asked, but still.
"I have never seen you there," Dream notes. “I like it there. It is…quieter.”
“Well, I'm not skilled enough to tend the bar so I'm usually in the back unpacking food and bottles,” Hob replies. “But next time you come by, just let them know you're here to see me and I'll come out and say hello. Not tonight though, since I won't actually be working.”
“I'll go tonight,” Dream says, turning to Johanna. “If there won't be…too many people, it should be fine.”
“Great!” Johanna says. “You should give Hob your number just so we can find each other later huh?”
“Jo!” Hob hisses at the same time Dream says, "Yes that would make sense."
Hob's pretty sure he feels his heart stop in his chest once his brain catches up. He nearly fumbles and drops his phone when he takes it out of his pocket to start creating a contact.
Hob quickly realizes he has a small conundrum. He doesn’t actually know Dream’s real name.
“So am I just putting you in as Dream, or…?” Hob really hopes he doesn’t sound as awkward as he feels.
Dream wrinkles his nose. “I really don’t care for my legal name, so you may keep it as Dream. For now.”
“Ooh, we gotta fight for your legal name huh?” Johanna asks. “Perfect that we’re going to a bar then, plenty of opportunity for bad decisions. Like that time Hob pulled a Mox Amber card and then spilled tequila on it.”
"Excuse me, you spilled the tequila!" Hob retorts as he and Dream switch phones to enter each other’s numbers. Once he’s gotten his phone back from the other man, he fires off a quick text to open up a text conversation with them.
Dream’s phone dings and he smiles when he opens up Hob’s message.
“There we go,” Dream says. “I will see you at the matches later, then.” Hob and Johanna wave their goodbyes as Dream walks back into the crowd of vendors.
“I am the best wing woman and don't you ever forget it!” Johanna crows once Dream is out of hearing range.
Hob can't even come up with a witty retort because he. has. Dream's. phone number. Holy shit. It's already the best tournament of Hob's life and matches haven't even started yet.
Hob somehow makes it through his first few matches without mooning over Dream a few tables over. He can tell the other man has put together something insanely good because his matches end pretty quickly. Hob isn’t doing too bad himself. He's already won his first three sets and he only needs to make it through two more to make it to Dream, if he’s reading the bracket correctly.
Alianora shows up about halfway through Hob’s fourth match. Johanna immediately latches to her and they end up coming over to observe Hob play. Hob had seen her earlier with another woman playing a Two-Headed Giant match. Alianora complains about how it’s hard to find a good partner for the format. Johanna, unsurprisingly, volunteers to be her partner for the next tournament she wants to enter. Hob is anticipating many long nights in his flat after today.
Johanna then impulsively invites Alianora to Hob’s birthday celebration. Hob chokes on air and almost accidentally reveals his hand to his opponent.
“Is that not all right?” Alianora asks, worry evident in her face and tone as she looks back and forth between him and Johanna.
“No, no, it’s not that, you’re more than welcome,” Hob says, waving his hand dismissively.. “It’s just that Johanna seems to have forgotten she also invited Dream.”
“Oh!” Alianora’s face lights up. “And he’s actually going? ”
Hob almost forgets to untap in his upkeep. Alianora sounds…happy? Is…is she going to try to get back together with Dream?
“Yeah, he said he doesn’t really like bars, but he likes The New Inn,” Johanna explains, not seeming to realize Hob’s anguish.
“Oh yes, we used to go on dates there,” Alianora says, nostalgia clear in her voice and Hob’s heart sinks. How did he never know that? “It’s been one of my favorite spots ever since.”
“Oh…well that’s interesting.” Johanna also sounds rather disappointed. Well, at least Hob wouldn’t be the only one drinking their sorrows tonight. But first he needed to win this match.
Hob blocks an attack with his Portcullis Vine and then casts Crushing Canopy on his opponent’s Dimir Spybug to put the board back at equilibrium. Now they each have two creatures on the field.
“I’ve never seen either of you there,” Hob says while his opponent debates his next move. “It’s my uncle’s place and I’m usually there most weekends, though usually in the back.”
“Oh that’s so cool!” Alianora gushes. “We used to always go on Tuesday nights, when it was practically empty. I told him not to let our break up ruin his favorite meal, but you know, he’s stubborn so I’m sure he hasn’t been going. I’m so happy you convinced him to not only go back, but also on a weekend! He almost never went out on the weekends with me, even when I begged.”
That is more information than Hob is prepared to process all at once. Hob has so many questions for Alianora, but he absolutely cannot dedicate the brain power to both play well and untangle all his thoughts. So instead he mutters a non-committal “huh, interesting,” and then throws all his focus into finishing the game.
Alianora understands the message instantly. “You’ve got this, Hob!” she cheers.
Hob sees Dream whip his head up in surprise from his own match out of the corner of his eye. Hob waves. Well this was going to be an interesting conversation later.
Hob barely manages to win the match but a win is a win and luckily his fifth match is much easier. Dream’s fifth match, on the other hand, takes much longer than Hob anticipates, but Hob’s a patient man. He knows Dream will win.
Finally, the moment he’s been waiting for is upon him.
“You’re late,” Hob jokes as Dream stands across the table from him
“My apologies,” Dream replies, faking a bow before he sits at their table. “I’ve always heard it impolite to keep one’s friends waiting.”
Hob grins. “I’m absolutely kicking your ass today, Dream.”
Dream is kicking Hob’s ass.
He’s down to only 5 life thanks to Dream’s Citywatch Sphinx , and he also has Etrata, The Silencer on the field, so not only is Hob taking direct damage from her attacks as well, he’s also just lost his second monster to his exile pile. He’s practically set up to lose his next turn, whether by direct damage or that damned vampire.
There’s a crowd that’s formed around them, a mix of Hob’s friends trying to be supportive (and also probably hoping he loses so they can go drinking), and a few fans of Dream who love to watch him play. Johanna is having a grand time watching Hob embarrass himself.
“I can’t believe you’re humiliating the poor man on his birthday, Dream!” Johanna laughs as she throws her arm around a now blushing Alianora.
“It’s not for another week, he will survive,” Dream replies dismissively. He glances over at Alianora and raises his eyebrow. Hob sees her mouth quirk out of the corner of her eye. They seem to be communicating silently, and Hob wishes he knew what they were saying. But he needs to focus on his game.
It’s especially frustrating because Hob has Dream down to his last 3 life, but between Etrata, the Sphinx, and an untapped Gatekeeper Gargoyle , Hob has no way of attacking Dream directly. Dream also loading his deck with removal spells had caused all of Hob’s creatures to keep getting destroyed, exiled, or countered. He’s also only drawn mana his last few turns. Ah, the joys of getting mana flooded.
“If I knew how easy this game was going to be, I should have had you put your money where your mouth is,” Dream says mildly.
“You still could!” Alianora says excitedly. “You should definitely bet bar tabs!”
“That’s evil,” Johanna says. “I love it.”
“Traitor,” Hob mutters. He takes his next turn, untaps his mana, draws, and prays for a miracle.
…Holy shit, he may just win this.
Hob takes a quick look at the board to assess the viability of his new strategy. Dream’s mana is mostly tapped out, so the chances of him counterspelling are low, but not impossible. Hob also has more than enough mana on his side of the field to pull this off.
Hob plays Assassin's Trophy to kill Etrata, and prays Dream doesn’t have a return from graveyard card. The raven haired man plays the free mana he is given, and shuffles his deck, but otherwise doesn’t counter. Hob counts his lucky stars before he casts Cosmotronic Wave to ensure Dream can’t block with his Gatekeeper Gargoyle and Citywatch Sphinx.
Now for the moment of truth. Hob had drawn Assure//Assemble on this turn, and while he doesn’t have any creatures of his own on the field, there’s no rule saying he can’t buff one of Dream’s creatures. With Assure, Hob finally has everything he needs to summon Arclight Phoenix back from the graveyard.
“Why are you…” Dream starts to ask but then Hob grins when he reveals what he’s taken from his graveyard.
“Arclight Phoenix is back!” Hob crows. “Your creatures can’t block, and it has haste so no summoning sickness. You’re dead!”
Hob can’t believe it. He barely won, but a win is a win. And against Dream too! There’s a lot of yelling going around but Hob barely hears it over the roaring of his own ears.
“Congratulations,” Dream smiles as they shake hands. “It seems I’ll be paying your tab tonight.”
Hob’s had more than a fair amount of shots when he spots Dream and Alianora speaking to one another in a corner.
Alianora is gesturing to the small crowd of people in their party room, and Dream looks…constipated is probably the best way to put it.
“Everything all right?” Hob asks when he makes his way over to them. He tries not to stumble over his words, but he’s had a lot of alcohol on Dream's tab, in addition to all the birthday drinks his other friends have bought him.
Alianora’s expression lights up when she sees him. “Perfect timing, Dream has something he wants to tell you!”
“Alianora!” Dream scolds but she's already wandered off towards the bar. There's a brief silence before Hob coughs to break the tension.
“So…what’s that about?”
Dream sighs.
“Nothing. Alianora is just interfering in my affairs, as per usual.”
“Affairs?” Hob snorts. “You make it sound like something illicit is happening at a birthday party.”
“It’s not that, she just - “
Dream’s next words are cut off by loud cheers.
Dream and Hob turn to look at the source of the noise and it’s Johanna…kissing Alianora.
“Fucking finally!” Hob exclaims before he realizes what he's said. “I mean!” he slaps his hand over his mouth as he turns back to Dream. “Uh…sorry about your ex?”
Dream huffs. “It was me who broke off our relationship, Hob. We were always better as friends.” Hob notices then that Dream is smiling at the two of them. “She is lucky Johanna is so bold.”
Hob snorts. “Yeah, Jo’s not afraid to go for what she wants.” Unlike Hob. “So uh…no new girlfriend then?” It’s the lamest segue in history, but Hob can always blame it on the alcohol later.
“It’s recently come to my attention that I am gay,” Dream replies.
“Oh, great,” Hob says before his brain catches up to him. “I mean! That’s not what I meant! Not that it’s not great to be gay, I’m bisexual myself, so absolute solidarity in liking men!”
Dream then bursts into laughter. It’s a beautiful ringing noise and if Hob weren’t already so far into his crush, he’d definitely have fallen in love at this very moment in time.
“Oi! You two gonna kiss too, or what?” Johanna yells from across the room, drawing back their attention.
“You better!” Alianora chirps. “Dream hasn’t shut up about you for months!”
Oh.
Hob looks back over at Dream, who is now spotting a very rosy color to his cheeks. Hob’s pretty sure he has the same sort of blush on his own face.
“So for our next matchup…” Hob says after a few moments of awkward, but charged silence between them. “If I win, do I get a victory kiss?”
Dream snorts. “If that is what you desire more than free alcohol.”
“Oh, it is,” Hob says, feeling much braver now as he grins at his longtime crush. “And not to push my luck further…”
“I’m sure you will anyway,” Dream interjects, his lips also quirked into a small smile.
“But it is my birthday celebration, and it’s a rule that a man's gotta be kissed on his birthday.”
“Is it now?” Dream asks, feigning surprise.
“Yeah, you got any ideas for volunteers?”
“You’re drunk,” Dream replies. “And an idiot.”
Dream kisses him anyway, to loud cheers.
Best. Birthday. Ever.