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techno stares at his crown, sitting steady in his hands. he wipes off a few purple spots. "hey, dream?"
dream looks up from his book. "yeah?"
"how does the gold not dissolve?"
"oh, from the obsidian tears?" techno nods. "well, gold is, like- it doesn't react with things. it's too strong of a magical conductor, i think, so it's constantly like... a little unbreaking?"
"hm." he turns the crown around. he can feel the layer of grime on it. "is that why it enchants easier?"
"yeah, it is."
"that's cool." he puts the crown back on. "what are you writin'?"
"nothing." dream hides the book a little more. his frantic eyes snap to techno.
he raises his hands. "bro, chill. no one's takin' it from you."
"...shut up. go back to admiring your crown."
"i'm done admirin' my crown."
dream sighs. "okay then, techno."
"mate, stop running."
"sorry!" techno continues running. "hot metal!"
"what?" phil finally peers into the basement, where techno has been causing an absolute ruckus for at least half an hour. "hot metal?"
"yeah." he watches techno pour the red mass into a mold. "i'm makin'... somethin'."
"are you, now?"
"...phil, why did that sound so accusatory?"
"well, does it have anything to do with the critters?"
techno freezes. "uh." he avoids phil's gaze, and as if that wasn't enough confirmation, stutters out, "there are no critters."
phil squints at him.
"...phil."
"...techno."
"phil."
"techno."
"...the critters are none of your concern."
phil breaks into laughter. "alright, i'll keep your secret, mate."
"my- my secret?"
phil laughs even harder as he wanders off.
"okay, uh... what's this?"
"it's..." techno inspects the small statue between ranboo's fingers. "...good question. phil, what's this?"
"it's a horse!"
niki squints at it. she slowly lowers her gaze back to her own project, telegraphed and deliberate. "do you know what a horse looks like?"
"yes i know what a horse looks like!"
"i remain unconvinced," ranboo mumbles, putting the "horse" back in the middle of the table and picking up their piece and knife again. "techno, name a mob."
"uh..." he blanks. why can't he think of a single mob?" "the- axolotl."
phil side-eyes him and techno side-eyes him back even harder.
"ooh, axolotl!" niki sets another cat in the middle and picks up the next wood block. "i love axolotls."
"yeah, they're... cool."
"you know, maybe we should get some, eh techno?" phil nudges him a little.
techno only barely holds back a glare. "...sure. i'll consider it."
"great!" phil places another resolutely perfect crow down. "now, who would like some tea?"
"you know... those critters-"
"there are no critters, phil."
"there are critters. id argue there's one very big critter."
techno recovers quick from the stutter in his step. "like steve? or carl?"
"no, no, more, uh..." phil taps his chin in a way he literally never does. "more... human-shaped?"
"...tommy?"
"bigger."
"tommy but he had dinner?"
"techno!"
techno sighs. "alright. there's a critter."
phil whoops.
"you cannot tell anyone about it, okay?"
"could i meet him?"
"him?" techno grimaces. "why are you assumin', phil?"
"you- techno, i know who it is."
"no you... you don't."
"oh, really?" phil turns to their share of last week's whittling session. he visibly counts the parrots. "one, two, three, four-"
"fine! okay! yes, i took a parrot." phil stares. "...what?"
"you made more parrots than dogs."
"parrots are cool. you know, the pitch at which parrots speak is server-dependent."
phil laughs. "and who taught you that one?"
"...point taken."
dream sits in the basement, rifling through chests.
"bruhhhhh," techno drawls. "you could've just asked."
dream looks up at him and pulls out a golden apple. "you wouldn't have given me one."
"yeah." he strides over and takes it out of dream's hands. "and i'm not givin' it to you now, either.
"what? why!"
techno looks at dream's very faintly glowing veins. "you have a potion addiction."
"no i do not."
"chat, i think this guy's lyin'."
"i'm not!"
"chat, chat-"
"techno!"
techno laughs. "you know, i made soup. want some?"
dream stares at the apple still in techno's hand, then looks up. "...okay."
"good morning critter."
dream looks weirdly at phil, not expecting him there. "uhm... good morning?"
"what's got you up so early?" phil sips his tea. "it's barely sunrise."
"i'm... an early waker." he yawns. "why'd you call me a critter?"
phil eyes the two golden rings along dream's left helix. "...i'll explain that another day."