Chapter Text
Techno glanced cautiously at Dream, who was standing nearby, irritably tugging at the heavy fabric of his dress every five minutes. He did it discreetly, with just his fingertips, barely moving the palms of his hands folded in front of him.
The people at the ball were talking, rustling their clothes, and buzzing with conversation like bees, migrating from corner to corner. Glances were thrown at them, greetings exchanged, but no full-blown conversations had been had yet, and Blade didn't know whether to be pleased or not.
The difference from all the other balls was that instead of Skeppy taking the Duchess's place, as he was supposed to, Dream was there. His husband had once again decided to send all decorum to hell by running off to his lover three days ago, leaving Techno to puzzle over how he could disguise the absence of such an important figure. Normally that wasn't a problem. He and Skeppy had an arranged marriage, and they had determined right away that no one would expect any feelings from the other, but one should have a conscience too! Couples were shown before the Royal Family unless one was still not bound by marriage.
Asking Dream to pretend to be Skeppy had been a spontaneous idea, but it didn't seem so bad now. He stood with dignity, without the eternal childish energy that made his husband squirm, and the gold embroidered dress suited him well, the corset tight around his waist, his face covered by a demure veil and his hair hidden behind the heavy fabric on which a tiara sat. If he hadn't been so stubborn Techno would have long ago spent every dawn and dusk with him, kissing him until he lost his memory.
If his father hadn't rushed their engagement to Skeppy, Dream could have been his. Now all that's left is stealing quick glances and fantasies like this.
"I’ll demand so much from you for this!" his "husband" for the evening grumbled, discreetly adjusting the dress again. "Never again am I agreeing to something like this..."
"Consider it payback for when I had to climb into your room through the window," Techno whispered mischievously, leaning close to his ear—close enough to brush against the fabric. "On the fourth floor."
Dream turned his head toward him. The veil made it seem as though he had no face, but Techno knew him well enough to imagine the look in his eyes.
"That was eight years ago. Are you going to bring up things from when we were in diapers too?"
"Maybe," Blade smirked, and Dream twitched his shoulder slightly as if restraining himself from elbowing him in the ribs.
He was probably still sulking about how much taller Techno had grown compared to him.
Someone brushed past them, their dress rustling, followed by a polite cough. Blade was so mesmerized by Dream that he hadn’t noticed his mother’s arrival.
"Your Grace," his "spouse" said respectfully, bowing gracefully. "It’s a pleasure to see you in good health!"
Techno almost stepped on his foot. Skeppy had never bowed or bothered with formalities around his parents. Judging by his mother’s raised eyebrows, she noticed too.
"Oh, don’t be so formal - we’re family," Kristin smiled, lowering her fan. "At least you greeted me, unlike my dear son."
Her smile turned sharp, and Techno mirrored it. If not for the veil, he might have seen Dream’s reaction to their childish antics, but the heavy fabric obscured his face, leaving him to interpret only his silence.
"Phil wants to discuss selling the northern territories with you again. If I were you, I’d pretend to be very busy," she said, pressing her closed fan to her cheek and laughing with her eyes.
Over her shoulder, Techno spotted his father hurrying over, clearly ready to turn a pleasant evening into pointless debates. Ever since he’d joined Skeppy’s family as a guarantee of a peace treaty, such discussions had become increasingly frequent. His father thought it necessary to extract every possible benefit, unashamedly employing underhanded tactics. But that required Techno’s consent, and he wasn’t in any rush to give it.
"What wonderful music! Dre... I mean, darling, shall we dance?"
Kristin glanced at his companion and chuckled knowingly.
"Well, I won’t keep you." She winked and walked away toward Phil, the luxurious rustle of her dress trailing behind her.
Techno grabbed Dream by the hand, leading him into the crowd of dancing figures. With a restrained thrill, he placed a hand on the slender waist of his "spouse," pulling him as close as he could. Dream let out a faint huff and tried to pinch him, but Blade deftly caught the offending hand and raised it as they began the first steps of the dance.
"You’re a terrible conspirator," Dream sighed, and Techno twirled him lightly before pulling him back, chest to back.
He leaned down, once again lamenting the fabric that hid every inch of the skin he longed for and began to whisper.
"Maybe I want everyone to know who’s in my arms."
This time, Dream managed to stomp on his foot—hard, clearly aiming to pierce it with his heel. Techno swallowed a yelp, forcing himself to smile through the pain to mask his grimace.
"We didn’t agree to this. And you promised not to try to drag me into bed after the wedding!" his "spouse" hissed sharply.
The urge to kiss him made Techno's face ache.
"And you know I’m already promised to Sam."
"Have you even met him?"
Dream's silence answered the question. Techno stifled a sigh and lifted his partner into the air, spinning him around before lowering him gracefully back to the floor.
"I… I’ll be faithful to him. I don’t want a situation like my parents’," Dream said, turning his face away, hiding all his emotions behind the veil again. Blade tightened his grip on Dream's waist.
He had already lost Dream once, unable to defy his father, and became Skeppy’s husband. Now, it seemed he might lose him forever.
For a moment, his thoughts flared with familiar, fiery anger. He hated this life, where other people’s rules repeatedly forced him to abandon what he held dear. He hated bowing to family obligations and traditions that dictated his future. He hated the ostentatious wealth and stifling clothes that felt like true shackles.
But the anger gave way to bitterness. These thoughts were too frequent for him not to have grown used to them.
As alluring as Dream looked in fine gowns, Techno wished to see him in something light. Something so free it seemed as though he could fly.
Techno glanced toward Phil, then at the emperor, frowning. Perhaps it was time to heed Skeppy’s quiet advice.
"What if I steal you away? And we go far, far away from here?"
Dream tilted his head.
"We don’t need these titles or the people who only think about how to use us. Skeppy, Sam… they promise eternities filled with loneliness, but I… I promise you an eternity filled with love. I go mad with jealousy every time I think of someone else touching you."
Techno carefully lifted the veil, shielding Dream’s sweet face from everyone but himself. Dream looked at him with uncertainty, his brows slightly arched, his lower lip caught between his teeth.
"I don’t want a life where I have to give you up. And I don’t want to remember moments when you were by my side as someone else’s stand-in. I want the right to call you my spouse every day."
Dream gently clasped his fingers. The couples around them continued to spin and dance, but they didn’t care. All that mattered was the gaze of those vibrant green eyes, fixed solely on him.
"And you’ll be faithful to me?"
"I always have been." Techno couldn’t resist leaning down and finally capturing those enticing lips.
Ignoring everyone else, Blade swept his future husband off his feet and carried him out of the ballroom, drawing surprised gasps from the onlookers. There was no reason to wait anymore. The chance to finally call Dream his made his head spin.
"Will you let me have you before the wedding while you’re still in this dress?" he asked hopefully, only to get smacked in the head.
"Techno!"