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“Give me your money! Give me your money, Daquavis!”
Dream intimidated him more than he’d like to admit. He had already gotten him to lose a significant portion of his mask of arrogance. The blond was obviously skilled, even through his blunders. He’d managed to kill him earlier after getting stuck underneath the map, and Daquavis had just picked himself up from getting swiftly impaled in the back by Dream’s sword.
He took an oversized breath, shook his head. Shit, he’d slipped up and given Dream an easy win. He wouldn’t let it happen again.
“Three, two, one, fight.”
They were evenly matched, four to four. He’d been getting wins in, Dream’s recent win had just been a fluke, it didn’t truly matter because Daquavis was going to win. He kept reminding himself that Dream was rusty, and probably lacked enough time to shake the rust off before now. He ignored the thought that Dream would be destroying him if he hadn’t laid off PvP for so long.
He kept an eye on Dream’s every move, even the lightest flinch of his arm. Dream backed away for a moment, reciprocating the careful gaze he was getting as he finished off a golden apple before lunging in quickly while Daquavis was doing the same. He quickly recovered from the slight advantage, both of them getting frequent damage from each other. Dream seemed to never tire. Daquavis tried to match his aura, brushing away any thoughts that Dream could easily take him.
“Uh oh, I think it’s over for you, Dream,” he spat in an attempt to artificially boost his confidence.
“Oh, is it? You shouldn’t have missed that hit,” Dream countered.
Daquavis cursed Dream’s observance. “Shut up,” he teased, reluctantly admitting to only himself that Dream was right — he shouldn’t have missed that hit. His arm had been too unsteady and the pain of Dream’s freshly inflicted scars tore at his conscience. Still, he couldn’t let anything slip through the cracks. Dream couldn’t know he secretly had the upper hand. He’d crush him instantly.
He wasn’t quite sure why the concept alone seemed so exhilarating.
In the blunder of temporarily losing himself in thought, Dream slashed at Daquavis hastily, a spray of blood pouring from the new wound. Daquavis screamed, wishing immediately that he could choke it back down as he raced away with Dream notably on his tail. He didn’t miss the faint smirk that decorated Dream’s lips for barely a moment, catching it as he backed Daquavis against the wall of the arena.
Something wet rolled down his back, countering the harsh solid stone behind him. He couldn’t tell if it was blood or sweat, and he wasn’t sure which one he’d rather it be. He tried to heal as Dream swung at him, erasing every bit of health he regained.
I’m still gonna win, he thought, feeling barely secure in his own thoughts as he landed few swings.
“Oh, you’re dead, are you?” Dream asserted as his sword carved yet another hard gash into Daquavis, one he quickly tried to hide by turning his back on the man. He chewed on the walls of his mouth, only tasting his own blood and death on the horizon.
“Please don’t do this, please don’t do this, I’m sorry,” he cried as Dream ignored him and insistently swiped at him from behind, the unmistakable whip of the weapon through the air coming too close for comfort a number of times — the actual hits tallying an even greater number. He hated to practically roll over and show his stomach, but he hoped maybe his opponent would show a sliver of mercy, even if it was shameful to win on pity points.
Daquavis’ breath drained from his lungs as he stumbled on the mycelium. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so cocky, because now a hundred thousand dollars and his pride were on the line, a very thin line that he was about to spill over.
Thankfully, Dream spared him a quick death in the corner of the arena, backing up to heal himself as he left plenty of space between him and Daquavis. “Let’s go, it’s the final stand, c’mon,” the blond stated so casually that it partly angered Daquavis. How the fuck is he still so nonchalant? He ignored the other part of him that found it… impressive that Dream could hold himself still. Am I really throwing that bad?
No. I’m not gonna lose — I’m not gonna fucking lose to Dream, he thought, swinging at Dream pseudo-threateningly and inching closer as if he could actually win. He met up with Dream’s sword a few times, but made sure Dream met with his in response
“What's your health?”
“I got full health,” Dream stated matter-of-factly.
Fuck. “That’s cap,” he retorted, laughing in feigned disbelief even though Dream’s expression read the truth.
“It’s not,” he stated. “I got full health.”
“I just hit you like, three times,” Daquavis whined.
“Oh yeah? But I had regen still, cause I had… I had gapple.”
Of course.
Daquavis lunged at him but was swiftly humbled by Dream’s quick work as he backed him further into the corner. Daquavis fought to keep his ground but noticed he was quickly losing not only that, but his health as well. He glanced to the side in hopes of finding an escape, but with his blood pouring out from him and his feet stumbling trying to keep from being pressed to the wall, he knew it wouldn’t be of any use. He could say goodbye to his hundred grand — and his dignity.
Shit.
His mind flashed back to the words Dream had given earlier during the modern kit duel, trying to shake them off as this was surely not the time. He was about to die, for fuck’s sake. “I really wanna, like, body slam you.”
Weirdo.
Daquavis bit the wall of his mouth to hide a scream as Dream slashed him to the ground, and a final bought of pain wracked him as he fell. His vision paled, eaten by light pouring in from the corners as Dream’s expression — a cross between a shit-eating grin on his lips and something… softer in his eyes — filled the last of his field of view. Dream stood over him for just a moment, pinned him down as the relax of death washed over him, rendering anything he did now futile. He couldn’t help but want to pull Dream closer.
He revived. Life flooded back into him as he reoriented.
What the fuck, bro. What was that? Daquavis thought to himself as he shook away whatever had overcome him in the final moments.
“YES! GG!” he heard Dream shout as everything returned to him. The blond was running about in celebration — salt in Daquavis’ now only metaphorical wounds.
“UGHHHH,” Daquavis groaned, throwing his head back in frustration. That should’ve been so easy for him, why did he lose?
Dream’s armour and the green edge of his jumper worn underneath rode up, exposing a flash of the skin-tight black whatever that was and the sides of his torso decorated with a purple-flushed scar on each side. He surely works out or something. Daquavis quickly averted his gaze, rolling his eyes.
So stupid.
“GG,” Dream greeted him confidently.
“I was like, shaking at the last — oh my god,” Daquavis sighed.
“I got – I got a crazy combo right there at the end, that was crazy, oh my god…” Dream rambled, his pretty face animated with accomplishment. Daquavis shook his head and groaned again.
“That should’ve been so easy for me,” he whined, bitter defeat laced in his voice. The image of Dream standing so cockily above him flickered back, and he shook it away as quickly as possible.
Dream simply chuckled. “You put up a good fight, though,” he admitted warmly. “Especially in the end. That was, like, that was intense.”
“I think I kinda fumbled,” Daquavis murmured. “You had like, full health and stuff. Regen or whatever.” Fine. Dream’s actually good or whatever. He’s just like… so…
Dream.
“I lost ‘cause you distracted me,” Daquavis sighed. Some stupid cringe ass shit.
“It’s okay, I mean like – we still have the Minecraft skills challenge,” Dream consoled. “But I have won the PvP, so…”
“Okay, bro, you’re good, I get it,” Daquavis replied to Dream, looking away from the freckled blond.
“I really wanna, like, body slam you.”
Okay bro, he replied to himself this time.
Dream wiped sweat from his brow, stripping out of his armour. He shook his head to fluff his hair back up as he removed his helmet. His gingeresque curls glimmered even with sweat, and the outline of his well-built arms and hands was more obvious without the chestplate and now that they were still enough. He was bleeding a little from a few light scars Daquavis had managed to inflict, but looked relatively unharmed.
“You were like, so nonchalant,” Daquavis commented.
“That’s ‘cause I had full health.”
“I guess you did.”
“All that shit talking and I win, huh?” Dream teased, leaning in closer as he murmured the words.
“Shut up,” Daquavis shot back playfully, swallowing any thought that he kinda liked hearing Dream shit talk him. Stupid Dream . “I didn’t think you win since you cheated in that speedrun,” he poked.
“Oh, come on,” Dream grumbled with feigned annoyance. “You faked your little PvP battles. And you were threatening me with growing trees. Oh, wow, Daquavis cares about the environment, that makes him good at PvP.”
“Okay bro, you have an obsession with sticking an end rod up my ass.”
“You’re my pet,” Dream chuckled.
Daquavis blushed. “Whatever. You’re not gonna win next time.”
“We’ll see about that.”