Chapter Text
It had been a few days since Dream and Technoblade had exchanged their jewelry and officially started courting each other. They stayed holed up in Techno’s house just enjoying each other’s presence (as well as a few other things, if you know what I mean), but now it was time for them to return to their duties, especially Dream.
He knows he has a lot of things to do around the SMP, he has responsibilities. People to see, things to do, places to go. That didn’t make it any easier to leave Techno though. He knows he needs to go out though. And so that very day, Dream straps his axe to his back, ties up his boots, and steals a quick kiss from Techno before heading off into the snow.
He can hear the whispers as he walks through the SMP, especially once he reaches the more populated areas. He’s wearing the necklace Techno had given him proudly on display, unconcealed by his mask or his cloak. The whispers were bad when it was just his scar on display, the gnarly mark accidentally left by Phil after he first asked about piglin mating. People had been cruel about it, spreading rumors and stories of attempted assassinations and brutal fights. While that probably helps improve his image and his reputation, it still hurt, especially when people lamented the fact that the so called “assasination” failed and wished that whoever had done it had finished the job. Now with the necklace the scar was covered, but people still knew it was there and people still talked. If there was one thing the general public could do it was gossip.
It took a few hours of keeping himself busy in his base before anyone approached him.
“Dream! You here?” Sapnap’s voice called out through the base, “I got George with me! We need to talk to you”
Well that was never good. It would be bad enough if it was just one of them that said they needed to talk to him, but both? That meant something was going on. With a sigh Dream shut the chest he had been rummaging through, and turned to slide down the ladder to where his friends were waiting.
“Hey guys, what do you need to talk to me about?” Dream was quick to cut to the chase. He didn’t have the energy for any false pleasantries right now. It’s not as if he and his friends had been particularly close lately. They hardly ever came and talked to him unless they needed something, so Dream wondered what it was they needed from him now.
One day they would take all that Dream had to give, and what would happen to him then? But that day wasn’t today.
“What’s the deal with the necklace? And I guess the scar in general. If someone’s hunting you that could put us in danger and we have a right to know about that” Sap apparently was on the same page as Dream regarding pleasantries. He wasn’t beating around the bush.
Dream sighed. He knew something like this would happen, but he was tired of the constant fighting and he was especially tired of hiding all of his emotions behind this mask. Sure it was safer, but it was hard. This necklace was one emotion that Dream didn’t have to hide anymore.
“It’s a courting gift, I have a mate now” was all Dream said on the subject as he turned to pull some blaze rods out of the chest next to him. He knew they would push him for more information but that doesn’t mean he has to waste time that he could be using to brew some much needed potions.
This time is was George who spoke up, “Mate? What are you talking about? What about me?”
“What about you George? We’re not in a relationship, we never really were. You objected during my wedding and kissed me, but after that you kind of just laughed it off. I wasn’t going to sit around and pine over someone who clearly viewed it all as a joke. So yes. I have a mate. A mate that I love very much.” He stood from the chest, turning to the two in front of him, “Now if that’s all, I have things to do today”
As Dream went to move away from the two, Sapnap reached out and snagged his arm “Whoa, we’re not done! Who is this mate? Why wouldn’t you tell us about this? We’re your best friends…” The demon hybrid sounded genuinely confused.
Dream sighed. He hadn’t wanted to have this conversation today, but it seems like that’s what was happening.
“Are we really friends anymore, Sap? When was the last time either of you came to me just to hang out, or even asked how I was doing? When was the last time either of you came to me for a reason other than you needing me to do something or fix something or fight someone or something like that? When was the last time that you didn’t blow me off when I reached out to you? If we are still friends, you guys have a weird way of showing it,” Dream sighs again, leaning against a chest, “I’m not you guys’ friend. Not anymore. At most I’m a tool for you. You come to me with problems, then blame me for the entire situation if things don’t resolve just how you want them too. So no, I’m not going to tell you who my mate is. We’re still in the beginning stages of our courting and I don’t need either of you going and interrogating or threatening them, and I certainly don’t need you guys holding this over me if something happens. So please, leave it alone right now. In fact, leave me alone. Please.”
Dream pulled his arm out of Sapnap’s grip, heading towards his brewing room.
“Let yourselves out”, and with that he disappeared with the slam of a door.
However, because of that he missed the guilty look that passed between George and Sap, and he missed the fact that after they returned to George’s house to talk over everything that had just happened. They came to a single conclusion…
“We need to fix this”