Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Technoblade remembered the first time he noticed Dream acting strange in vivid detail.

The piglin had been on the server for but a week, and he and Dream planned a meeting to discuss the destruction of L’manberg without Wilbur’s increasingly disturbing ramblings. But Dream was late. Technoblade supposed it was understandable, they’d planned to meet rather early to evade prying eyes, and the blond might’ve slept in. So, he waited around the area for exactly four hours, doing odd jobs and stocking items; being productive.

Dream still didn’t show.

And Technoblade wasn’t really one to be stood up, nor did Dream really seem the kind of man to stand people up. So naturally, the warrior went to retrieve his ally from whatever he’d been side-tracked doing.

Under the guise of figuring out the server, Technoblade asked around until he learned when he could find Dream at that time of day, though there were warnings to go with his directions.

“You probably don’t want to go there right now, Dream and his friends get… busy.”

Technoblade wasn’t sure what to make of that, so he settled to deal with any ‘busyness’ as he found it and remind Dream of their business endeavours while he did it.

Eventually, the piglin hybrid arrived at the Dream team’s place of residence; the community house. As he got closer though, he kept hearing what was distinctly sex noises from the top floor. Which, fair enough, they’re all grown men that weren’t asexual to his knowledge, they’re allowed to spend empty mornings with a partner. He just really hoped Dream wasn’t up there with whoever he decided to take to bed these days.

Technoblade climbed the stairs inside, and pointedly ignoring the moans to his right, looked left and spotted George NotFound. The British man was calmly enchanting a pickaxe, either oblivious or rather comfortable listening to a friend of his have sex, which must’ve been Sapnap because Dream was nowhere to be seen.

The pink haired man cleared his throat pointedly, and George jumped around to the face the guest. “Technoblade?!” He exclaimed in shock, holding a hand over his chest as if to calm his breathing. The hybrid raised an eyebrow and cut straight to the chase. “Have you seen Dream?” He asked.

George stared for a moment before shaking his head. “Sorry, I- I thought you were asking about Dream?” The brunette joked uncomfortably. Technoblade frowned, unimpressed. “I’m not goin’ to repeat myself George. Where is he?” The piglin pressed as a loud moan from behind him made his ear twitch. He cringed and glanced over his shoulder briefly, but George quickly jumped forward.

“Busy! He’s- very, very busy! Y’know? He uh, he left. Early, this morning, said he had a meeting to make.” The brunette explained quickly, a stressed smile on his face as he talked, waving his hands around with his nerves. Technoblade scowled further and leaned into the shorter man’s space. “Well he never made our meetin’.” The colour drained from George’s face. “So I’ll ask you again, just once, with words. Where is Dream?” The hybrid asked, his voice low, and the beginnings of a very definitive Alpha growl creeping into his tone.

“I’m over here.”

Technoblade straightened up immediately and turned around to where one Dream WasTaken was standing in front of a suddenly very quiet door. The hybrid frowned at his state. Dream looked a right mess; hair askew, clothes ruffled and untidy, hood down, and his belt was undone. The only thing on straight was the Omega’s mask.

The pink haired man sighed deeply and pinched the bridge of his nose.

This is what he was doing the entire morning?

“I expected you to meet me almost five hours ago.” Technoblade said in lieu of a greeting. Dream nodded. Which was, strange.. the blond was the type to take things like this more seriously than blowing it off for sex. The hybrid made a mental note to watch closely for more off behaviour as he began leaving the building, Dream trailing behind him down the stairs.

He found it unsettlingly easily.

When they finally got back to their meeting point, every second sentence, Dream would lose focus on what they were doing or discussing and stare into space or begin to wander off. More than once Technoblade would put his hand on the blond’s shoulder and he’d flinch or jump back into focus. But even when he was focused, he seemed far away, like he was on an entirely different mental plane. And he never put his hood up like he usually would.

It made Technoblade’s skin crawl.

The Dream he was familiar with didn’t trail off without finishing his sentences, didn’t stare into space instead of listening to an important conversation, and didn’t randomly start turning away as if to leave. Technoblade also didn’t need to remind the Dream he was familiar with to keep talking, or ask whether he was paying attention, and he certainly didn’t usually need to stop the Omega from wandering off.

It was creepy, and concerning. But they didn’t know each other well, and the pink haired man ultimately decided not to pry. Even as he gave up on continuing their discussion and finally, after making sure Dream was aware of what he was doing, let the blond leave. Technoblade vaguely recognised him going back the way they came; back to the community house, and the Omega’s friends.

The entire thing left a bad taste in the piglin hybrid’s mouth, and he vowed to say something if he ever saw Dream acting that like that again.

Chapter Text

The second time Technoblade noticed this weird behaviour, he was travelling the Nether, idly cutting down Wither Skeletons and collecting potion ingredients as he went.

He’d recently moved to the Arctic, and as such, was in need of new.. everything. Those L’manberg bastards had stripped his base bare, and he had almost nothing. He needed more potions, emeralds, netherite, furniture, you name it, he was probably low.

With all of this in mind, Technoblade was mining gold ore when he spotted Dream.

The blond was stumbling as he ran through the Nether in the piglin’s direction, not that he seemed to notice this, he just seemed intent on moving as fast as possible. Technoblade turned his stance to face the Omega as he barrelled his way, and was surprised by just how unaware Dream was of his surroundings when the blond ran straight into him.

Dream’s cinnamon and apple scent wasn’t present today; a scent patch was visible on his neck without his hood up to cover it.

He was shaking.

Technoblade didn’t even need to think before moving.

The pink haired man manhandled the shorter man into the hole in the wall he’d been digging gold nuggets out of, Dream stumbling as he struggled to stay upright. It set Technoblade’s nerves on edge almost as much at the shout of; “OVER HERE!” From the same direction Dream came from did. Technoblade stared straight at the white smiling mask. “Shh.” He instructed before he set his shoulders as casually as possible, and continued mining.

Dream pressed himself against the rugged wall away from the swinging pickaxe, but he seemed to get the hint and stayed quiet.

Technoblade saw no less than three people round the wall to his right, and his hackles would’ve raised if he were in piglin form right then. Sapnap, Dream’s alleged boyfriend. George NotFound, Dream’s supposed best friend. And Antfrost, a cat hybrid with a sharp sense of smell.

Technoblade didn’t like this. Not at all.

The piglin hybrid leaned casually on the handle of his pickaxe and made eye contact with Sapnap. Technoblade raised an eyebrow in challenge. “Can I help you gentlemen?” He called, red cape swishing as he shifted his weight onto his back leg; a show of ease. The pink haired man was not threatened by them.

Sapnap’s eyes narrowed before he opened his mouth. “Just looking for Dream, Techno! Seen him?” The blaze hybrid shouted back. None of them dared to get closer to a notoriously violent warrior. Especially not after the 16th. Technoblade pursed his lips, seemingly in thought. “Not for a good while. Last I saw Dream? Two weeks ago, easily.” The pink haired man answered, making sure to project his voice so he wouldn’t have to shout.

The week thing was true enough. Dream had come to see how he was doing in the Arctic, and then Technoblade hadn’t seen him again, until now that is.

The blond’s breathing escalated hearing Sapnap’s voice, which set off so many alarm bells in Technoblade’s head it wasn’t even funny. The voices were screaming their concerns for the Omega, shouting over one another with warnings and demands until they were unintelligible.

The blaze hybrid in question snarled his frustration towards the ground and turned back to his group. “He must’ve gone a different way. Come on, let’s retrace our steps. He can’t be that far.” The black-haired man announced before he led the others away without so much as a ‘thanks’ or ‘bye’.

Oh, you have no idea how close ‘not far’ is.

With the hostiles gone, Technoblade turned his attention back to Dream, who presently sunk to the ground and settled there, and then began hyperventilating.

Technoblade hurried closer to the distressed Omega and carefully pulled his hands away from his head where they were twisting into his hair. The hybrid made sure not to grab his wrists, which also had scent patches stuck on his skin. Grabbing an Omega’s wrists had the opportunity to trigger a whole slew of bad memories for a lot of them, and it was just better to avoid the trial-and-error stage in his opinion.

“Dream.” The piglin hybrid called firmly as he held the blond’s hands. Dream whimpered in response, but it was a response, and that was a good thing. “You need to breathe, alright? Can I touch you?” Technoblade asked as calmly as possible without seeming uncaring. The blond nodded jerkily, so without further ado he was gathered into the taller man’s lap and pressed chest to chest with the pink haired Alpha.

Breathing didn’t come easily to Dream right away, so Technoblade helped him through the motions by keeping his own breath steady and deep, and gently tapping a count to breathe by into the blond’s back.

Eventually, his breathing calmed and Technoblade was going to put the Omega back on the ground and let him get up by himself, Dream never liked being helped with things he was perfectly capable of doing himself, when the Alpha found two fists in the back of his shirt.

Slowly, quiet sobs reached the hybrid’s sharp ears, and rather than putting Dream back on the ground, he surrounded him in a careful hug.

“I hate him… I hate him, I hate him..! I can’t do this anymore…” Dream sobbed almost incoherently. Technoblade ran his fingers through golden blond hair comfortingly rather than speak. He sucked at verbal comfort. Like, really sucked. Instead, the piglin let Dream babble his sorrows into his shirt, sometimes hearing words like “can’t”, “don’t”, “love”, and eventually, a name. “Sapnap”.

Technoblade frowned as he looked down at the crying Omega. “Dream.” He called quietly. Dream froze instead of answering, as if he only just remembered where he was and who he was with. The blond quickly scrambled up and onto his feet, one hand driving under his mask undoubtedly to dry his face as he stumbled again.

The piglin hybrid stood slowly after him, cautious hands on either side of Dream in case he fell or tried to bolt. Technoblade wouldn’t put either past him at that minute. “I have a handkerchief in my pocket that you can borrow.” The pink haired man told the Omega calmly, not drawing any attention to anything Dream had just said or done, just calmly stating that he was in possession of a handkerchief.

Dream took a deep breath, shaking as he let it out. “Please..” He whispered. Technoblade nodded and handed over a white handkerchief, calmly using the opportunity to eat and drink while Dream cleaned himself up, and pretended not to notice every sniffle, shudder, and sneeze.

“Thank you… for everything, back there..” The Omega murmured quietly, wringing the now dirty handkerchief between his fingers. The hybrid recorked his water bottle and stowed it away before he answered. “Dream.” Technoblade started carefully. The blond flinched, but he’d already started, not continuing didn’t sound like any good way to ease Dream’s nerves. “Are you safe in that house?” Getting straight to the point did.

Dream’s head shot straight up to face the Alpha and Technoblade steadily held what might have been his gaze through his mask. The shaking of the smaller man’s hands not going unnoticed by a long shot.

Eventually, the stare broke, and Dream sat weakly on the ground. But he didn’t fall, and he didn’t collapse, so the pink haired man let it go without comment, and steadily sat down against a crude wall as well. A foot of space between the Omega and the Alpha. With their hands against the warm ground and their backs against rough netherrack, Dream had never looked smaller.

“No…”

Personally, Technoblade was of the opinion that twice was already a thousand times too many.

Chapter Text

The pair stayed in the Nether for hours. Dream following the Alpha around as he gathered various materials, mostly quiet as he aided the piglin hybrid in his grinding. Dream had repeatedly denied any attempt to cut Technoblade’s trip short, insisting that he was fine to simply act as a tail until they had a satisfactory amount of supplies.

Technoblade avoided mentioning how the expedition would last days if they waited that long to head back to the Arctic, the paranoid and overachieving men they both were.

Eventually, Dream caved and allowed the Alpha to lead the way back through the Nether towards his personal Nether portal. Dream quietly grumbled about saving hours of travel if he’d known about it previously as they walked. Technoblade smirked in silence as his answer, and that was all the answer the blond man needed to frown at the hybrid.

The night sky was clear in the Overworld when they stepped into clean snow on, netherrack?

The Omega kicked snow away from his boots and stared in confusion at the netherrack beneath his feet, before he looked at and around the portal behind him. “I didn’t know there was a ruined portal here…” Dream muttered. Technoblade had long since stepped down into the deeper snow on the ground, and lifted a rapidly changing eyebrow.

Dream had to stop and stare. It wasn’t often he got to see The Blood God shape-shift. The hybrid hunched slightly as his posture changed, his legs elongating and changing shape, hooves growing in place of his feet — when had he taken his shoes off? — and fur covering every inch of exposed skin. Technoblade’s ears widened and smoothed out, his irises and pupils drained of colour and left completely white eyes, his long pink hair seemed to retract into his head, and was replaced by thick deep pink fur.

The blond was mesmerised. He watched profoundly defined muscles grow and shoulders thicken, the already tall man straightening up to reveal an additional seven inches to his substantial six foot five even as a tail Dream was sure he didn’t have a minute ago waved lazily over the snow behind his legs.

“Dream?”

The Omega shook his head, and was infinitely grateful that he was wearing his mask and scent patches. If Technoblade caught any indication of how seeing him shape-shift had affected him he would simply die. “Yes?” Dream answered, pretending he didn’t notice the piglin’s smirk or how his tusks protruded from his lips. “What were you sayin’ about the ruined portal?” The Alpha prompted. He was good at that; diverting attention away from where Dream didn’t want it.

Dream nodded as he began to follow alongside the piglin, snow crunching under his boots. “I thought I knew about all the ruined portals on the server already, it seems I need to explore the new generations again if I want to keep up with m-” The Omega cut himself off abruptly and waited for a few moments of crunching snow before he continued speaking. Technoblade watched with careful eyes as they walked. “..the server.” The blond finished.

The piglin hummed thoughtfully as he guided his companion down the hill. The entire slope, no matter how short, was a series of death traps in the forms of holes and snow drifts. Waiting for the next person to get caught and fall through, unable to get out. He made that mistake once, and only once. He’d keep Dream from succumbing to the same misfortune if he could help it.

“Makes sense for you to want to keep tabs on your own server.” Technoblade said as they both reached the bottom, his house now in view. Dream’s eyes immediately fixated on the taller man. No one had referred to the server as his since L’manberg started, and especially not since it gained independence. Everyone seemed to like to joke that it was hardly his server anymore since L’manberg claimed some of it. Like the rest of the world didn’t exist.

The Omega decided not to say any of this out loud. Not.. not yet. Technoblade had been kind enough to protect him from Sapnap earlier, the shifter was seemingly offering shelter now, and he remembered the time where the hybrid had repeatedly asked if he was aware of where he was going before he let him leave on his own. But none of that meant he could be trusted with Dream’s grievances over his server. Not yet. Time would tell.

The blond was pulled violently from his thoughts when he slipped on ice, falling backwards with enough speed to break the frozen sheet when he made contact. Well, it would of anyway. Dream was stopped rather abruptly from falling any further by an arm around his waist, and found himself caught in the arms of Technoblade. The Omega once again thanked his mask and scent patches for their existence when his face exploded in a pink flush.

The two stayed stuck in place, the vaguely compromising position causing stalling until a cold wind chilled the back of Dream’s neck, and he shivered as the hybrid pulled him upright. His hood had fallen off when he stopped in mid-air. The blond pulled it back up once he was released, and walked pointedly around the patch of ice he slipped on, much to Technoblade’s amusement.

It wasn’t until the pair were nearing the comfortable looking cottage that the piglin spoke up again. “Ah, I should probably warn you, considerin’ your past with him, but Tommy has a habit of finding my bases and stealin’ from them, so he may or may not have broken in while I was gone.” Technoblade told the Omega as he began climbing the stairs, to which he received naught but a very vaguely fond sigh.

“Of course he does.” The blond murmured under his breath as he followed the Alpha once again. The Alpha in question’s ear flicked in response to the soft words, and he smiled to himself as he wandered about his home, unloading various materials into chests. Dream sniffed at the lack of organisation, but he couldn’t say anything. ADHD loved to distract him before he could get any organisation done.

Instead, Dream looked around the cottage, kept warm by the fire crackling merrily in the corner. It was mostly bare bones at the moment, a half dozen chests scattered about, a small table and a single chair, a couple lanterns, and a ladder that supposedly lead to the attic. That must be where Technoblade’s bed was, since the blond couldn’t see it around him, and he highly doubted the piglin would sleep in the basement at the other end of the ladder.

The two made eye contact when Dream turned back around, and Technoblade smiled when it made the Omega jump. “You can go on and explore all you like. I assume you’ll be staying for a while.” The Alpha assured as he sat down on a chest, a long, roughly hewn piece of wood in one hand and a knife in the other. It was too early to tell what the end result was going to be. The blond stiffened at that assumption. The piglin noticed, and any humour in his expression promptly left.

Technoblade sighed as his eyelids lowered and he put his knife to the wood in his hand. “I’ve never met an Alpha that chases their Omega down like Sapnap did today, that let them sleep anywhere but in their bed.” The shapeshifter explained gruffly, eyebrows furrowing while he steadily carved pieces off his project. Dream didn’t voice how he noticed Technoblade’s tightening grip on the knife. Or how it made him feel safe in a very strange way.

The Alpha frowned as he spoke. “And with someone as close to you as George enabling him to control you, I guessed you don’t really have anywhere to go.” Somehow, pure white eyes met Dream’s through his mask. “Am I right?” Technoblade asked, not a hint of cruelty to be found anywhere in his voice. Dream’s throat constricted, so he nodded instead. The piglin nodded back and refocused on his whittling.

“You’re welcome to stay for as long as you like, and to hide here as often you need.” Technoblade said next as he turned his wood piece over with his knife hand. Dream nodded again and scurried up the ladder, not thinking about much but finding a safe space to think with some privacy. Going up rather than down turned out to be a questionable idea when he stepped through the ladder hole and was practically smacked in the face with Technoblade’s scent.

The metallic, crisp smell of golden apples and the thick coppery smell of blood hit Dream in the face like a physical blow. The Omega gasped softly as he staggered back a bit. As new as the house was and as little the rest of the place had been lived in, this was clearly where Technoblade spent a good portion of his time when he was home. Dream could feel the mark on his neck throb it’s offence at the opposing scent, but he couldn’t bring himself to care much. It didn’t hurt enough to deter the blond as he wandered further into the room, and he ignored every beg his body made to leave.

Not mate! Want mate! Bad Alpha!

It urged. Dream dismissed it with the care one would give a twig on a path. By stepping on it and enjoying the crunching snapping sound it made. Call the blond sadistic, but he was a little tired of his body adoring his so-called mate like the Alpha didn’t leave careless bruises and push his limits way too far into the bounds of pain on a regular basis. He’s just a little bit sick of its pathetic grovelling. Just a little.

Instead, the Omega studied Technoblade’s room with interest. The bed was already made, and there was a bell set up at the far end of it, hanging from a beam of thick wood. It was more or less bare bones like the rest of the house, but it was obviously much more lived in. A different colour cape in the making lay draped over a chair-less desk, and there was a book sitting on the Alpha’s bed, a page somewhere near the end marked with a very large black feather.

Philza

The blond paused where he was, staring at the clear gift. And he wondered about it briefly. It had to have been given before either Technoblade or Philza arrived on the server, because Philza wasn’t in contact with anyone but Wilbur before he practically lost his wings to the explosion. So that drew the line of friends prior to the server. Dream believed that thought easily; it was common enough to have met others on the server before joining. It happened often even, with the likes of quite a few people.

The Omega didn’t think about Sapnap asking him to add a man he’d never met before. He didn’t.

In an effort to distract himself, Dream picked up the novel from Technoblade’s bed and sat down in its place as he turned it over. The title was unfamiliar, and the cover worn and well loved. It piqued the blond’s interest enough to lay the bound pages in his lap, open to the beginning. Dream made sure not to touch the feather. He didn’t find himself snagged by the book, only kept there with a faint interest as he finished the first page. The Omega flipped it closed and put it down next to him.

Technoblade’s words immediately flooded his head uninvited.

”anywhere but in their bed”

”George enabling him to control you”

”you don’t really have anywhere to go”

That about summed up how trapped Dream felt in his own fucking house. He made that building with his own two hands and two bickering idiots for help. It was his home. Until his best friend and his mate claimed it for their own and then chained him there. He couldn’t even have his own space after somebody — likely both of them, both their scents were there — decimated the blond’s room shortly after he and Sapnap got together.

The Alpha had offered his own room until Dream could fix his, and he hadn’t had a restful or peaceful night since. He woke up being pawed at or groped, and feel asleep exhausted and trapped by his boyfriend’s anatomy. There wasn’t room to think in Sapnap’s bed, but he couldn’t get his own. Something always happened to it. Dream couldn’t even make himself a blanket without finding it in the fireplace a few hours later.

Nesting had been a nightmare for months. Nothing was ever where the Omega left it, and it had driven his stress levels through the roof. That led to what Sapnap liked to call ‘stress relief’, which was really just fucking Dream like a rag doll, and leaving him more exhausted than before.

That day had been Dream’s breaking point when the Alpha casually mentioned pups.

He wanted kids, he did. But not really on the SMP, not with New L’manberg still around, and never with Sapnap. They’d have no quality of life; a mother that constantly bit through pain just to walk, and a father that was so fixated on sex he ruined his mate with it. What would that teach children? ‘Don’t aggravate Daddy, he’ll take Mummy and you won’t see him again today.’ They’d be raising their children to hide their pain, and take out their problems on their mates.

Dream couldn’t do that. Not then, not ever.

But the blond knew his mate well enough to know that it wasn’t a suggestion. Sapnap mentioned them having pups like the Omega was already pregnant, like they were inevitable and there would be no choice on the matter. Sapnap talked like impregnating the Omega was the very next thing he planned to do. Unfortunately for the blaze hybrid though, there would be no pups. Not from Dream if he had anything to say about it.

The first creak of the ladder startled Dream, and his head whipped to his right to see if Technoblade was at the top yet. He wasn’t, and the blond took the opportunity to calm himself down before the Alpha noticed his distress. The piglin’s head poked up through the floor in the next second, white eyes looking around as he climbed. Technoblade spotted the Omega almost immediately, and his shoulders relaxed the slightest bit as he found his footing on the floor.

It was hard not to read into that, but the blond managed as well as he could. Technoblade walked across the room without saying anything at first, until he reached a barrel in the ceiling and started rummaging around in it. “How long have you been wearing those scent patches?” The Alpha asked calmly. Dream stiffened and looked down at his wrists. “I wear them on my wrists all the time.” He answered, his voice quiet. Technoblade tensed in the corner of his eye.

The piglin sighed deeply as he pulled down a roll of bandages. “That is extremely bad for you, and you should know that, Mr Peak-Physical-Health.” Technoblade scolded, a displeased purse to his lips as the Alpha searched in the barrel some more. Dream winced. He did know, but avoiding some irritation wasn’t worth Sapnap grabbing at his wrists at every opportunity and keeping the Omega from touching people out of jealously.

Technoblade’s approach pulled him from his thoughts, and Dream watched in muted shock as the Alpha kneeled on the floor at his feet. The Omega once again thanked Prime for his mask.

Because if the bandages, cloth, and bottles in Technoblade’s hands suggested what he thought they did, he was about to lose his scent patches. Dream didn’t mind as much as he thought he would. So he willingly turned his wrists over for the Alpha to access when the piglin pulled them towards himself with the gentleness one might expect for him to handle a kitten.
The blond didn’t mention how it pulled pleasantly on something in his chest.

Careful fingers peeled one corner of the scent patch off Dream’s left wrist, Technoblade not nicking flesh with his claws once, and the rest came smoothly off of red and inflamed skin. The Alpha frowned at the irritated scent gland, but said nothing as he removed the other patch as well. The Omega watched in mute interest as each patch was discarded onto the floor as waste, and didn’t resist when Technoblade began to gently clean his wrists of adhesive residue and sweat. The water stung, and his instincts fought wildly against the Alpha’s care, but Dream couldn’t be less bothered by either.

When Technoblade started wiping a healing potion over the welts though, the stinging properly hurt, and the blond flinched despite himself with a light hiss. The piglin paused for a moment, before he moved his clawed hand from where it had been supporting Dream’s wrist in place, to gently but firmly grip the back of his forearm. The Omega watched quietly, fingers tensing as Technoblade pressed the cloth onto his scent gland more gently that time. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you react to pain before.” The piglin started suddenly.

Dream didn’t say a word about how Technoblade’s own scent gland was directly under his; separated only by the back of his wrist, and how the Omega could flip his hand over and they’d touch. Instead, he shrugged. “You don’t usually see me in pain, Technoblade.” He answered. The Alpha raised an eyebrow, but kept his gaze firmly on his work. “You sayin’ I’ve hallucinated every time I’ve seen you take a hit in a fight?” Technoblade was blunt, as usual. Dream allowed himself a small smile.

“No, I’m saying that adrenaline is a hell of a drug.” The Omega answered calmly. Technoblade smirked as he swapped hands to apply the potion to the blond’s opposite wrist. Dream gritted his teeth as the stinging started anew. “Should I be worried about you having an addiction to your own adrenaline?” The Alpha inquired, equally calm and cool as Dream had been even as he handled the human’s sore wrist with the utmost care.

The blond considered his question rather than think too hard about that. His lips quirked into a smirk. “Nah, it’s not a fix I need. The come down isn’t worth the high anyway.” Dream answered honestly, watching Technoblade wipe the soaked cloth over his skin one last time before he put it down on the floor. There was silence but for the whistling of the wind outside for a long moment. But then the shapeshifter heaved a great sigh, and took the Omega’s hands in his; large piglin hands dwarfing that of the human’s. Dream swallowed in anticipation.

They made eye contact somehow, through the mask as if it weren’t there at all. Quartz white meeting with toxic green, and the Alpha frowned. “What’s this about Dream?” Technoblade asked softly. The human’s breath caught in his throat. “I know you’re not ashamed of who you are, or your scent. I almost never see you wear a patch on your neck, so why’re you doin’ this to yourself?” The hybrid held up Dream’s wrists for emphasis. His scent glands were an angry pink, they were swollen, and aching, and somehow Technoblade could tell how much they hurt.

The Omega’s throat bobbed.

Dream’s lip trembled where there had been a smirk, and he looked down at his own wrists. “I wasn’t allowed to touch other people without Sapnap feeling like I was scenting them.” He mumbled. Clawed thumbs rubbed gently at the sides of the blond’s hands, and Dream’s fingers shook. “He’d yank me out of hugs or away from friends, because scenting was for mates and pack only. And.. our pack was just, us and George.” The blond mumbled, desperately trying to ignore the tears that were definitely not welling in his eyes.

The whistling of the wind was the only sound to accompany Dream’s silence and the hybrid’s patience for a long moment while Dream fought with his tongue. It broke soon enough. “He dislocated my shoulder once.” He whispered, staring at his trembling fingers. Technoblade held them so they wouldn’t shake so much, even as the Omega smelled anger in his scent. A tear escaped down the human’s cheek and off his chin. “I was standing too close to Punz… and Sapnap saw them as a threat I guess, so he pulled too hard.” Dream tilted his head back to focus on the ceiling, willing himself to stop crying.

It gave Technoblade an unwelcome view of the discolouration all over his neck. Hickies of all sizes and ages, bruises in the shape of teeth, and the very edge of Sapnap’s mating scar. The piglin wanted to erase that mark so badly, if only so the blaze couldn’t cause any further damage. Technoblade’s attention was pulled to Dream’s bottom jaw when he laughed and spoke again. “Punz beat him halfway to hell for that. Would’ve severed his head and hands if it weren’t for George.” The blond mused quietly, a soft smile in his voice thinking of his friend.

The piglin couldn’t help cracking a small smile hearing that. He was glad Dream had someone when his house wasn’t a safe place, he believed Punz had a mansion of some sort. It’d be an ideal crash spot if Punz was willing to both house the Omega and keep threats — namely Sapnap, George, and apparently Antfrost — away from him. Which brought up a question. "Why haven't you gone to Punz before now?" Technoblade asked curiously. Dream's fingers curled inside the larger man's. "I have. But Sapnap isn't the kind of person, isn't the kind of mate, to let you stay somewhere if he can find you." The Omega's chin lowered again until he was gazing at his host. "He found me." Dream finished flatly.

Anger was struggling hard to present itself in the Alpha's scent as strongly as possible, but that wouldn't do. Dream did not need to be breathing in that kind of blood lust fury, especially in the scent of someone who was trying to keep him safe. So Technoblade tightened his grip on the reigns and pulled it in equally as hard. But even that much couldn't keep the faint smell of anger out of the air. Dream's hands trembled the slightest bit, and guilt came running, ready to hit the piglin head on, until the blond snatched his hands away and threw them around Technoblade's shoulders in a hug.

Technoblade blinked in shock and slowly wrapped his own arms around the Omega's waist, unsure if that was welcome. Dream laughed wetly, squeezing tighter. "Th-That's the first time someone other than Punz hasn’t responded with 'of course he did'." He chuckled, almost breathless with utter relief. The arms around Dream's waist tightened, and the blond tucked his face into the Alpha's shoulder, feeling as though this, here, was the safest place in the world.

Chapter Text

Technoblade leaned against the wall, standing guard over the room. Or more specifically, standing guard over a nest, and the Omega curled up inside. The piglin had a sword leaning against his leg, and was equipped with netherite armour up to his waist.
Dream hadn’t been able to sleep with anything less.

It was apparently how he’d ended up back with Sapnap the first time; when he was stolen from Punz’s mansion. The Omega had gone to sleep in a temporary nest on the blond Alpha’s bed, and Punz busied themselves with some task elsewhere in the building so Dream could rest. The nest was empty and taken apart when they returned, and the blue-eyed human had had difficulty reaching his friend ever since.

This time would be very different if Technoblade had a single thing to say about it. If Sapnap and his band of merry men so much as showed their faces, there would be bloodshed, and the piglin would take immense pleasure in it. This time, Technoblade wouldn’t be leaving Dream alone, and he was armed, ready, and on the lookout for trouble. The likelihood of Dream being found at all this time was also very low; they were in the middle of the Tundra, and only they knew that the Nether portal to get there existed.

Dream still hadn’t been able to sleep until Technoblade went downstairs and retrieved the only fire resistance potion he had.

Waking the Omega wasn’t an option, so the piglin hybrid seethed in silence, his grip on his sword tightening with every second. He was going to invest in some guard dogs. A few wolves on the property to bark as if raising hell when intruders decided to pay a visit would be practical. Technoblade considered for a moment. Was a hundred too much?

White eyes turned to Dream in the nest when he whimpered softly, and they watched as the blond buried his face in the Alpha’s cape and settled again. Technoblade’s eyes softened, and while he made himself stay put where he was, he allowed himself to smile at the peaceful look on the Omega’s face. The piglin closed his eyes and took a deep breath, relaxing his tense shoulders and grip before returning to his duty as guard.

A hundred wolves would do just fine. The Alpha also remembered seeing a few polar bears not too far away while building his house; they’re none too weak. A polar bear or two on the property would be nothing to sniff at, especially when facing them as an enemy. Yes, polar bears were next on the to-do list. Technoblade also still had to transport his mobs from his old base…

The piglin hybrid pulled a book and quill out from his inventory and began to scribble. Wolves… Polar bears… Halloween mobs… Cow… New bed…

And I oop 👀

AYO?

Man just got here slow down Techno

We speed running this shit

BRO???

We breaking in the bed already! Alright man let’s go!

I mean he is kinda…

Traumatised? I agree

😶

I didn’t say nothin

Technosimp for pretty omega

Technosimp

Technosimp

Technosimp

TECHNOSIMP

Technoblade stared up in a deadpan at the ceiling. He did not need that kind of teasing right then. Or more accurately ever. The new bed was for Dream, so that they could both sleep at night and the blond wouldn’t have to share his bed with an Alpha anymore. Gods knew he’d done too much of that already. Technoblade was not a lover, or even an established friend, Dream shouldn’t have to sleep with him, the fact that he was an Alpha just cemented that even more. Not that the voices seemed to know that, or care. “Blood god give me strength..” He whispered under his breath. The reaction half was, and half was not what the hybrid expected.

BLOOD

BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD

BLOOD

BLOOD

BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD

DEATH TO THE BLAZE

KILL THE BLAZE

GIVE US THE BLOOD OF THE BLAZE

KILL THE KING

DOWN WITH THE KING

KILL THEM ALL

BLOOD FROM THE ABUSERS

BLOOD

BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD

The Alpha forced himself to loosen his grip on his sword, his hands shaking at his sides. The voices had never jumped at the word blood so readily before, they must’ve been hungry, especially for two people in particular. Technoblade looked over at Dream again with buzzing ears, at his peaceful face, at the bruises on his neck, at that Prime damned bonding mark.

The hybrid remembered the way the blond shook and cried in the Nether after being chased, and the blank way he stood there that first time. It all made giving in to the voices so, so tempting. To go hunt down Sapnap and George and make them bleed…

Dream rolled over in the nest and showed the hybrid his back. Technoblade looked over at the blond and observed. The Omega’s compression shirt fit him like a glove; it showed off hard earned muscles absolutely everywhere. Dream was a fierce warrior in his own right, he was an exceptional fighter; proved by the fact that the blond fought toe to toe with the Alpha himself, who had advantages in genetics, stature, training, experience, even gender. Dream was a force of nature.

It’d be unfair to the Omega if the piglin hybrid went and made Sapnap pay his debts for him.

Technoblade smiled to himself as the voices cackled and schemed in his head, finally able to relax his grip without fear of his arm swinging on its own. Dream would be the one to rain hell on Sapnap, when the time was right, and he was ready.

The Alpha spent the rest of the night making notes in his book, adding to his list and asking the voices for anything he’d missed. Technoblade almost put down ‘Sapnap’s head’ multiple times thanks to them, but he couldn’t be mad. It was a completely reasonable request in his opinion. Whether or not he’d be sharing that opinion with Dream wasn’t important. By daybreak the voices had convinced him that foxes and a cat were necessary to add to the house as cuddly things for the Omega. They would come after the wolves, because Technoblade wasn’t going to let the blond sleep so restlessly for long if he could help it, but they would be coming.

The blond woke up halfway through the morning, while Technoblade was in the middle of a silent conversation with the voices on the merit of building Dream his own room for heats if for absolutely nothing else. The Alpha had a completely done look on his face from their pushback and eagerness to insist that he would be plenty help for those when Dream blinked the blur from his vision to see him properly. The Omega watched sleepily as Technoblade got progressively more red in the face as his blush rose and didn’t realise the smile on his face before the hybrid did.

The piglin felt eyes on him and turned his head to find Dream smiling tiredly at him from in the nest. The shifter sent him a small smile back and, ignoring the voices’ jeering and forcing down the blush on his face, reached into his inventory to pull out the fire resistance potion from the night before. Toxic green eyes tracked it, and Technoblade was struck by how Dream had allowed him to see his face, much like he had been when the blond first took his mask off while making himself comfortable for sleep.

Both times had the Alpha swallowing what he wanted to say.

You’re beautiful…

The voices laughed at him, but Technoblade could care less. Instead, he held up the full potion. “All clear. No sign of any of them all night.” The hybrid said softly, and watched as Dream closed his eyes in relief, what little of him that'd been leaning up collapsing into the bed with a shuddering sigh. Technoblade watched the Omega relax, turning into a puddle of a man in the makeshift nest and felt satisfaction fill his chest. Dream could let his guard down for once, and the Alpha was going to do his damnedest to make sure he could continue to do so.

When Dream opened his eyes again, there were tears on his waterline. They made eye contact when the blond looked over, and a weak, watery smile stretched across his face. “Thank you..” The human whispered. Exhaustion weighted on his voice despite the full nights rest, and Technoblade made sure he the Omega couldn’t see his clenching fist. Instead, the piglin smiled gently. “Of course.” He answered. Dream closed his eyes and, letting the tears flow down his face, buried his face into the pillow.

The Alpha watched mostly contently for a few moments, before sheathing his sword in its holster. Green eyes opened again to watch at the sound, following the book as Technoblade snapped it shut and tucked it into his inventory. The two men made eye contact for the second time when the piglin looked towards the bed again. “Will you be alright to be alone for a few hours, or would you prefer to come with me?” Technoblade asked casually. Dream watched, mildly surprised, as the Alpha collected his chest plate. The blond leaned up on one arm while the netherite was buckled into place.

”What would we be doing?” The Omega asked in return. Technoblade half smiled to himself as he secured his arm guards. For the first time in a while, the sight of an Alpha smiling where they didn’t think Dream could see it didn’t send alarm bells ringing through his head. “I did some thinkin’ last night, and I decided that adoptin’ some wolves would be profitable.” The piglin answered, turning his half smile on the blond, and took in the surprise on his face with amusement. “What d’ya say Dream? Wanna come tame some wolves with me?” Technoblade offered.

Dream stared for a few moments, before a grin split his face. “Always.” The blond answered, voice as smooth as honey. Something about the almost feral look in the Omega’s eyes felt dangerous. Because of course he would tame wolves in his free time, for fun. Dream would be that kind of crazy. It made something hot churn in Technoblade’s stomach. He quickly squashed it as the Omega got up and he started leaving. Dream would be wanting to bathe and get dressed without the Alpha’s presence.

Shame clouded the piglin’s head as he descended the ladder, regardless of the voices' teasing. He should not be thinking of Dream like that. The blond had been hurt enough, the last thing he needed was for Technoblade to come onto him while he’s in the middle of escaping an abusive ex and their toxic best friend. The Omega would not only not feel safe anymore, he’d think that the shapeshifter was only helping him in hopes of a payment. And that was absolutely not true. The Alpha hid Dream yesterday because he was hurt and needed help, not to get his dick wet.

He’s hot, he’ll understand

Just say it.

Dream’s smarter than that

He’s smart enough not to risk putting himself in another abusive relationship

Technoblade wouldn’t do that!

Techno is big good!

Technoblade helped him! D:<

Sapnap was his best friend…

It’s a trap he’s too smart not to suspect

You be good to him Blade!

The Blade knows how to treat an Omega right U-U

Dream’s hot for him too tho right?

Oh yeah

Bruh-

The piglin sighed heavily. Wood creaked under his feet as he walked over to the chest he’d been putting his bones in. Technoblade remained distracted from both chat and his house by making sure he collected all the bones in his chests, until the ladder creaked under boots that were most certainly not his. White eyes found Dream climbing down steadily, his axe strapped to his back over a fresh change of clothes. The blond was wearing his armour, and it was comforting to know that he wasn’t quite that crazy enough to try and tame wolves without armour.

Dream turned around, and he was wearing his mask over the whole of his face again. The Alpha could feel his smile despite it. “Are we ready to go?” The Omega asked calmly. Technoblade gave him a half smile back and lifted a handful of bones for his companion to see. “Yep.”

An armoured hand adjusted Dream’s mask, the blond moving it just so his mouth was exposed, and Technoblade’s hunch was proven correct. Dream was grinning wide as he held his mask in place on his head and his other hand on his hip. The piglin hybrid smirked back at his guest’s answer.

”Perfect.”

Chapter Text

Walking around in the wilderness of the tundra with Dream as the only company Technoblade had was surprisingly peaceful. The Omega was cooperative when it mattered, and he had a hell of a sharp tongue when it didn’t. The blond constantly had a joke to tell, or a random fact to spurt about a thing they saw or something he thought of. It made the trip interesting, and Technoblade walked with a smile listening to his companion.

”-wolves have individual family groups in their packs, did you know that? It’s really cool, there’s no lion pride situation where there’s like one male and all of his hoes.” Dream chattered proudly. Technoblade burst out laughing at his word choice, and the Omega grinned up at him from where he stood in the snow at his side. “‘And all of this hoes’ huh?” The piglin teased light heartedly, and the blond human nodded with conviction as they began walking again. “Absolutely! Lion prides are so weird. Like, hardly any other animals do that.” Dream answered, doubling down. The Alpha smiled at him and shook his head before continuing to scan the landscape in search of grey fur.

A raised fist was all it took for Dream to fall silent, and Technoblade appreciated it while he tracked the wolf in the distance with his eyes. The piglin hybrid pointed to it with the hand that the Omega's attention, and the blond followed his finger until he smiled behind his mask. "She's beautiful." He whispered. Technoblade raised an eyebrow at his companion. "How do you know it's a she?" He whispered back. Dream shrugged and kept his low volume as he watched the massive canine sniff through the snow. "Just a hunch."

They followed the wolf for a while, and eventually it was joined by others. Technoblade didn't ask for input on their possible genders, Dream didn't offer any. When the two deemed the group large enough, but not too large to be too dangerous, they slowly approached. The Alpha kept his eyes low, and Dream tilted his head down so his mask didn't make eye contact with any of the beasts. The group noticed them immediately, and each wolf watched the strangers with caution.

Technoblade was the first to offer a bone, and one of the smaller wolves came forward to take it. It was instantly tamed, and happily nuzzled the piglin hybrid's leg with affection. Dream went next, and soon enough the pair had most of the party tamed, save for their original wolf. The Omega crouched down to its level, much to Technoblade's distress, and held out the bone. The wolf was stubborn, and took five bones before it was satisfied, but Dream was patient and when it was tamed, the first thing it did was jump onto him and knock the blond into the snow.

The human tumbled over laughing as the wolf licked the mask off his face, tossing his head around in the snow to avoid the wolf's wet tongue and reaching for its long muzzle to push it away. Eventually, the wolf calmed and stood over Dream, panting and tail wagging. The Omega tilted his head back to look at Technoblade, who'd been laughing at him the entire time. The piglin shapeshifter dried a tear from his eye, a wide grin on his face.

The blond stuck his tongue out at his friend, and the Alpha barked out another laugh. "HA! Bro, you just got owned!" He laughed. Dream scoffed in answer and tipped his head back down to look his new doggy companion in the face. "I did not, I got loved. Didn't I?" The human asked the wolf. Its tail wagged happily, and it licked the end of his nose gently. Dream giggled and rubbed its sides, prompting more 'kisses' until he was laughing about being licked again. Technoblade watched the whole thing with overwhelming fondness, and rounded the animal to see if Dream was right, and the wolf was in fact a 'she'.

The wagging tail made her distinct lack of testicles easy to determine, and the piglin hybrid huffed in disbelief. "I don't believe it. You were right, she's a girl." He told the preoccupied human, and he cheered in victory. "Fuck yeah!" The Omega shouted. His new wolf barked back at him excitedly, and he raised his rubs to the sides of her head. "Yeah! You know what's up girl." Dream said nonsensically. Technoblade shook his head in amusement. "Should we head home and put our new dogs in the yard before we go find more, or should we bring them with us to assert that we're a couple of trustworthy individuals?" The Alpha asked, his hands on his hips as he stood at Dream's side, where he was still almost entirely covered by affectionate wolf.

A snort was basically all he got in return, that and the subtle drooping of the blond's eyes. Technoblade decided that the small pack they'd tamed would suffice for the night, and reached a hand down to the pinned human. "On second thought, afternoon naps sound like a better plan." The piglin hybrid answered himself as Dream blinked up at him, and the human smiled tiredly and allowed himself to be pulled out from under the massive wolf and onto his feet.

Just over an hour later, Dream was napping on a comforter on the floor in front of the fireplace while most of the wolves played outside in the snow, wrestling over tough strips of rotten flesh. The massive wolf that had decided Dream was Her's from then on was curled up around him, allowing herself to be used as a pillow. Technoblade was pattering around the cabin, quietly going about making collars of different colours for their new pets, and more for the ones they hadn't collected yet. Every now and again, the Alpha looked over at the pair on the floor, checking on his sudden housemate and the wolf. The wolf had stopped looking back at him after the fifth drop-by in under an hour, and that was when Technoblade realised what he was doing.

The piglin hybrid face palmed as he walked back to the table, where a half-finished collar was sitting in the middle. He'd specifically gone to get wolves so that he could relax as well as keep Dream safe. Technoblade was perfectly capable of defending the sleeping Omega, just not when he was dog tired from not sleeping to do it. He supposed he'd learned the habit much faster than he thought possible, and unlearning it would take a bit longer. He was alright with that. Checking on Dream wasn't the worst thing possible, or well, it'd be better if the voices weren't involved.

Bro simping frfr

He check on the Dreamie

Technosimp

How long has it been since Dream fell asleep??

53 minutes

And how many times have we looked at him since then?

Six

Embarrassing

#

We watched over the dude for one night and now can't not look at him every fifteen seconds XP

There is a literal bewilder-beast in our living room nobody's touching him X-X

Fr like chill

Go outside

Chop wood!

Do things!

Do the list!

Touch grass

Nahhh

You rlly did him like that-

If Technoblade rolled his eyes any harder they'd fall out of his head. Going outside and getting supplies for Dream and now the wolves wasn't the worst idea, but he didn't know how Dream would react if he woke up and he wasn't there. He couldn't ask the man, because he was sleeping, that was kind of the idea of an afternoon nap. The piglin hybrid looked over at the sleeping figure again.

Seven

And figured that as long as he stayed in view of the cabin and its windows that would be fine. Besides, the almost werewolf lazing on the rug wouldn't let anything happen to her person. Technoblade wandered back over to the table to finish the collar, and began mentally cataloguing things to collect when he went out as he worked.

”What do we need chat? You want me to go touch grass, what should I get while I’m at it?” The Alpha thought aloud, keeping relatively quiet to not disturb Dream. The voices responded with enthusiasm.

Wood!

Dog food

Meat

Wood

More bones. Need more wolves tomorrow

What can you do that you see from the cabin except chop wood??

Coal

That’s underground

We still need coal

But Dream doesn’t have x-ray vision

Oh shit you right

Leather!

Get more dye

Is there a wandering trader out there?

Kill him and take his leads >:3

String!

But wolves don’t go far

A lead is a tactical disadvantage

Fine then.

Snow for water

And don’t forget more wood

You need to renovate your house Techno

You forgot to add a bathroom

Take the bones and get another wolf or two if you see some!

The piglin hybrid blinked. “Wow. You guys expect me to do all that before Dream wakes up?” He asked exasperatedly. A mix of yes’s and no’s filled the Alpha’s head, and he rolled his eyes. “Alright, alright, fine. Let me finish this collar and we’ll go.” Technoblade said decisively, and the voices agreed before settling down to their usual humming again.

The collar was finished in no time, and soon enough Technoblade was out collecting wood, never far enough away to not be visible from inside the cabin. Two wolves followed him around as he went around, chopping down trees and replanting the saplings in their places. They gave him someone to talk to besides himself and the voices, and the company was nice.

By the time the cabin door opened again, Technoblade had been out for over three hours. He’d collected wood, meat, rotten flesh, bones, gun powder, leather, string, buckets of snow, and the occasional poppy that was sticking out of the snow. The piglin hybrid had gotten bored of grinding about twenty minutes ago, and was now rolling around in the snow, wrestling with the wolves.

Dream smiled at the scene from where he was leaning against the doorframe, his wolf at his side. The blond’s hair was messy from sleep, and he hadn’t completely woken up yet, but the cold fresh air was helping, as was watching Technoblade play with their new wolf pack. He stood there quietly, content to wait until he was noticed.

It didn’t take too long. The figures on the porch caught Technoblade’s attention the next time he sat up, and he waved. “Hey Dream!” The Alpha called, still being jumped on by wolves. The human shook his head in amusement. “Hi Techno. You’ve gone and riled all the wolves up, how are you planning to calm them down?” Dream asked as he pushed himself away from the wall, and started down the stairs.

A particularly excited wolf interrupted any answer the piglin hybrid might have given, and knocked him to the ground again when it pounced on his chest. The Omega laughed at Technoblade’s struggle as he walked over, before gently pulling the wolf away and towards himself. The happy canine was all too pleased to see him, and bounded around the blond excitedly. Dream managed to get it to sit still long enough to give it rubs, and next thing either of them knew the entire pack wanted some of Dream’s attention next.

Without a wolf on his chest, the Alpha managed to sit up and help out, and soon enough the pack wasn’t quite so excited anymore. Dream laughed at his state. “You look like a yeti.” He giggled, gesturing to the snow and fur clinging to Technoblade’s, everything. The piglin hybrid huffed his own laughter and began the process of dusting himself off. Dream shook his head at him. “There’s no use doing it that way. Come inside and change clothes before the snow melts and you freeze.” The Omega instructed, grabbing Technoblade by the hand and leading him back towards the cabin.

Technoblade did his best to ignore the voices’ pterodactyl screeching in his head, and followed obediently. Dream’s wolf was still waiting on the porch, and she stood up and wagged her tail when they approached. The human pet her head before opening the door and herding all three of them inside. Dream went straight up the ladder, and the Alpha went about putting the things he’d collected away in chests. He was almost done when Dream came back down, and the blond marched straight over. “Why haven’t you started taking the wet things off? You should have at least removed your cape Techno.” The human scolded.

The piglin hybrid blinked in surprise. “I went out to grind, I was putting supplies away.” He defended himself. Dream held his hand out expectantly. “Give me the stuff and go get changed. Hurry up before you make yourself sick.” The Omega demanded. Technoblade was quick to comply, and dumped the rest of the wood, meat, etc. into Dream’s hands before climbing the ladder as instructed.

The fire had been stoked when he climbed into the attic, and a fresh set of clothes were laid out over the side of the desk closest to the fireplace. Technoblade smiled in disbelief. He wasn’t expecting this, but decided to listen to the Omega downstairs and began getting undressed. By the time he’d gotten to his pants, the snow had completely melted and everything he was wearing was wet, the clothes still on his body sticking to him. That’s when he noticed the towel on the end of his bed. The Alpha stared at it for a moment before shaking his head and shucking his sticky pants.

He dried himself off before removing his underwear and getting dressed again in the warm dry clothes. Technoblade had been about to put his shirt on when Dream knocked on the underside of the floorboards. “Techno? Are you dressed?” He called up, presumably hanging on the ladder below the hole. The piglin hybrid blinked. “Not quite, I don’t have a shirt on. You can come up if that doesn’t bother you Dream.” Technoblade called back, and Dream’s head promptly appeared through the floor. The human smiled at him sheepishly, and didn’t look directly at the Alpha as he climbed the ladder the rest of the way.

Technoblade pulled his shirt over his head as Dream began talking. “So.. I have may reorganised your chests while I was putting things away. I didn’t even realise I was doing it until I was halfway through, sorry about that. I can put everything back if you want me to.” The Omega explained, only actually looking at the piglin hybrid after the white fabric covered his torso. Technoblade blinked in surprise. “Oh, thank you. There’s no need to undo it, but it’d be nice if you showed me where everything is now.” He reassured the slightly nervous blond.

Dream sighed in relief. “Sure, I can do that. Are you warmer now that you’re not covered in snow?” The human asked, and started bending down to pick up the wet clothes on the floor. Technoblade’s eyebrows furrowed, and he crouched down and beat him to it, scooping up the sagging fabric. The Omega stilled for a moment in surprise, before he straightened up again with a whispered curse. “Damnit.” He muttered to himself, crossing his arms and staring at the floor where the piglin hybrid’s clothes had just been. Technoblade frowned. “Are you alright Dream?” The Alpha asked gently.

A heavy sigh answered him, and Dream looked back up at his host. “I’m okay. Sorry about that, autopilot.” The blond said back quietly, a finger tapping at his bicep as he looked away again. This time the piglin hybrid wasn’t too sure what he was looking at, but decided not to focus on that. “What was autopilot? You really don’t need to apologize for reorganizing my chests, I honestly appreciate it.” Technoblade tried to reassure him again, but Dream shook his head. “No, not the chests. I-” The Omega cut himself off to huff in frustration. “Going to pick up after you was autopilot.” He muttered, only just loud enough for Technoblade to hear him.

The piglin hybrid blinked in surprise, and looked down at the clothes bunched in his fist. Realisation came slowly, and the Alpha closed his eyes as anger sparked in his chest. He was so close to going out right then, finding, and killing Sapnap on the spot. But murder wasn’t going to help Dream right that second. Yes, he’s serious chat, be quiet.

Technoblade took a deep breath, and put his free hand on his hip. The Omega nodded absently. "Yeah, I know. It's sad they managed to like, program me to do that. Pathetic really." He mumbled, looking down at the floor again. Technoblade shook his head and scoffed. "Pathetic for them, Sapnap, definitely. Can you imagine bein’ such a loser that you need your boyfriend to pick up after you when there’s nothin’ wrong with you? I mean, not nothin’. Somethin’ must seriously wrong with that guy to treat his mate than anythin’ less than royalty, but you know what I mean.” The piglin hybrid rebutted.

The blond snorted and his arms went slack in their pose as he relaxed. “He’d have more energy to wash his own dishes if he wasn’t so obsessed with me.” Dream remarked and the Alpha smirked. “Please go on, I can’t wait to hear all about his cringy flirtin’ and sad advances. I could use some background noise while I work.” Technoblade half joked. Dream laughed. “Some of his pick-up lines were so cringey that I let him hit it out of pity.” The human chuckled while the piglin hybrid pulled his spare cape over his shoulders.

A real cringe from Technoblade just made Dream laugh harder, enough so that he didn’t register the shapeshifter saying ‘work’ until he was watching him load stone, stone bricks, andesite, spruce logs, spruce stairs, dark oak stairs, and white concrete into his inventory. The human blinked. “Wait, what’re you going to work on?” The Omega asked. The piglin hybrid shrugged and shut the chest, before shouldering his pickaxe. “A bathroom. The voices pointed out that I forgot to include a bathroom when I built my house, and now that you’re here I’m not going to force you to bathe in a pond like I’ve been doing. So; bathroom.” He answered casually, heading towards the door.

Dream followed after him a moment later, confused. “Wait, what? You’re renovating your house because I’ve been here for one day?” The blond asked in confusion, trailing after the Alpha as he led the way outside to the back of the house. Technoblade chuckled at him. “Sure. We both live here now, and correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think you’re cold resistant like I am. Plus, I figure you’d be glad for some privacy.” The piglin hybrid answered.

It was cold outside, and Dream hadn’t thought to grab a coat before following his host outside. Or maybe his roommate now?
The blond shivered in the cold air, now that he was properly awake it wasn’t refreshing anymore, just chilly. Technoblade noticed him shivering and promptly removed his cape, doubling back to reach the Omega and wrap him in it. Dream blinked at the shapeshifter as he turned around and continued walking to the back of the house.

“Wait, Techno!” The human called, hurrying after him. Around the corner, Technoblade was building a stone wall. Dream puffed a breath of laughter in amazement, and the Alpha looked over at him. “How big do you want your room to be? Two blocks is too small isn’t it. Is five okay?” He asked casually, placing a block of stone bricks and then continuing until he got to the next block of stone bricks. The blond sputtered. “Five, is more than enough! What’s this about ‘my room’?” The Omega asked, confused again.

Technoblade glanced up in the middle of building towards Dream, making the new end of the cabin. “My house is two stories tall, and your room is going above the bathroom. You’re gonna get a cool bookshelf doorway.” The piglin hybrid joked, and continued building. The blond gaped behind his mask. He continued gaping while Technoblade built up the foundations of the new portion of the house, and then some more when the shapeshifter shrunk down to his human size, long pink hair trailing down his back, so that he could grip the pickaxe properly and start removing random stone blocks.

The Omega stood there watching, slack jawed until Technoblade finished adding the andesite blocks to the lower wall, and only collected himself when the piglin hybrid tried to walk past him to go collect some dirt. Dream reached out and grabbed the shapeshifter in human form by the arm, stopping him in his tracks. Technoblade looked down his shoulder at the human by his side, but the blond didn't look back for a good few seconds. When he did, unnaturally green eyes greeted him with hopeless confusion. "Why are you helping me?" Dream asked quietly, a lost frown on his face. The Alpha took a deep breath and looked up at his house; the house he built because he wasn't safe anywhere but in a cold, desolate part of the server where no one came or went but wandering traders.

His home was a safe place, it was his safe place. So, Dream's question was valid, why would he open it to someone he barely knew? Well, the answer was pretty simple actually.

Red eyes turned back to meet green again, and the pink haired man gave the human the barest hint of a smile. "Because you deserve the basic right of bein' safe in your own home like any other livin' thing, and I want to give that to you." Technoblade answered honestly. Dream blew out a breath and shook his head slowly. He felt like he might be about to cry again. The piglin hybrid wrapped a gentle arm around the blond's shoulders and led him into turning around and beginning the walk back to the front door. "Do you want me to stay close?" He asked quietly.

Dream nodded, and the renovation was left to be completed later.

Chapter Text

Dream and Technoblade had been sitting side by side in front of the fire, leaning their backs against a double chest, for a while. Dream was leaning against the shapeshifter, but Technoblade wasn't leaning on him back to keep from squishing the smaller man. The still as of yet unnamed wolf was sleeping with her head in Dream's lap.

Their cold bodies had fully warmed up a long while ago when Technoblade sighed and moved his legs, allowing blood flow back into his ass. "I need to go to a village and buy some fabric. We need a couch before my legs go to sleep and fall off." He joked. Dream smiled, but said nothing yet, staring into the flames. "Sapnap will be turning the server upside down looking for me by now. This is the first time I’ve disappeared and he hasn’t been able to find me.” He said suddenly, his hand slowing to a stop in the wolf's fur. The Alpha frowned and looked down at the blond.

There was quiet, the silence filled only by the wind outside and the crackling of the fire, for a few thoughtful moments. "What do you want to do about it?" The piglin hybrid finally asked. Dream frowned softly. "About Sapnap? Nothing." The Omega answered resolutely, which surprised Technoblade, but he didn't interrupt and let the human continue. "I do want my things back, so I'll have to go back and get them soon, but what I meant was that Punz will know I'm 'missing' by now." Dream clarified calmly. The shapeshifter nodded along. "Ah. Will they be worried?" He asked, looking down his shoulder at his companion.

The Omega was still watching the fire when he responded. "I don't think so." Dream said softly, leaning further into Technoblade's side. The piglin hybrid let him, lifting his arm to let the blond shuffle into a side hug, which he did as he talked. The wolf woke up only enough to shuffle over with him, and Dream smiled a little as he pat her some more. "Sapnap is the biggest danger to me on the server since Schlatt died, and he can't find me right now." Dream mumbled, half distracted by the fire and how warm the Alpha was. As cute as his snuggling was, Technoblade needed to keep him on track for mostly his own sake before the voices gave him a headache with their screaming and shrieking.

"Schlatt?" The shapeshifter prompted. Dream frowned. "He struck me as the type to bite first, ask questions later." The human explained shortly. The piglin hybrid's eyes wandered to the back of Dream's neck, where he knew Sapnap's bite was. "Ah." He intoned. "He did order me to blow up a child. I see where you're comin' from." Technoblade agreed. The Omega huffed softly, something between a laugh and scoff, before continuing. "Yeah. Anyway, they might be worried though, since I haven't spoken to them." Dream moved on, returning to talking about Punz. "They stopped trusting my messages when Sapnap started stealing my communicator and answering messages for me, so I need to go see them." He concluded, nodding to himself.

The Alpha smiled and raised an eyebrow curiously. "How will you find them without bein' able to coordinate a spot to meet at?" He asked, leaning back against the chest behind him. He and Dream had to fill it with logs and stone to get it to stop shifting around every time he put any weight on it. Dream looked up at his companion. "Can I use yours? They'll know you wouldn't pretend to be me." The blond asked hopefully.

Technoblade pretended to consider it. Dream had the unprecedented power of getting anything he wanted by just looking at the shapeshifter; he couldn't know about it just yet or the piglin hybrid would never live it down. So instead of agreeing like he'd immediately known he would, the Alpha procrastinated by asking; "How?" Dream smirked and raised an eyebrow. Technoblade got the distinct impression of being completely transparent. "You'd suck at it." The human answered cheekily. He received an offended gasp in response that had the Omega laughing.

The Alpha huffed childishly. "Oh, I see how it is. Go on and message your bff Dream. I'll read your messages and learn how to impersonate you." Technoblade teased, handing over his communicator and leaning over the human's frame to watch Dream message Punz. Dream giggled as he accepted the offered communicator and turned it on, letting the shapeshifter drape himself over his shoulders like a weighted blanket. "By all means, you can try." Drean teased right back.

A snort answered him, and the blond settled to finally contact Punz, paying the hovering Alpha no mind. Or, at least trying to. Being pressed against and covered by nearly seven feet of muscled piglin hybrid was kind of distracting, but he didn't dislike it, so he powered through with the thought in mind that Technoblade would willingly and swiftly move away if Dream asked him to.

Remembering Punz's messaging address came almost second nature; it was muscle memory to type in the letters of their name. He opened the blank page, and started typing. Technoblade watched the whole thing intently, noting the Omega's typing mannerisms like he said he would, and found himself admiring the cute way Dream tapped the side of the communicator when he was trying to think of what to say.

Having eyes on him and letting them stay there was throwing the human off. He wasn't used to this, and it was scrambling his ability to think clearly enough to type in a way that wouldn't make Punz needlessly suspicious. Dream sighed softly and leant his head more against the Alpha's chest, making himself more comfortable even though Technoblade was right, and they did need a couch.

That thought gave the Omega pause. When did he start thinking of him and Technoblade in a collective way? Was it when the shapeshifter told him he could move in? Or when the piglin hybrid told him he would build him both a bathroom and a bedroom so he could be more comfortable? Dream couldn't tell.

So he ignored it for the moment, and focused on Punz's increasingly worried questions about where he'd been and who he was with.

Punz: You're nowhere, where did you disappear to without telling me?

Technoblade: My bad, it was all very last minute

Technoblade: I bumped into Technoblade in the nether while on the run and he offered to provide shelter

Punz: On the run? Dream what happened? What did he do this time.

Dream frowned slightly, thinking back on his last day in the community house and the interaction that lead to him bolting. Movement behind him distracted him for a moment, and when he looked up the shapeshifter had his head turned away from the communicator all together, despite what he said about reading the Omega's messages and learning how to imitate him.

The human found himself smiling at the Alpha's consideration; the piglin hybrid recognised that the specific reason Dream was running that day wasn't information Dream had directly given him, and chose to wait for the blond to be ready to do so. It was... heartwarming. So, the Omega relaxed and turned his attention back to the communicator.

Punz: Dream?

Technoblade: I'll tell you later, in person. But the point is that I'm with Technoblade, and I'm safe. Sapnap nor anyone associated with him have turned up, if he was able to, he would have by now

Punz: Yeah, I remember.

Punz: Sapnap came banging on my door last night, screaming for the whole server to hear about how controlling he is. Is his behaviour really not suspicious to anyone else??

The blond allowed himself a small chuckle, the thankfully familiar feeling of being understood soothing his discomfort at the truth of that statement. Was it really so normal for an Alpha to chase his mate down should he dare not to spend the night on his-

Dream blinked at his train of thought. Maybe he was more angry about it than he thought.

Technoblade: Technoblade found it very suspicious, and he's helping me now. So that makes three of us

Punz: Hey, three's a party

Punz: So you want to talk in person then? Sapnap and his goons are probably going to follow me around when I leave the house, be careful

Technoblade: I'm always careful :^)

Technoblade turned back around as Dream exchanged coordinates with Punz, suggesting three different spots between them before settling on one and then a time in the late afternoon to meet there. The piglin must have either peeked at the screen or sensed that the potentially tense moment was over and refocused on his 'spying', if it could even be called that.

Punz: See you then, stay safe out there partner

Technoblade: You too

With that the plans were made, and the human passed the communicator back. Technoblade accepted it casually, before eyeing the screen comically and nodding to himself. "Uha, I see. Cringey smiley face, got it.." The shapeshifter muttered loud enough to be heard, and Dream scoffed before he laughed at his companion and sat up. "What, since when is that smiley face cringe?" He demanded, but the piglin hybrid only smiled and lifted an eyebrow drily. "Uh, since always? C'mon now Dream, you gotta know these things." The Alpha jested back.

The human scoffed again and patted his wolf, who really needed a name at this point, to move. When she did, he stood up, stretching his arms above his head and swaying in place to get the blood flow back into his legs. "Do you think we can get to the Greater SMP by 4pm? I think I should formerly introduce you to Punz." Dream changed the subject completely as he turned around to face the seated man, an eyebrow raised in challenge.

Technoblade laughed at the needless, playful challenge and propped his knee up to rest his arm on, raising an eyebrow in return. "You can informally introduce us if you like, I'm coming with you regardless." He answered firmly, meeting the human's eyes. Dream blinked in surprise, his smile dropping in confusion. "What?" The Omega asked bluntly. The piglin hybrid grimaced and frowned while he considered his next words. "I mean, call me paranoid Dream but it would certainly make me more comfortable if I was there to be available as backup while a crazy man is after your ass." He refrained from adding 'literally', knowing that would be pushing a boundary or two.

Another confused looked crossed Dream's face, this one accompanied by amusement. "Well, yeah. I kind of assumed you'd be coming with me." He said. This time it was Technoblade's turn to be confused. "Wasn't the whole reason you arranged this meeting, so you could discuss your situation with Punz?" The Alpha asked, dropping his knee to the ground as his full focus turned to Dream, who nodded. "Then why would my attendance be mandatory?" He asked in utter confusion.

Dream opened his mouth to answer, before pausing to think about it. Why would Technoblade need to be there? It didn't occur to him to think otherwise, being supervised by Alphas was normal for him.

...Oh

These sudden realisations were going to get annoying very quickly for Dream if they kept happening this often. Punz didn't supervise him so much as they watched his back, but Sapnap definitely did, and it wasn't uncommon for the blaze hybrid to send a mutual friend to 'babysit' the Omega when he wasn't available. Dream sighed and buried his face in one hand, irritated. Technoblade, an empath, sensed he was frustrated and stayed quiet while the blond organised his thoughts.

Of course Sapnap feels the need to have me supervised at all times, he hates the idea of his mate being alone for any reason, it gives me too much freedom to make my own decisions. And we wouldn't want that would we? No, I might do something crazy like come to my senses and realise how fucking abusive-

An annoyed sigh ended the human's internal rant, and he resolved to deal with it later. He had things to do now. "Got any good dog names?" He asked instead of addressing any of that just yet, his hand still covering most of his face. Dream needed to see Punz first, then he could come back and have thoughts. The piglin hybrid hummed in consideration. "Most of the good names I know are references to Greek mythology, so 'Atlanta' comes to mind. She was a great huntress." Technoblade answered after a few moments. The blond smiled to himself.

Nerd

He thought to himself fondly before responding. "Atlanta." He tried it out, and found he liked it. Dream smiled wider. "It's fitting, a huntress name for a wolf." He continued before looking down at his dozing wolf and nodding. "I have a nametag in a chest, somewhere. I'll use it when we get back." The Omega said decisively.

Technoblade smiled at him. "I'm flattered you're using the name I picked." He teased lightly, more than half expecting the human to scoff at him in amusement like he would have when he was helping Pogtopia. But now, Dream just chuckled a little and didn't say anything. Instead, he walked over to a chest against the wall with purpose and plucked his mask off the closed lid. The piglin hybrid took that as his cue to get up as well and collect his dry cape and crown from the table, Atlanta lifting her head to watch.

By the time the Alpha turned back around with his cape on and his crown firmly in place on his head, Dream had fitted his mask on his face, his axe on his back and netherite guards on his forearms. Technoblade lifted his own netherite sword from the chest next to the table and sheathed it, watching the human put guards around his shins. "Should I also armour up? We're not walking into an active battle are we?" He half joked. He wouldn't know if there was another server wide fight going on, he moved away for a reason.

It was a relief when the Omega laughed as he straightened up, both feet standing firmly on the floor. "Nah, there's no wars or anything. I'm not wearing a full suit, just some precautionary measures in case someone thinks about trying to get lucky. George and Tommy especially have been particularly brave recently." He explained casually, flexing his hands to get comfortable in the guards. Technoblade smiled to himself when the human seemed to unconsciously lift each foot and do the same thing.

"Well that's a relief." The piglin hybrid started casually, gathering his sword and his axe. "I never did like walking into a war I'm not even involved in, but should I be worried anyway?" He asked casually, ready to get his rocket launcher next if need be. Dream snickered and Technoblade half turned around face him, still holding the chest open. "I'm being hunted by people I once considered my closest friends and almost everyone else hates me. Yeah, you should probably be worried." The blond remarked sarcastically, his arms crossed across his chest. The Alpha wasn't offended.

Instead, he nodded in recognition and picked up his rocket launcher after all. Dream laughed at him and shook his head, picking his own sword out of his chest and sheathing it as he did. "Now that we're prepared to take on the world, shall we go meet up with Punz?" The Omega joked, gesturing to the front door with a sweeping gesture. Technoblade grinned back and strode forward, leading the way out of the cabin. "I think we shall." He answered with fake haughtiness. Dream followed after him with a wide grin of his own behind his mask, patting Atlanta on the head so she'd stay put as he went, and closed the door behind them.

Punz was waiting for them at the agreed upon spot, in the agreed upon position, when Dream and Technoblade approached at three forty-five. The blond Alpha was sitting on a log before a campfire in a small clearing, roasting a jacket potato on a stick over the flames. The shapeshifter was about to go greet his potential new ally when he was stopped by Dream with a hand on his chest. The human was staring at his friend, studying them, before he sighed and turned around to leave. The piglin hybrid was confused, but followed his new roommate without question for a short ways.

He didn't even need to ask, because the Omega started explaining after they crossed a certain distance. "They're not alone. George is following them, probably because he doesn't have a scent and he's in less danger of having his head ripped off his shoulders if Punz makes it known that they spotted him." Dream answered every one of Technoblade's questions before the Alpha could even ask. He was honestly impressed. The shapeshifter sighed in response to the news and drove a hand through his hair. "What's the plan then? We arranged to meet at a specific place at a specific time, and now can't interact with them." He asked instead of any of his earlier questions.

The Omega bit his lip, and the piglin hybrid was immediately nervous. "We can't... But I can." The blond suggested. Technoblade already hated everything about this plan. "George is expecting to see me, it's the fact that you're helping me that we need to hide." Dream continued quickly, likely sensing the Alpha's immediate apprehension. The shapeshifter put his hands on his hips and glared at the grass for a tense moment before he closed his eyes and nodded slowly. "Alright, I trust you and Punz to be able to beat up George of all people if need be. But I'd feel better if I could be close by in case you two need me." Technoblade answered reluctantly.

Dream blinked in surprise before remembering that Technoblade actually respected his decisions, and promptly felt silly for expecting him to argue with him. The piglin hybrid interrupted his thoughts by putting his hands on the blond's shoulders. "However, I reserve the right to say; 'I told you so' if this goes sideways and George has backup." The shapeshifter said seriously. Dream snorted and looked up at his companion, grinning behind the mask. "Of course." He answered playfully, sarcasm dripping from his voice. Technoblade smiled then and squeezed the Omega's shoulders with both hands. "Then let's do this." The piglin said resolutely.

This time when the pair approached Punz in their clearing, Technoblade stopped behind the tree line and climbed into an oak, settling among the branches with minimal noise to watch through the leaves as Punz noticed Dream. The blond Alpha's eyes widened slightly before relaxing, likely not expecting him to make his presence known while they were being watched. "Dream!" They greeted warmly, anchoring their roasting stick in the dirt as they stood up and took their other hand out of their hoodie pocket.

The Omega smiled behind his mask and raised a hand of his own in greeting. "Hey Punz." He answered equally as warmly. The two blonds met in the middle for a hug before Punz led his friend back to the campfire and the log they were sitting on. There was quiet for a few moments while the Alpha pulled his potato stick back out of the ground and brushed the dirt off, then they turned to Dream again.

"So.." They started slowly. The Omega took a deep breath in preparation. "What happened..?" They asked, their voice gentle and soft, being mindful of the company lurking around. Dream reached for his friend's hand and squeezed it in reassurance; George already knew, and Technoblade was allowed to find out. Punz squeezed back to show they understood, and then didn't let go.

Technoblade raised an eyebrow as the voices howled in both jealousy or excitement, curious about what he was seeing and unimpressed by the voices' complaints.

Even if there is something going on, the only possible way it would be any of my business is if I'd need to know to expect Punz to come around.

The piglin hybrid thought to the voices in his head, and then rolled his eyes at the half that whined in answer before paying closer attention to Dream, Punz, and their surroundings.

Punz held the Omega's hand comfortingly while their friend organised their thoughts, unsure what to expect but certain they weren't going to like it. "Sapnap brought up the possibility of us having pups." Dream finally answered at as loud a volume as he could manage, and it only came out just above a whisper. The Alpha's blue eyes widened in shock. "Kids?" They breathed. "He wants kids?" Punz continued, checking to make sure they heard what they heard. Dream nodded mutely, his grip tightening on the Alpha's in preparation for an outburst. It was swift.

The Alpha would have jumped up in anger if not for their friend's hand holding their own, as it was they snarled furiously. "That Son Of A-!" They swore loudly, spitting curses faster than Dream could keep up with. The Omega stayed quiet, letting them run through the emotions, and wondered what Technoblade thought about it in a moment of weakness. "He thinks he has the right to even suggest that to you?! After everything else?!" Punz raged coherently again.

Agreeing with Punz was what Technoblade thought about it. Though there were a few innocent sounding voices asking questions in confusion, the majority raged in the piglin hybrid's head, demanding Sapnap's blood with a fierceness that matched the look in the Alpha's eyes. So, Dream had run because Sapnap wanted to trap him in place with a baby, a wise decision on the Omega's part. The blaze hybrid had proved to be toxic, if not abusive, from what Dream had told him already, and Technoblade was certain he wasn't aware of even half the story.

On the ground, Dream took another deep breath while Punz seethed next to him. "It wasn't a suggestion Punz." He said quietly. Wild blue eyes flew to his mask and stayed there, watching for a reaction they couldn't see. "He wants pups, and he was talking like he was going to get them." The Omega continued, feeling the overwhelming anxiety of standing there in the community house, listening to his mate think out loud about how close together in age they could manage to have as many pups as possible, all over again.

The Omega had to pause; he was starting to feel sick. Punz finally let go of their friend's hand and instead wrapped him in a hug, squeezing tightly in reassurance even as their scent swirled with anger and they fought against the urge to bear their fangs at the woods. Dream wrapped his arms firmly around the Alpha's shoulders in answer, squeezing his eyes shut and taking deep breathes as his hands shook. "It wasn't even a fucking sales pitch." He muttered miserably into Punz's collarbone. "It was practically a demolition notice."

Chapter Text

Technoblade and Dream didn't stay for long in the end. The Omega continued to cry on Punz's shoulder for a while, hiccupping and sobbing while the blond Alpha held him tightly in comfort. It made Technoblade's blood boil; the fact that Sapnap had reduced Dream to tears twice in two days when most of the server hadn’t seen their admin cry ever.

It made him wonder how often Dream broke down behind closed doors. If he ever sat in his room at the community house and sobbed while everyone else was busy off doing their own things. The thought that while Wilbur, Tommy, Tubbo and whoever else was in the original L’manberg were brewing trouble, Dream may have been hiding away to cry, alone, because of his own boyfriend made the piglin hybrid want to growl. It was a miracle he was keeping a handle on his scent.

He was angry, furious, unbelievably pissed off, so tense with the urge to leap from the tree and hunt the Omega’s good-for-nothing mate down that he was more than ready to get moving when Dream slowly broke away from Punz and stood up, promising to keep in touch now that his communicator couldn’t be tampered with. The Omega walked back into the tree line with his arms crossed protectively over his chest, and Technoblade joined him seamlessly when the blond passed his tree.

After all of that though, no matter how the voices raged or his fingers twitched. “Would you like to go get your stuff now or come back later?” The piglin hybrid asked softly. Dream, his wants, health and comfort, came first. Dream sighed heavily in response. “I’ll come back later… I just want to get the fuck out of here.” He muttered. Technoblade nodded and led the way back to the beach they arrived on.

Their boat trip across the ocean was silent, but the Alpha rowed steadily and let his companion be to think and process. It was only when they got to the shoreline that anyone spoke. “You have questions.” Dream stated flatly, continuing to sit in the boat as Technoblade climbed out.

The hybrid paused before standing up straight. “I do.” He acknowledged, before holding out a hand for the Omega to take. “But you don’t have to answer any of them if you don’t want to.” The Alpha assured. Dream reached out, and hesitated. This felt significant. Taking Technoblade’s hand now, felt like it would mean something. Maybe it would. Maybe…

Dream took a deep breath, and grasped the Alpha’s hand firmly.

Maybe that could be a good thing.

A gasp pulled itself from the blond’s lungs when Technoblade pulled him out of the boat and into the air, before catching Dream in a bridal carry. The human sputtered in surprise. “What was that for?!” He yelped, holding onto the Alpha’s clothes more out of shock than anything else. He wasn’t afraid of being dropped.

Technoblade shrugged casually and started walking across the ice shelf he’d pulled the boat up against towards the land. “I just thought I’d save you from another ice fall.” He teased light-heartedly. The Omega scoffed and smacked his chest gently in retaliation, causing the piglin hybrid to laugh. Dream decided he liked how he looked when he did.

They made it across the ice shelf without incident, but the Alpha didn’t put him down, and the human didn’t ask to be. Technoblade continued to carry the blond almost the entire way home without complaint, and he would have kept carrying the Omega if not for the creeper that kept following them, always just far enough away to not explode but close enough to set their nerves on edge.

It was Dream who had enough and kicked his legs gracefully out of the hybrid’s grip and to the ground. He crossed the distance with three jumped paces and killed the creeper with a single crit. The tall walking bomb disintegrated in a puff of smoke, leaving the human to pick up the gunpowder left behind. Technoblade whistled, impressed. “That was kinda sick.” He remarked casually. The blond laughed at him. “Why thank you.” He answered equally as casually, tucking his prize into his hoodie pocket.

He caught up easily even when the taller man started walking again, and they continued the journey back to the cabin side by side. They were greeted by every single one of their new wolf friends individually and with enthusiasm, though thankfully nobody was pushed into the snow this time. The partially built extension was glaringly obvious, but the sun was getting low in the sky and it would likely need to be finished tomorrow, depending on how Dream felt about sleeping in Technoblade’s bed again that was.

The piglin hybrid stood staring at the half-built foundations with his hands on his hips, contemplating. Dream came up next to him after retrieving Atlanta from inside and giving the wolves he’d tamed special attention, tilting his head at the stone. “You don’t have to finish it today. It’s going to be nighttime soon.” He commented, looking up at his frowning companion.

Technoblade hummed, unconvinced. “I can throw up the walls and floors no problem, it’s the roof that takes a while, but I’m more worried about whether you want to wait until tomorrow to make up a proper nest and sleep in your own bed.” He answered, looking down to meet the human’s gaze. The blond blinked in surprise, before looking away, biting his lip in thought. “I… I don’t know.” He mumbled, and was interrupted by a yawn before he could say anything else.

Sleepiness was more pressing than any embarrassment, but when he looked back up at the taller man, he was already nodding decisively. “Questions can wait, unless you want to talk while I work, but you sir are getting your own bed tonight and no later.” The pink haired man declared, already striding towards the front door to regather his supplies. Dream followed, amused, exasperated, tired, and perhaps a little fond, with one hand on Atlanta’s shoulders. His fingers brushed her collar, and he stopped short, cursing.

“Crap! I forgot to grab a nametag for Atlanta.” He grumbled to himself as Technoblade remerged from the house, carrying a ladder under one arm and a cloak over the other. The hybrid’s ears flicked, and he shrugged as he stopped in front of the human and wolf duo, passing the cloak over to protect Dream from the dropping temperatures. “That’s fine. I can just message Phil and ask if he has any. We’re old friends.” He assured, watching the blond drape the heavy material around his shoulders.

Dream looked up from fastening the clasp, surprised. “Philza would have nametags already?” He asked, slightly confused. The Beta had only arrived on the server nine days ago, and nametags were a rare item. His reputation as a highly capable builder, survivalist and quite frankly fearsome fighter preceded him, but Dream had personally seen him busy at work rebuilding New L’manburg all of his first week. Technoblade’s responding smirk as he set his ladder up against the stone completely halted the blond’s thoughts, and he gave the hybrid a flat look even as the taller man spoke.

Mischief seemed to seep from his tone even while climbing the ladder. “Oh yeah, he’s good at finding shinies, it’s a bird thing.” He answered offhandedly. Dream smirked back with a raised eyebrow, crossing his arms in disbelief. “Uha. I don’t suppose he also has a bird’s talent for theft as well?” The human shot back playfully, causing Technoblade to laugh where he stood on the stone wall. “What?” He asked back sarcastically. Dream cracked a smile. “Philza? Steal? Never.” The pink haired man shook his head mock seriously before turning around to lay the floorboards.

The admin laughed, not buying his companion’s fake act for a second. “Sure, Techno.” He answered with an eyeroll, walking over to join the hybrid on the newly built floors as they went up.

True to his word, Technoblade had all three walls and two floors up in no time, windows and wooden pillars included. By dusk the two were three stories above the ground on the roof, Dream was watching the sunset from the pre-existing roof while the piglin hybrid began the slow work of building the new roof. The human felt silly for it, but he missed Atlanta’s warmth at his side after he’d put her inside. It wasn’t safe for her on the roof, but he didn’t feel like going inside just yet.

There was a natural lag in the conversation while the taller man was concentrating and the blond was admiring the beauty of his server, and only once the hybrid had finished the two lowest layers and the sun had disappeared over the horizon did anyone speak. Technoblade was hesitant to ruin the peace, but he had questions, and Dream had answers, so he cleared his throat to get the human’s attention.

It was easily gained, and Dream looked over. He sighed seeing his companion’s conflicted expression, but nodded silently. The pink haired man nodded back before opening his mouth. “I… understand that Sapnap has been hurtin’ you.” He started slowly, watching Dream’s face. The admin grimaced, but said nothing, so Technoblade continued. “How long has he been doin’ that?” He asked carefully, keeping his eyes on his work.

A sigh was his only response for a minute. “It started when he and George destroyed my room not long after we got together, and it’s gradually escalated since then.” The human started eventually. “The first time he got physical with me was about four months ago.” He didn’t really want to go into specifics, and the hybrid didn’t make him. “How long were you and Sapnap together?” Technoblade asked next, diligently continuing his construction of the roof. Dream blew his cheeks out as he thought back. “Almost, six months.” He answered, making a conscious effort to keep his cool.

Technoblade did some simple math in his head and suddenly he was talking before he could process his own words. “What about your heats?” The hybrid asked, then promptly snapped his mouth shut, stunned. His companion turned his head to look at the pink haired man in surprise, before he grinned in amusement at the look on Technoblade’s face. “Why do you want to know?” He teased, immensely glad to have the topic of conversation not be on his abuse, if only for a moment. The Alpha flushed in embarrassment and winced, trying to think of something to say that didn’t sound outright perverted.

“Just… I… I don’t know why I said that.” He mumbled, unable to make eye contact out of humiliation. Dream sniggered. The hybrid could only be glad he wasn’t offended. “But it came from a place of concern.” He tried this time, attempting to be delicate and get back on topic at the same time. The blond hummed in acceptance. “I used suppressants and missed my last two heats, so he couldn’t share one with me.” He answered finally, turning to face forward again. “My next heat is in January by the way.” Dream followed up cheekily, sniggering when the Alpha groaned in embarrassment.

Dream’s quiet laughter and his companion’s work filled the silence for a few moments until both died off. When Technoblade looked over the human was looking back at him, waiting, and the pink haired man sighed. “It sounds like, Sapnap started getting, physical, with you, when you refused to spend your heat with him.” He started, speaking slow and trying to be careful with his words. The Omega nodded in agreement, still waiting. “So I guess what I want to ask is, why stay…?” The hybrid asked gently. He was determined that no matter what answer came out of Dream’s mouth, he wouldn’t judge.

The blond sighed again and turned away. “It’s stupid.” He mumbled, pulling his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them while Technoblade shook his head. “No, it could never be stupid.” He rebutted, putting his tools and materials away in favour of listening properly. Dream didn’t respond at first, staring down at the snow in thought for a few moments before looking back at the Alpha. “I stayed, because when it was good, it was great.” He began, unable to help smiling a little bit. “And, it wasn’t, he wasn’t always like this.”

He paused for a moment as his face fell into an unhappy frown. “When we first started out, he was good to me. He wasn’t rough, he wasn’t obsessive, he was kind, and caring, and… I thought he loved me.” Dream shrugged to himself, beginning to tear up some. His companion frowned sympathetically. “The worst part is that I think he does.” He said gently, fully focused on the sad look on the human’s face. “That doesn’t make what he did to you right.” Technoblade added and the Omega nodded. “I know, but I didn’t really, know. If that even makes sense.” He answered, turning his head to look down at his knees with furrowed eyebrows.

Technoblade nodded and the movement drew the blond’s eyes back towards him. “Crazy thing is that it does make sense.” He assured, making his way over the half-built roof to his companion and sitting down next to him. “You can know somethin’ logically, but you can still think ‘but what if?’ Knowin’ somethin’ logically doesn’t make it any easier to accept.” The hybrid explained gently, watching the semi-relieved smile come over Dream’s face. “Thanks… I know, I haven’t been the easiest ally, or teammate, or even house guest. I just…” The human stopped and let out a breath, looking back to his knees for a moment as if searching for guidance before looking back to the Alpha.

“I can’t, thank you enough, for saving me yesterday, and letting me stay in your house, and taking me to find Atlanta and her family, and literally, guarding me in my sleep, when none of this was your problem two days ago. I…” Dream trailed off again, feeling out of words, except for the phrase; “Thank you.” He whispered. That single sentence shattered any resolve Technoblade had been building up over the last twenty-four hours, and he sighed softly. “Dream. None of this has been ‘not my problem’ for the last two months.” He confessed.

Opening and closing his mouth like a fish was the only response the human had to that, so the Alpha continued. “Back when I was still new to the server, when Tommy and Wilbur were messing around and calling it ‘Pogtopia’, we set up a meeting, just the two of us to hash things out, and you might not remember this but you were late. Like, four hours late, so I went to look for you.” He explained, watching Dream close his mouth and begin nodding along in agreement. “Yeah, I remember that morning. Sapnap caught me trying to leave before sunrise, he was furious. Said he needed to remind me what my priorities were.” The blond murmured almost to himself.

Technoblade’s jaw clenched in anger at the explanation. He’d dared to hope Dream had been seduced back into bed with his mate, and been proven bitterly wrong. It almost felt like an ‘I told you so’ from the universe, and he sighed in frustration at himself. “I’m truly sorry I caused that. Was he angrier when you returned?” The hybrid said softly, and his companion blinked. “It’s not your fault Sapnap’s a possessive bitch.” Dream denied, pulling the cloak further closed to shield himself from the cold. “And leaving actually gave him time to cool off, so no, he was more sulky than anything when I got back.”

The taller man let out a breath of relief and nodded. “Good, that’s good.” He huffed. They fell into a comfortable silence for a little while, watching the wolves on the ground below. Eventually Technoblade stood up to finish the roof and Dream followed him with his gaze. “Out of questions?” He asked quietly, still curled up inside his cloak. The pink-haired man hesitated for a moment before turning around to face his companion. “What do you plan to do about the bond?” He asked back and watched Dream frown and reach around to the back of his neck, running his fingers over the bond mark. “Wait it out I suppose. Staying here will help, surrounding myself with your scent will cause the bond to break down faster. My idiot instincts will let go of him in favour of a new potential suitor, especially if I start getting healthier.” Dream explained while looking out over the snow again, and missed the way the hybrid froze.

YOOOOOOOO

I’m confused are we being used again or is he genuinely interested??

POG

POG

POG

POG

Who cares subconsciously or not he wants us!

POGCHAMP

Hell yeah can I get some Ws in chat?!

W

W

W

w

W

W

E

W

Holy shit is it happeneing???

POGCHAMP

POGCHAMP

E

E

E

W

Why wait when we could break the bond now by marking him and making a new one?

OK thats too fast

Are we sure??

Sapnap is gonna find him eventually

If that bond doesn’t fuck off soon he’s screwed the next time they meet

Literally

Dude don’t go there

W

I mean if he likes the idea who are we to judge?

W’ere not asking him that

Why not???

That is a terrible idea

E

Studiously ignoring the voices, the Alpha nodded along with what the blond was saying when Dream looked his way. “Whatever helps. I don’t have a lot right now, but I’d be happy to scent something to give you if you’d like.” He offered, hoping beyond hope that how uncomfortable he was with the voices’ suggestions wasn’t showing on his face. Thankfully, the human smiled appreciatively. “Thank you, that would be nice.” He answered, and it felt like an end to the conversation so Technoblade let it be and returned to his work.

It went by quickly after the window holes went in, and soon enough the two were back inside where it was warm, but there was one more problem. “I really need to go to a village. I’ve got just about jack in terms of wool and wool products.” The hybrid sighed as he inspected his chests in search of something to set Dream up with for the night. The Omega was sitting curled up with Atlanta in front of the fire, warming up, and he looked up at the sound of the taller man’s voice. “It doesn’t have to be tonight.” Dream assured without stopping the motions of his hand through Atlanta’s fur.

His answer was the shaking of the Alpha’s head. “No I do. I said you’d have a nest to sleep in and a bed to put it on tonight, and I’m a man of my word.” Technoblade rebutted as he closed the chest lid and turned towards the ladder; his armour was upstairs, and he’d need it to get past all the mobs. Footsteps followed him all the way up the ladder, and the Omega was standing next to the bed head when he turned around from putting his armour pants on. “It’s starting to snow outside, are you sure?” He pressed but didn’t try to stop the taller man, who nodded while he worked.

Dream sat quietly on the bed while Technoblade pulled the rest of his armour on, finishing up by donning his netherite helmet. "You really don't have to." The blond tried to offer, but the Alpha shook his head. "I want to. I'll be back soon, there's a village not too far away from here." He reassured the human, and rolled his shoulders to get comfortable before making his way down the ladder. "See you later Dream." He called as he disappeared through the ladder hole, leaving the Omega sitting on his bed.