Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Dream was sitting in Pandora’s Box on the cold ground by his bed waiting for someone to come visit him. ‘It’s been months since anyone has talked to me’ . Dream breathed in the hot air that filled his small cage, he didn’t know why but it reminded him of the hot summer days years ago when it was just him and his friends. ‘before things got complicated…  before Tommy.’

Dream shook his head slightly as if the motion could banish the train of thought he was having. Dream knew deep down that Tommy wasn’t to blame for the things that happened, and the things that were Tommy’s fault, Dream shouldn’t be holding against him. 

It wasn’t Tommy’s fault that Dream and his friends grew apart, and it wasn’t Tommy's fault that things couldn’t be like they were before. Things change, Dream knows that if it wasn’t Tommy it would have been something or someone else.

But the bitterness and anger that cling to Dream's heart is hard to forget. It built up like a pressure that needed to be let out, like a scream stuck in his throat. Taking it out on Tommy, and the people close to him made the pressure lessen but only to be replaced by an emptiness, a deep hole of nothing that left Dream longing for something. But, he’s never able to bring himself to reach out, the anger and pride acting like chains keeping him in a cage worse than the one he was in now. 

Dream longs for his friends back, he wants to go back to when it was just him, Sapnap, George and Callahan. When it was just them building a bunch of stupid stuff at Dream’s house. The one he hasn’t slept in since the community house was built, the one he hasn’t set foot in since the first war, afraid someone would find it and use it to hurt him or his friends. 

He misses the late nights they’d all spend there talking about stupid little things that nobody cares for anymore. But it was so long ago and so far out of reach that it felt more like a dream than memories of long ago. 

The tears that had built up in Dream’s eyes blurred his view of the world around him, making the only thing he could see the warm light of lava reflecting into his eyes. Dream rubbed the streaks of salt off his cheeks, and blinked to dispel the tears obscuring his vision.

And that's when it happened…

Chapter Text

All he did was blink and now he was standing somewhere completely different from his obsidian box, and in front of a beat up and depressed… Tommy? ‘How did I get here?’  

“Tommy?” Dream asked in a small voice, “Wha-?”

Tommy cut him off with a yell, “I’M FINE DREAM, JUST-” he trailed off before sighing, “I don’t want to do this right now.”

Dream stared at the grass at his feet as Tommy walked away, he was stunned. When was the last time I saw grass? What happened to the prison? What am I doing here? Where is ‘here’? Dream knelt down and touched the ground amazed that he was outside, in his regular clothes instead of the prison jumpsuit. Dream plucked some grass out of the ground, sat down and stared up at the sky he hadn't seen in months as he held the blades of grass in his hands a little bit tighter.

Hours later ~

Dream forgot what it was like to be outside, to not be trapped, he forgot what it was like to have cool wind blow through his hair while the sun warmed his back. He forgot what it was like to be so happy he’d cry, he forgot but now he remembers. He was sitting there in the grass crying with a smile on his face that everyone would be able to see, with his mask now laying in the grass beside him, but nobody was around anyway.

Tommy had left, his tent was empty with the flaps wide open showing the bed that was inside it. ‘ Logstedshire, he was by Tommys’ tent', He doesn’t know where Tommy went and he doesn’t care, Tommy could go back to L’manberg if he wanted to, Dream has a better idea on how to spend his time now that he has a chance to live his life again before ‘they’ eventually decide that their better off with him in a cage.

Dream set the grass that he's been holding for hours down and stood up to dust himself off. He needs to find Tommy, ‘Contradicting myself… I’ve done it before, it’s fine’ , he just needs to tell Tommy something before he leaves for good. He grabs his mask and sets it back on his face and walks off.

And so he goes looking :)

Dream finds Tommy setting stuff up on the beach, ‘The beach party… Did I already get the invitations from Ghostbur? I guess that's one more thing to take care of before I go.’ Dream walked up to Tommy, before clearing his throat and tapping him on the shoulder. Tommy looked over at him with a questioning look.

“What do you want Dream?” Tommy asked stopping what he was doing and turned completely to face Dream. 

Dream swallowing his pride and doubt and rushed out words that would change the course of everyone's lives, “Well I just wanted to tell you that I don’t care if you go back to L’manberg.” Tommy stared at Dream as if he had grown a second head. “W-what?” Tommy stuttered out in a breathy whisper, “wh- but I thought-”.

“I changed my mind, so after your beach party you can go back if you want to,” Dream said, trying to sound nonchalant as he pulled out his communicator and sent everyone an invitation to Tommy’s party just in case he already did take them from Ghostbur. He turned away from Tommy, who was still making a face at him, and started walking away before he remembered something.

“Oh yeah…” He stopped, turned to look back at the wild looking child:D behind him, “I won’t be able to come to your party, goodbye Tommy.”

Chapter Text

Dream walked through the trees, occasionally looking up at the sunlight streaming through the canopy above him, with the sounds of the occasional animal that he’d pass by. It was calming and exciting at the same time to be outside and be able to see all the things he never knew he’d miss so much. But, now was not the time to start feeling nostalgic, he can do that when he gets home. (he’s not homeless :D)

I’m no good with the traveling bits

Dream was climbing down the last cliff before the only thing between him and his house was a long walk through thick woodlands. 

Dream was starting to regret destroying the nether portals that lead to his house but it was necessary during the wars, it was the safe thing to do. He just hoped it was still there, any one of his so called ‘friends’ could have come back to destroy it, when they put him in prison. 

Dream stopped and stared at the space in front of him, ‘I’m in the past, the prison isn’t even a thing yet! I still have my friends , NO! I have no friends anymore.’ Dream started walking again albeit a bit faster than before.

A while later :]

Dream’s walk turned into a sprint the moment he caught the sight of a silhouette of the house above the treeline, the sun setting behind it. He only had a few items on him at the moment, he didn’t want to get caught up fighting so many monsters when his home was right there. The sun sunk lower as Dream grew closer but the house was still a good 3 minutes away judging by how small it looked on the hill he built it on.

The sun slid behind the hills and cast the valley he was in into a giant shadow that would last for many hours. He just had 2 minute to go. Dream couldn’t help the small smile grow on his face behind his mask, but the small smile turned to a grimace when he heard a loud moan up ahead to his left.

 He slowed to a slow walk, trying to slow his rushed breath from running, he didn’t want to get ganged up on. So, he hid in the trees trying to spot the zombie that made the sound, to see if it was part of a hoard. 

When Dream caught sight of the zombie, he thanked whatever gods were out there, that there was no hoard, it was just the one. He could end this quickly and get home before he comes across a creeper, and so that’s what he did. Running towards the lone undead he brought out his ax and jumped, bringing the ax down on the zombie’s head as he landed. 

(I don’t know why I made him kill the zombie for no reason, maybe to let off steam? I have no idea)

Dream left the rotten flesh on the ground and continued towards the house. Making his way through the remaining trees and ascending up the hill to the front door, Dream’s smile returned wider than before. He reached out to the door knob, held his breath, turned it, and pushed the door open. 

The hinges groaned and whined as the door swung open, the faint ghastly light of the waning moon doing little to light up the dark house. Dream shut the door behind him and took out one of the few torches left in his inventory, holding out infront of him to light up the area.

He really just hoped no spiders made his home their home too. Dream just had to relight the torches already in the dark empty house. Walking through the halls lighting the torches on the walls made him feel more at home. He walked farther into the house continuing to relight the old torches, he’d probably have to replace them sometime soon. 

The door on his right caught his attention and he made a beeline for it, when he opened the door and lit the torches a bedroom greeted him. The bed looked more comfortable then it had the last time he was here. Dream walked closer and paused by the bedside table, he put the torch in his hand away and at the time brought his other hand up to his face and took the mask and set it down on the table. 

Exhausted, Dream sat down on the bed and kicked his shoes off, before climbing under the covers. ‘I’ll look around the rest of the house in the morning.’

Chapter Text

Tommy stood there on the beach with multiple people crowded around him, bombarding him with questions, “Are you okay?” “What happened to you?” “Did Dream do this to you?” “Where is Dream?”, and Tommy wasn’t sure how to answer any of them. 

He wasn’t even sure what was going on, ‘I can go back, I can- do I want to go back..’ Tommy glanced past all the other people and focused on his best friend . ‘He exiled me, he chose everyone else over me. We were friends…, but I’m the reason he had to make that choice.’ Tommy’s gaze fell to his feet, he was angry, angry at Tubbo for exiling him, angry at Dream for leaving him alone... Angry at himself for.. 

Tommy closed his eyes tight, trying to banish the thoughts swirling around his head, but the thoughts stayed. He didn't want to be here anymore, he wanted to be somewhere different  away from all the fake worried and sympathetic faces. He wanted to be with the person who terrorized stuck with him the whole time. Dream was there for him, if Dream wasn’t there then Tommy would have been completely happy alone.

After a moment of collecting himself, Tommy focused back on what was happening around him. The noise of what was happening around him filtered through his distracted mind causing a mild headache to form. 

see everyone’s judging eyes staring at him either, he wouldn't be able to take it, he couldn’t take it. He couldn't handle it, the noise, the people surrounding him, trapping him. He had to get out, they were suffocating him. ‘I can’t breathe!’ Tommy finally looks up at the faces of former friends and strangers, the panic written all over his face. ‘I need to get out.’ Tommy pushed through the crowd and the hands trying to grab him. ‘I have to get away from them.’

Tommy broke out of the crowd in a rush, tears falling from his eyes as he made his way to his tent. He heard them calling his name behind him, but he couldn’t stop now.

(a while after that)

Tommy walked slowly through the woods trying to distract himself by focusing on the sound of his feet crushing dry leaves with each step. The wind travels alongside him and every so often it pushes on his back. He just had to get far enough that they would stop looking. 

After an hour of walking Tommy found himself on the ground, clutching his belongings close to his chest, choking on sobs that were ripping through his throat. 

v (new) v

Nobody saw Tommy until two days later he showed up outside of Technoblade’s cabin looking as if he fought a polar bear with nothing but his hands. He trudged through the snow shaking so bad he looked like he might fall over.

And he did, Technoblade found him in the snow sleeping, “heh?”

Chapter Text

Dream was bored, he’d spent all day yesterday making sure his house was completely free of “pests”, and replacing the lanterns and torches, and all this morning he’d been cleaning the webs and dust out of the corners and off surfaces. He had finished that an hour ago and now had nothing to distract himself with.

He was currently sitting in a chair in his small dining room that held far too many memories. ‘How did this happen? How am I here?… Are we all still friends at this point? It’s been too long, I can’t remember.  

Dream stood abruptly and stalked out of the room. Most likely to find something to get his mind off his friends . His search led him outside. It was definitely something to look at. He hadn’t been out here since he arrived, being too busy with the work needed inside. 

Everything was overgrown with brambles, bushes and vines, he’s surprised he made it to his front door without tripping and falling face first into thorns. Dream’s shoulders dropped in dread which was quickly replacing his boredom. He had a LOT of work to do.

An hour later)

Dream had his hoodie tied around his waist and his mask hanging off his belt. It was already warm outside before with the sun beating down on Dream with not a cloud in the sky to him from its rays, but it was a bit worse when he had a hoodie adding an extra layer of warmth on him and his mask collecting sweat and strands of hair clinging to it. So he thought it best to take them off, beside there shouldn’t be anyone for miles, no one around to see him.

The piles of pulled up weeds, fallen branches from the trees and the trimmed limbs of the rose and berry bushes surrounding his house slowly grew taller as the hours passed. 

It soon became dark as Dream tossed the last tree branch onto one of the nearby piles. The newly uncovered ground was bare of any vegetation except for the couple of stray weeds scattered here and there.

The grass would grow back in time and in the meantime Dream would try to fix anything that needed it. As Dream turned back to the house, something caught his attention stopping him in his tracks. A small shed like building a little off to the side of the house, Dream’s Workshop. (Title drop :0) A room full of tools, wood shavings, and unfinished projects. A room Dream has spent hours of his life in, it held so many memories, good and bad.

Dream soon found himself standing in front of the wooden door he hasn’t opened since longer than the house. If he were to be completely honest he was scared to. Scared to open the door and to see nothing had changed or that it has…

Chapter Text

Tommy was cold and tired, that's all he remembered after running away from his friends … them , before he found himself opening his eyes to stare up at a wet black nose inches from his face. Steve, Techno’s polar bear, who was currently tied to a post was staring at Tommy as if he were some strange looking meal.

‘IT’S GONNA EAT ME!!’ 0-0 Tommy scrambled away quickly but only got a foot or two before hitting his head against the wall making a loud thud . 

Steve huffed, turned away and laid down next to the post. Tommy looked away from the bear and took in his surroundings, he was in a room next to a fire sleeping next to a bear… A FUCKING BEAR!! ‘Where am I?’  

The door to Tommy’s right opened and Technoblade stepped in standing tall and proud, following behind him was none other than Philza Minecraft, black wings folded behind him. 

“Tommy! You’re awake!” Phil’s eyes landed on Tommy going wide eyed. Phil passed Techno and knelt down beside Tommy, “are you okay?” 

‘Why does he care? Nobody cared before.. except Dream ’

“Uh..” Tommy didn’t know what to say, he’d only just woken up and was in a room with The Blade, Philza and a fucking polar bear!

“Where are we??” Tommy looked up at Phil searching his face for hatred or disdain, but the only thing showing on Phil’s face was something Tommy hadn’t seen in a while. Worry… and care.. It was so different from Dream’s smiling mask. ‘I’m imagining things no one cares about me’ 

Not wanting to think on the matter any longer Tommy turned to Techno, right when the man started to open his mouth. 

“You’re in my house.” Techno said flatly with a hint of amusement. It reminded him of Dream.

‘Huh..’

(A while later)

Tommy soon found himself sitting at a table with Technoblade on one side of him and Philza on the other. Phil being the first to talk.

“Okay mate, tell us from the beginning about what happened.”

Chapter Text

Dream doesn’t know how long he stood there contemplating opening the door to his workshop, he was scared of the moments with his friends this place could remind him of. He didn’t know if he wanted to remember them. He wasn't sure if he wanted to forget them either. Taking in a deep breath, Dream reached for the handle and pushed the wooden door open.

The movement sent a cloud of dust into the air and into Dream’s uncovered face, making him sneeze. Fanning the dust away from his face he stepped into the dark room, the light from outside helped a little to brighten the place up enough for Dream to be able to see the outlines of the stuff farther into the room. 

Taking a torch out of his inventory, Dream placed the flickering torch into a stand on the right side of the wall filling the room with light, revealing the dusty furniture, shelves and tools. Dream’s vision grew blurry not realizing he was crying until he blinked trying to clear his eyes. 

The workbench and tools were exactly where they were last time Dream was here. He could just imagine Sapnap and George commenting on the mess and teasing Dream while Callahan sat on the bench watching them in amusement, with the occasional agreeing nod when one of the other boys called the workspace filthy.

Even though it was always his mess his friends would always help tidy the place up. But Dream was alone now, in the cluttered workshop they used to spend hours in…

‘I’m such a screw-up’ Dream spun around and walked out of the faintly lit workshop. ‘I can’t be here… I don’t deserve to be…’

But Dream had nowhere else to go, heading back to the other members would eventually land him in a cage to be tortured daily and left to rot. He couldn’t go back. So he’d have to stay here.

Chapter Text

Tommy stared down at the mug in front of him, watching the warm rich liquid slowly swirling in the mug. It was much more comfortable to look at then the two troubled faces staring at him, well one face to exact, Technoblade’s face showed more curiosity than anything.

“Why would Dream just leave?” Phil looked to Technoblade as if he would know, but the man in question only shrugged when he caught the looks that Phil was shooting him. Phil sighed “well I suppose it doesn’t matter at the moment, what does is that we check you for any injuries we may have missed” Tommy looked up at Phil only to see the man staring right back at him.

Tommy’s face soured.  ‘Lovely…’ 

Quite a bit later 

“Is this really necessary?” Tommy inquired looking at the older blonde as he examined Tommy’s body for any unbandaged wounds from his time out in the woods. Phil scoffed, “Infection isn’t a joke Tommy, I need to know that I’ve treated all your open wounds.” 

Having nothing else to do but sit and wait for Phil to stop poking around his thick blonde hair and along his back. Tommy looked around the room that Phil had brought him into, the room itself was a bit small for all the things that were in it. 

There was a small bed in the corner behind him that Phil was currently sitting on and beside it was a double chest that was propped open by a book, it being behind Tommy he couldn’t see what was in it. The book shelf on his right was almost barren with only a handful of books on the second highest shelf piled on top of each other. 

There wasn’t anything very interesting about the desk to his left either, the door in front of Tommy was probably the most interesting thing in the room, it looked to be made of spruce but it had carvings of wolf running around the frame. It was quite impressive, ‘I wonder who made it.’

After another minute of poking through the bandaids and bandages as well as the ones Phil added littered Tommy’s skin, Phil was satisfied to have found very little additional injuries. 

Having permission from Phil, Tommy stood up from the stool that he’d been forced to sit in for the last ten minutes, and carefully stretched out his aching limbs not wanting to rip anything that would lead to him sitting on the stool again for the next hour.

But before Tommy could put his shirt back on, the door to the room burst open, and there stood Technoblade with a bag slung over his shoulder. Phil looked at the bag then turned his gaze to Techno, “are you going somewhere?” Phil asked, confused. 

“I’m going to go look for Dream.”

Chapter Text

The door to the workshop stayed closed in spite of Dream having literally nothing else to do, he had tried to stay busy, but he ran out of things to do quite a while ago! The area around the house was cleared and already had sprouts of grass littered everywhere, and he’d done so much cleaning in the house that the windows sparkled and the floors looked brand new. 

He’d even rearranged every room so many times that he felt like the aching in his body would never go away. So not only was he bored but sore too!

He was now outside stretched out under one of the trees near the house. He was humming the tune of a song he doesn’t remember, soaking in the afternoon sun with his eyes closed, trying to distract himself from the door he's been avoiding for days now! 

But avoiding it obviously wasn't working, it was all he could think about, the only thing he hadn't touched, moved or fixed yet was in his workshop. He had nothing to do and the answer to his boredom was just beyond the door! But he still can’t bring himself to open it again. He doesn’t deserve to.  

Dream glanced over at the small building sitting on the edge of the woods, his heart jumped. Dream yearned to open the door and start making something.. anything! He wants to lose himself in the work and make something cool or weird like he used to do.. ‘no… How can I go back there without them?! ’ Dream turned away from the workshop and looked up at the branches above with rays of sunshine filtering through the leaves. It was a beautiful day. He couldn't waste it inside anyway.

Even if he really wants to …

Two Days Later

Dream couldn’t take it anymore, he hadn't a thing to do but lie around and think for days, he was going to lose his head if he didn’t do something soon! His body wasn’t used to doing nothing for days like he was, and it threw his brain for a loop, to feel the nerves and anxiety build up with the need to move and do anything other than lay around and sleep! He had to do something.. they’d forgive him right? 

Does he deserve to be forgiven? Would anyone of the people he's hurt forgive him?  

‘ Would he…? ’

Dream shook his head trying to clear it of the unwelcome thoughts that have been plaguing him for weeks. He’s sure they’d forgive him for making things without them. 

‘ Would they forgive you for everything else though? ’

Dream paused his small walk around his house as that thought flooded his head. He’d done so much would they forgive him?

He shook his head a second time albeit more violently than the last. One step at a time..

Dream walked out of his house and opened the door after days of fighting with himself. He propped the wooden door open with a small rock, letting the dusty workplace air out for the first time in years.

Chapter Text

Hello people!! I’m sorry it’s been forever since I’ve updated this or any of my works and I just want to say that it’s going to be long time until I post another chapter for Dream’s Workshop IF I even decide to pick it back up I’m sorry to the people who liked this but I haven’t had the time, motivation or creativity and I don’t know when I will…

Making this ?announcement? was a spur of the moment kind of deal I wasn’t really planning on picking this back up at all and I was just never going to touch again but I think I owe whoever’s watching for updates at least something anyway see you guys in a year or three :)