Archive of Our Own ^beta

techno finds dream standing at his door, shivering and swaying side to side. "can you, uh- can you let me in?"

techno sidesteps just enough to let him in, then closes the door. "why are you here?"

dream slinks through, walking - with impressive restraint, mind you - to the fireplace and sitting down in front of it. "i... finished my shoots for today."

"and you didn't have anywhere else to go?"

dream freezes. "i- i can go, if-"

"god, dream, calm down. i'll make us some tea." he wanders off before any complaints can follow.

techno fills the kettle and sets it on the stove. he pulls out two mugs: a pink one with obnoxious amounts of golden glitter thrown onto it and a neon green one obviously coloured with a highlighter. just seeing them makes him smile.

measuring the tea on autopilot, he turns back to the living room. dream is sitting on the floor with a bottle of water, taking small sips and chirring softly. he's probably clearing out his weird semi-acquatic airways, as he tends to every few hours. it's a nice sound - something soothing and quiet, a faint bubble inlaid. techno doesn't think much about dream gurgling water into his lungs, opting to just not question it.

he pours out the water and walks out into the living room. "here ya go," he says, handing the green one to dream.

"thanks." he sets the cup down on the floor.

techno lounges on his armchair. dream is comfortable on the floor, and... well, the prison isn't exactly nice on his sensory perceptions. dream doesn't like soft surfaces much, not anymore.

"so. why are you here?"

"uhm..." dream taps the tips of his fingers. "they... kicked me out of the prison."

techno squints. "why so?"

"apparently i live here is not a good enough reason to be somewhere."

he sips his tea. "you live... in. the prison?" 

"sam said i, and i quote-" dream lifts up his fingers to do air quotes, lowering his voice to something completely inaccurate, "didn't go outside enough. which i, by the way, think is bullshit!" 

"when was the last time you were outside not for a shoot?"

dream hums. "like a week ago?"

"and you are sure that's an okay amount of time?"

"well, i'm- i'm fine, so..."

techno looks at dream and, uh, he disagrees.

dream has been losing weight, not sleeping well, almost passed out on multiple occasions and favours the floor to the point of concern over his joints many, many times. not to mention the mental toll of being the villain, which has been grating on dream for the past year. there's an entire underground ring dedicated to monitoring dream, making sure he stays even moderately fine.

"you are deficient in vitamins they haven't even discovered yet."

"it's... not that bad."

techno looks at dream again. his cheekbones have started becoming too prominent for comfort. "right," he says, slowly, pointedly staring at his face.

dream must know he's screwed, though, because he responds in a heavier tone, "fine. i don't have an appetite. happy?"

"...not really, no." techno looks down. over the course of their conversation he'd emptied his cup and dream's was still half full. "you... need to eat."

dream looks off. "i know, i try, but i just... haven't felt like it, recently." he looks back to techno. "but i think that's normal for me. bad remembers many times i didn't eat as much. it's nothing to worry about."

techno stares as dream stands and climbs down into the basement. he doesn't point out that dream's room is downstairs.

phil narrows his eyes at dream.

he isn't quite sure why the guy's here. of course, dream is always welcome, but today seems like a strange day for him to visit.

dream has what techno calls his days.

dream's days are ones where he's more withdrawn, commonly loses speech and, generally, acts more pathetic than a wet doormat.

like right now.

dream is curled up under the coffee table. phil's surprised he even fit, his strange mixed ancestry making him taller than most of the smp, but seems he'd been insistent because there he is, bordering on hiding with only the tip of his tail poking out, breathing quietly. it's the only noise from him in the past hour or so.

phil has tried to distract himself from the fact dream's hiding under his coffee table, but it's a little difficult when, well, dream is hiding under your coffee table.

half of him says to call techno, but if dream had wanted techno, he would've gone to techno. but he came to phil.

so, phil does his best with what he has. he goes through chores he's been putting off, dusting and cleaning, keeping up a steady shuffle of movement and humming little songs to himself.

he keeps himself calm and domestic and, maybe by proxy, dream as well.

a few hours pass just like this. dream might be asleep; phil's not about to crouch down and crowd him, not after the suspicious - dream of phil, not phil of dream - borderline glare phil had received when he'd first tried, right when he'd noticed dream. if he's asleep, that means he's getting sleep and phil will earn multiple favours.

but dream shuffles around and phil's eyes snap to him as he stretches.

seems he was asleep. he yawns, wide, showing off his sharp teeth and making the tiny axolotl-like gills behind his ears flutter. he hums, like he always does when he wakes.

"g'mornin'," comes the voice from under the table. he sounds raspy. "i'm... sorry."

"mate, for what?" phil asks, crouching down so dream can see more than just his feet, still on the other side of the room. "you're always welcome here."

"but..." dream coughs, searching through his inventory for something. he drops a loaf of bread in his tired daze.

"want some water?"

"yes, please."

phil gets dream a cup of tap water. "you shouldn't drink laying down."

dream snatches the cup anyway. "it's... it's fine," he slurs. he takes a small sip and chirrs, then sighs in relief.

"feeling better?" phil asks. he sits down properly in front of the table. dream is still curled up but his tail is swishing side to side. "not... sore?"

"nah." dream stretches again. "i'm... i was tired."

"are you still tired?"

dream avoids phil's eyes. "yeah." he hasn't made any attempt to leave his spot.

"you can stay there, i don't mind. you need anything else?"

dream shakes his head, then hesitantly looks in phil's direction. "...my blanket?"

"yeah, i can go get that. be right back."

(dream's back to dozing when phil returns. he wakes up just enough to take the blanket and wrap himself into it, making a giant pile still under phil's living room table that is, somehow, comfortable.)

dream shakes his glamour off the moment the cameras are off.

"hey, you did great!" sam says, patting his shoulder. "go take a walk, then we'll run over the next scenes, okay?"

dream nods mutely. this stupid shot took a lot out of him, for some reason. maybe it just... maybe it's a day, today. he walks off, past the cameras and the people who take one look at his state and decide to leave him alone. 

pandora is familiar to him already. he takes the secret door to the off-camera area, making his way to a room that's off-limits to anyone. 

he steps inside, doesn't turn the lights on, hopes the humidifier's still running. it's his room. he's too tired to go on a walk. 

dream closes the door and immediately slumps onto the carpet that someone insisted he add. he's not sure if he likes it.

phil gave him lunch, right? he should eat that. he hasn't eaten today and even tommy pointed it out. but he just... just can't right now. 

he already feels his eyes start to burn and he shoves his head into his arms. rationally, he knows it's just a post-shoot adrenaline crash, but in the moment it feels like far too much. he crawls off the carpet into the corner, curling up tightly.

he loses track of time, maybe, or maybe someone knew where he'd be, because soon enough there's a hand on his arm and a voice, a little further back, asks, "you alright?"

dream doesn't look up and can't quite discern the mumbled voice. he nods despite that, and a different voice says, "that's good. just let it out, no problem."

dream wipes his face and peeks through his hands. the person closer to him is phil, hat askew. next to him is techno, obviously nervous. they look a bit out of their element, here. "hi," he mumbles, and it makes both of them smile.

"hullo," techno mumbles back. "what are you doin' here?"

"...tired." dream sets his chin on his knees, still curled up but now looking at the two. phil's hand is grounding. "needed a moment."

"you could've come to us, you know," techno says, and it isn't strict, it's only caring. "you don't need to be alone, here."

dream looks down. he moves his arms until they're spread, and phil immediately swoops in, bringing him into a hug. he tenses for a split second before melting into it, and he misses the concerned looks techno and phil share. 

"can i pick you up?" phil asks, and dream nods into his shoulder. he giggles at the sudden swoop when he's lifted, surprised at phil's strength. two wings come up to support him and he melts into the hold. "come on, we're taking you out of here."

"phil, you can't be doin' this."

"oh, techno," phil laughs, "watch me."

dream opens the door, steps inside, closes it, and knocks his head against it multiple times.

"oh, hello dream," phil calls, "you alright?"

"fuck no!" he calls back. he groans loudly. "i need a nap."

he hears techno's laughter, phil's steps approaching him, and he smiles, because he knows they were waiting for him to come home.