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The sun fell into the night, and the stars twinkled.
Dream realises the stars look much clearer, when far away from the buildings and governments and bloodshed, the crickets louder. The torches are much brighter the darker the night is, and prevents hostile monsters from spawning. He sat on the ground, leaning against a birch tree.
Birch forests are small, low, and indefinitely are the worst woods in existence. But it is the most recent place he found, in the state of not yet touched or used. He’ll chop down all the wood later, make a nice house maybe, or hand it off to George maybe.
The discs in his hand are scratched, one labelled green and the other purple. The moonlight and the torches seemed to make these scratches so clear to sight, even with his mask on, and the scratches appear and disappear as he angles the discs to judge its other features. Fingerprints smaller than his appear sometimes, not as clear as the scratches though. Fingerprints that were undoubtedly Tommy’s. He wondered if the kid ever bothered cleaning the disc, as beloved it was to the kid.
A kid who happened to be L’manburg’s knight in shining armour.
The grass rustled, and Dream already knew who it was. He’d recognize Sapnap by the sound of his footsteps and his scent alone. The constant scent of fire and charcoal. A scent that even despite war, still showed itself exclusively as comfortable as Sapnap’s, and Sapnap’s only.
“Hey Dream, what are you doing this far?”
Dream stored the discs back in his inventory. Out of the small open corners in his mask he saw Sapnap’s dark charcoal hair and the white of his bandanna. He pushed his mask to the side of his head, tugging on his green hood from pressing on his ears. He was met by Sapnap’s grin on a copper skinned face, netherite armour glinting with its enchantments. He sat on the grass, leaning on his arms.
Dream shimmied himself over the side for a bit, and patted the ground beside him to allow Sapnap to lean against the tree too. Sapnap smiled with teeth and rested next to Dream, their sides touching.
“Hey Sap.”
A snort. “Hey Dream.”
Dream could feel it, a warmth emanating from Sapnap. And maybe, a warmth somewhere inside his stomach. Silence, as they say, is meant to be cold, a sign of indifference, calm before a storm, a cold shoulder towards the people who love you, but this silence with Sapnap only exhibits warmth. No matter how awkward.
That’s what blaze hybrids do, right?
“I uh, saw the discs.”
Sapnap always starts first, even if it was arguably Dream who teases first, it was Sapnap who responds and continues. Dream sat up straighter against the small portion of the tree he could lean against.
“Yeah. Tommy traded it for L’manburg’s independence.”
A crow cawed and the crickets seemed to sing an unfamiliar chorus. Sapnap raised an eyebrow.
“I didn’t think Tommy had it in him, I mean, literally just think about the whole disc war.”
Hazel eyes met amber eyes.
“Yeah. I was caught off guard too, like, we were celebrating their defeat.”
“So L’manburg is independent now, huh.”
“I guess.”
Dream would’ve shrugged if Sapnap wasn’t sitting so close to him now, all Sapnap had to do was lean his head on his shoulder and Dream would be trapped. And that’s what Sapnap did.
“Can I see the discs? I just wanna see them, I swear.”
The discs popped into his hands. Sapnap was predictable.
“The purple one is Mellohi, right?” Sapnap remarked, and Dream hummed. “The green one is Cat.”
“Just like you.”
Dream tried his best to turn his head so he could look at Sapnap without affecting the head on his shoulder. He raised an eyebrow, and Sapnap only grinned innocently.
“Seriously, why a cat? What does a cat have to do with me?”
Sapnap grinned lopsidedly. “You like green. And you’re cute. Cats are cute.”
“So does this mean I, uh, can scratch your eyes out and you’ll forgive me?”
“You like my eyes too much to scratch me, come on, admit it.”
Dream did like Sapnap’s eyes. They were amber, with a rustic feel to them.
“I mean, they’re kinda pretty, it's kinda like your, uh, iris is a fire and the pupil reminds me of coal, so, yeah.”
Sapnap snorted. “So my eyes are suddenly a fireplace, I’ve got two fireplaces in my head now.”
Dream giggled. His words seemed to stumble where they were sharp and calculating before.
The crickets seemed to hum remnants of a lullaby now, quieter than before.
“You kinda do, you are a blaze hybrid.”
“Yeah, a blaze hybrid without the blaze.”
“Isn’t that, like, kinda weird? Like you’re a blaze hybrid but you just look human.”
“Like literally, all I do is just some unnatural body heat or something.”
Both of them are smiling now, full of teeth and warmth. Sapnap regards the discs in Dream’s hands again, the discs resting on his lap while gloved fingers with tears and patches rested idly on them, neither grasping or holding. Just relaxed.
“If only we have a jukebox now, we could’ve vibed.”
Dream shrugs (as much as he could, Sapnap is still leaning on his shoulder.).
“I mean, that would be nice. Unless you’re listening to Mellohi, not sure how to vibe to that.”
“Tommy doesn’t know how to use them, he should’ve, like, blasted that disc during the duel or something.”
“It sounds super dramatic.”
“I know, right? It’s like music for the apocalypse or something.”
“Yeah.”
And Dream doesn’t know how to respond to that anymore. He remembers he’s supposed to be chopping down trees. He put the torches, sharpened his axe, and ate enough. All that’s left is Sapnap, Sapnap and his stupid quips and fireplace eyes. Sapnap with his warmth and rustic scent. Sapnap with his functionless white bandanna and copper skin.
His shoulder loses weight, and his head is free to turn to look at Sapnap, who sits straight on his own, not leaning against the tree anymore.
“You’ve got things to do, right? You’ve been quiet, and-”
And Dream cuts him off with a simple “Yeah.”
Because Dream realises, they’re not Tommy and Tubbo with their bench on the hill under a tree, the discs aren’t even his. This thing with him and Sapnap, this relationship, are the foxes playing around in birch forests. Playing around with whatever toy they manage to grab.
But he knows, and Sapnap knows, that by nightfall, they’ll still be playing together with whatever toy they grabbed, and they’ll play together until dawn through dusk. Through thick and thin, through lava or snow.
So Dream and Sapnap both stand up, and Sapnap pats him on the shoulder. “You sure you don’t need help? With whatever you’re doing.”
Dream’s strong and smart. He always has been, when it came to making choices.
So he doesn’t need to bat an eye at all when he pulls his axe out and says “Yes.”