Feathered - DSMP Tangled AU

Two Boys In A Cabin

Taking the boy had more upsides then Dream could have imagined. King Philza invested so much time and men into trying to find his son his borders became weak. Dream slowly inched his way over them. The kingdom's spirits were also low. All of the citizens mourned the loss of their Prince.

So a few years later when he saw President Schlatt's four year old son in the garden almost alone he killed the guard and took the ram boy. Originally he planned on throwing it in a river somewhere, he had no desire to be anywhere near a hybrid child. Not like Tommy, who he renamed and planned to care for until he was older. The blonde boy was an annoying brat but he was tolerable. Dream could handle him until he was old enough. The ram boy on the other hand had no use to him beyond weakening Manberg. As he thought about it though, he realized having company could help Tommy. Especially as his kingdom grew he knew he wouldn't be able to be around him as much. He'd distance himself.

So he took the ram boy home and raised the two together. All it took was a little.. conditioning to get Tubbo to bend to his will. At the time the hybrid boy was already soft spoken and meek, a stark contrast to it's self absorbed bastard of a father. He quickly taught the hybrid it's place and punished it whenever necessary. Never in front of Tommy,  he couldn't destroy his image after all. Tommy wouldn't have understood the necessity of his actions. The poor thing saw hybrids as his equal. When he was older perhaps, but for the time being he did it in private.

Every few months Dream would take care of Tommy's wings. He'd gently run his fingers through the feathers and tug out the lose ones. A few would come out every time. He always did it as slowly and carefully as possible. Running his fingers through the feathers more than necessary to remove the lose ones. Tommy seemed to love these sessions while Tubbo would stand watch from the side. Usually with hint of jealousy in it's eyes, good Dream had thought. Though Dream hadn't seen it look jealous in a while. Perhaps he grew too lenient on the hybrid, something he'd have to fix.

Tommy never questioned what he did with the feathers he collected. He's glad the brat didn't. Him asking about or having an attachment to the feathers could have complicated things. He knew some of the winged people liked to keep their feathers even after they had come out. His collection grew slowly over the years. Tommy's wings grew bigger and beautiful. Dream was prideful.

Tommy didn't know much about history, neither did the ram. Dream didn't want them to learn about the winged people or what happened to them. So he filtered the media they were exposed to. He read through a few approved books with Tommy curled up on his lap. He'd run his fingers through the boy's hair fluffy blonde gently. From an outside perspective it probably looked like Dream loved Tommy.

He was at an annual meeting with King Philza, President Schlatt, and a few of the smaller neighboring kingdoms leaders. Prince Technoblade at Phil's side. His twin never came to the meetings though Dream wasn't sure why. He didn't bother to learn the names of the other kingdom's leaders. They spoke about the land's health and the crops. Dream only half payed attention. He was going back to the cabin again later today, it had been around a week since he was there last.

It was almost Tommy's 11th birthday. The Antarctic Empire held a festival every year and it had already begun with the festivities. It seemed a little weird to have a celebration on the anniversary of the lost prince's birthday (I mean Rapunzel's parents that's kinda fucked when you think about it). At the end of the celebration they played music loudly. Prince Wilbur insisted it would lead Theseus home one day. It was annoying and a stupid idea. Even if Dream didn't know where the Prince was he would have thought it was stupid. He drummed his fingers on the table thinking about what he'd get Tommy.

Phil stood suddenly as the meeting came to and end. The other members left leaving just Dream, Schlatt, Philza and Technoblade. "Thank you for all your help on the construction Dream" Phil spoke. He looked down at the plans that sat on the table. Dream said he had drawn them for him, but it was actually the work of one of the hybrids from his kingdom. That thing didn't need recognition though so Dream took the credit. It's not like anyone would find out. "Of course" Dream said, a mask covered his face but the grin that sat underneath could be heard in the way he spoke. "I know how hard it is for you right now." He barely tried to conceal the mocking in his tone and he knew the others in the room heard it. Technoblade glared at him silently. "I never had kids but I can imagine the pain you must feel, both of you must feel. I truly am sorry." He noticed Schlatt's hand tighten around the bottle of whiskey it held. 

He made his way to the cabin carrying Tommy's gift, a small trident he bought in the Antarctic Empire. It wasn't very useful inside of the cabin but Dream figured Tommy wouldn't care. He'd see 'ooh shiny' and run with it. After unlocking the door and sliding his mask off his face he set his bag down. He heard Tommy's signature loud footsteps bound down the hallway. The boy was energetic as he ran to Dream's arms.

He was impressed with how much Tommy loved him. Perhaps him rarely being around added to that. He need Tommy to be dependent on him and trust him, so despite disliking the clinginess he was happy with this result. He looked over Tommy's head and saw the ram hybrid standing in the doorway. It's eyes on the floor submissively. He couldn't help but grin at that too. Everything was exactly as he wanted it.

It seemed Dream forgot one of the biggest lessons his life ever taught him. All good things must come to an end.