↚The Pig's Shadow | Dream x Reader | Slowburn ↛

Chapter 20: Set The Stage

A little bit of a filler chapter today.

I am sleep deprived and delirious right now

You awoke to the sky a dull gray-blue and the grass slippery and wet. As you stumbled out of your tent, you noticed stacks of lumber piled nearby, slowly being hauled inside the town. Braiding your hair and flipping your hood up, you walked outside to help. One of the people was Niki, a newer member you didn't know much about. She waved to you, smiling, and you nodded back, uncomfortable.

As you walked inside L'manburg with your logs, Tommy waved you over.

"WOMAN!" he yelled, making you jump and nearly drop your logs. "Come help build the f***ing stage!"

You cursed under your breath, resettling the logs. "Fine. Jesus, Tommy, don't call me that." You walked over to the stacks upon stacks of wood and dropped your own logs into the pile before turning around examining the area. "Wow, y'all really had to pick this place? This is trash landscape for a stage." Rolling your eyes, you took out your axe and got to work.

Most of the wood was wet from the light rain overnight and your axe slipped several times while you chopped. Slowly, the sun rose higher and more people came by, some of whom you didn't know. You spotted Sapnap around noon and awkwardly waved to him. He returned your greeting with a tight grin before turning to talk to a smiling Karl. It wasn't much, but it was a start. Rebuilding your friendship would take time.

Schlatt and Dream had once again made themselves scarce, but you were kind of happy with that. It was easier to focus without Schlatt sitting behind you, drinking, or having Dream be a constant reminder that you weren't quite free yet. Right on cue, your hand unconsciously drifted to your neck as it often did. Even though it had been more than a month since you'd first been captured- well, kidnapped, somethings had been etched into your memory.

Sighing, you turned around and nailed the next log in, arms aching. As you worked, your mind drifted to all sorts of random things: a flash of pink reminded you of Techno, the smell of food reminded you of potatoes, a feather reminded you of how much your neck ached from your night on the ground.

Finally, the outline for the stage was done and you were chopping the logs up into planks. Fundy ran by with Niki, talking about... something like cookies and muffins? You could never be sure with those two.

It did, however, make you realize just how hungry you were. You sat on the framework of the stage, legs dangling over the edge, munching on a piece of mutton and sipping a bucket of milk while you watched L'manburg. It was so peaceful. You'd never realized that the first time you'd been in it. Then, all you'd been focused on was going home. Now, you had time to take in all of it's serene beauty. Down the plank path, Tubbo was selling drugs to people while Tommy and Niki whispered about fungi and sheep. You now realized that Tommy had tear trails on his cheeks, a detail you hadn't seen before. You wondered what had happened.

Finishing you meal, you grabbed the planks and began hammering them together. Big Q appeared around ten minutes later and helped for a while before saying goodbye and running to go find Sapnap. As you finished the stage, the sun was setting and you decided to take a walk to stretch your legs before it was completely dark outside.

As you strolled through L'manburg, a grinning Jack ran up leading a familiar H/C/C horse. "NO F***ING WAY!" you cheered, hugging first the horse and then Jack. "YOU'RE A LEGEND." You broke the hug to examine the horse. Besides being slightly less fit and a little fatter than when you'd last seen it, H/N was in perfect condition. "How'd you guys find him?"

Jack's smile grew. "Wilbur said he ran into L'manburg alone around a month ago and they've kept him ever since." You beamed at him again before swinging up onto the horse. "Uh, Shadow, there's no saddl-"

With a loud whoop, you cut Jack off and raced down the plank path, giggling while attempting to hang on. The horse charged right towards Niki, Tubbo, and Tommy, who shrieked and ducked out of the way. You slipped sideways on the horse, now having only one leg keeping you from a painful fall. Finally, the horse came to a stop. You were laughing maniacally from your precarious position, and you slowly started falling off. Tubbo and Niki caught you while Tommy screamed something about attempted murder and threatened to sue you. You weren't really listening.

While you sat on a bench with the three of them, joking and sharing stories, you realized that L'manburg might very well never be this happy and peaceful, depending on who won the election. You grin faded a little, and Tubbo took noticed.

"You good, Big S?" He asked, concerned.

You socked him in the arm.

"Don't call me that! Yeah, I'm fine." You made an effort to smile at him, as if to prove your point. "Just had a thought." Giggling, you threw an apple at Tommy and ducked away as he screamed and tried to punch you. You wondered just how long this happy feeling would last.

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896 words

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YAy, bad filler chapterrrs

I'm going to BED

even though I just got up.

nyeh

TA TE CHILDREN