this world we have built is burning down around us | Dream SMP Time Travel Fic

children do not mourn (they do not yet know death well enough)

Sam remained in the SMP that night, deciding to sleep in the community house and return to his base at dawn to continue its construction.

Dream found him, an inevitability that would have happened eventually, but it still jarred him. Dream had never been anyone but an old friend, but the things Theseus had confessed to him upon revealing his identity made Sam wary of the blond who hid behind a mask.

"You're still here?" Dream sounded pleasantly surprised. "I figured you'd be gone by now."

"Just for the night," Sam assured him, leaning on the wall his bed was pushed back against. "I'll be out of your hair by morning."

"You're always welcome, Sam," Dream disputed, waving the green-haired man off. "Your behavior's been a little odd, is all. You've visited Eret twice in the past few days, which is a bit frequent for you to be here, and you haven't even said hello to anyone else."

Sam chucked, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "Ah, Eret's helping me with a little project of mine that I've been working on. Let's just say you'll be seeing more of me in the near future."

Dream stilled, and though Sam couldn't see his face, he knew his friend well enough (didn't he?) to tell that the masked man was practically glowing. "Really? You're finally settling down in the SMP?"

"I suppose I'm settling down, but it'll be a bit ways from here," Sam admitted, flashing his friend a smirk, creeper scales scrunching on his cheeks. "I'm nearby through the Nether, though. I just want to keep some of my privacy."

"Well, it's better than nothing," Dream conceded graciously with a light laugh, hands bunching into his hoodie pockets. "Don't be a stranger, alright? It'll be nice to have another friendly face around here."

"There's plenty already," Sam teased, and Dream shifted; he got the feeling the server ruler was rolling his eyes.

"Don't go grouping L'manberg in," Dream warned, nothing sinister, simply a teasing reprimand that Sam still knew was sincere. "They've been a pain since day one. We may hold a truce, but we're not friends."

Sam fought to hold the smile, just barely preventing his own falter. Theseus's tale of Dream taking an axe to the child's throat like a butcher played in his head on repeat, a reel that would not pause for its audience. He wanted to scream at his friend to let it go, beg him to protect the children of his server instead of feeding his hate until it festered beyond moral sanity.

He held his tongue.

"I'll see you."

Dream's expression flickered for only a moment, but it made Sam's heart skip nonetheless. "Sooner rather than later, I hope," the hooded man poked mirthfully before wishing Sam a good night and leaving him to his own.

He laid down, closed his eyes, and dreamed of a time when peace lingered instead of fleeing from the violence at its heels.

__________

It was cold when Sam woke, and he was not sure why until he realized his blanket was being tugged from him. Blinking himself into consciousness and pushing himself up, his eyes searched for the intruder, only to see nothing but a floating blanket.

An invisibility potion.

Sam couldn't help the loud groan, flopping back onto the bed and throwing an arm over his eyes. "Did you seriously use an invis pot to come harass me? In enemy territory?"

"I didn't come to harass you," Theseus argued in the darkness but didn't offer up any correction. "I just couldn't sleep."

"Tommy, I need to sleep if I'm gonna get that base finished for us." Mustering what little energy he'd gathered from his short nap, he removed his arm from his face and sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. "Wouldn't it have been more fun to bother Eret?"