The Tale | Dream SMP

I - Chapter Five

Dream finished patching up the aquarium and sighed, taking a step back to look at it all. It had been tough to get Beckerson safely into it, but after lots of effort, at least he had succeeded.

He watched as the small yellow-and-white striped fish swam around in the water underneath him, taking in his new home. Sapnap had covered the bottom of the aquarium with sand, gravel, and lots of seagrass to the make the place as beautiful and liveable for the tiny fish as possible.

"He looks so happy," George said with a blissful sigh as he sat down next to Dream. "Peaceful little fish."

Since the aquarium was built as the roof of their house, they could see Beckerson from both the second floor and on top of the roof. It was a weird design, but cool nonetheless. There was nothing better than falling asleep with the sight of your fish swimming above you.

"Do you think this was a good idea for a roof?" Dream asked.

George shrugged. "Probably not. It won't withstand harsh weather. But it should be fine for the time being, right?"

"Sure," Dream said half-heartedly.

His friend gave him a light punch on the shoulder. "Come on, lighten up, Dream! Sapnap's gonna go catch himself a fish of his own later, and I wanna be there when it happens. You're not going to bring down the mood, are you?"

There was the slightest note of warning in his voice. Dream simply smiled. "Of course not, George. I want the peace to last for as long as possible."

George returned his smile, standing up. He brushed himself off and headed for the stairs down to the second floor, where they spent most of their nights. Since they were constantly travelling and exploring, they rarely stayed in the Community House. The first floor was where Dream generally greeted people, and underneath, the sub floor, was their storage.

If he had to be honest, that was probably his favourite part of the entire house. The walls were entirely glass, showing the lake that the house was built in. The idea of letting Beckerson loose into the lake had once come up, but ultimately, it was too dangerous. If a cat just happened to be strolling by, then they'd be planning the funeral.

Dream got onto his feet, casting one last glance at the aquarium before turning to follow George.

***

Patience was never his strong suit.

He preferred to use his brain, not to wait for things to come to him. But sometimes, the things that his brain came up with required him to have patience. And so Dream would wait. But he never liked it.

Needing patience meant dealing in the future. Dream preferred the present.

"I want a colorful fish," Sapnap said as he carefully placed a single wriggling worm in the bucket he was holding. "Something vibrant. That would be cool."

"Depends on your luck," George said doubtfully. "You never know."

"The fish chooses the owner, not the other way around," Dream piped up.

His friends laughed. Dream smiled to himself. His hand wandered down to his mask, which lay next to him on the sand. Images flashed before his eyes. Blood on his hands. George standing before him, a sword in his hand, ready to kill him. Sapnap closing his eyes as Dream brought down his axe.

He jerked his hand back, breathing heavily. George placed a hand on his shoulder and frowned. "Dream? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he choked out. "Just got... lost in my thoughts."

Sapnap set down his fish trap and sighed. "Flashbacks?"

Dream stayed silent. He knew it was stupid, but he couldn't stop it. Every time he wasn't paying attention, everything would rush at him, catching him off guard and forcing him to stop whatever it was that he was doing.

"Nothing like that will happen here," George said softly. "See, we're all fine now, right? Look at us, friendly and happy together. Remember what we called this place? The Dream SMP?"

"I'm fine," Dream repeated. "I'll get it under control. Don't worry."

George gave his shoulder a firm squeeze. "We were just practicing our skills," he reminded him. "All of that was entirely for fun."

For fun. Nearly killing your friends, trying to hurt them so badly that you'd have enough time to get away while they struggled to recover? Planning different ways to incapacitate them? Just thinking about it made Dream regret everything.

But George had a point. After their experiences, the three of them had honed their skills to an incredibly fine point. Dream had no doubt that they could take on anyone and win without breaking a sweat.

"Wait, I caught one," Sapnap said with a confused frown. "But I just put it down... I didn't even set up anything!"

Dream watched as he held up the tin container. He could see a fish swimming around frantically, with striped colors just like Beckerson. Orange and grey. Exactly the opposite of the vibrant colors Sapnap had wanted.

"Aw," Sapnap said with a warm smile. "I've been chosen."

He nuzzled the bucket and grinned broadly at the small fish. Dream couldn't help but smile as well. It was such a sweet scene that he couldn't help it. He could easily imagine the happiness inside of Sapnap at the moment.

"Give it a name," George urged.

Sapnap hesitated, then hugged the pail close to his body. "Mars."

"Beckerson and Mars," Dream mused, testing out the two names together. "Sounds nice."

"Is the aquarium gonna be big enough for the both of them?" George asked in concern. "Are they territorial? What if they don't get along?"

"It's an entire roof, George," Sapnap said, rolling his eyes. "They'll be fine."

He placed the can of worms back in his pocket and knelt down next to the water, filling it up halfway, before standing up and beginning to head back to the heart of the SMP.

Dream got to his feet as well, helping George up. "What if we got a dog?" he asked. "Or maybe a cat? Cats like snuggling. You can't hug fish."

"Watch me," Sapnap called over his shoulder as he disappeared into the trees.

From beside him, George laughed. "Fun times. He's going to get soaked."

"He's Sapnap," Dream said with a shrug. "I mean, he tried to hug fire once before. Honestly, I'm more worried about the fish. What if he suffocates it?"

George bit his lip. "That's actually possible. Now I'm worried, too."

Dream ducked under a low-hanging branch. As they got closer to the main lands, he secured his mask over his face, hiding his features. For once, it didn't remind him of all their battles. Things would be okay. Any cracks between them would be fixed, and finally, Dream would be able to live happily.