𝟎𝟓 | chapter five

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harpocrates
> okay you can't just text me "Ranboo broke a rib" and then ghost me
> do you understand why that's concerning

Techno stares at the dim screen for a long moment. It's well after midnight; who the hell is texting him? A second more passes before it clicks, and he sighs. Right. He doesn't recall what, exactly, he texted Harpocrates in his panicked haze, but it probably wasn't too coherent. Techno scrolls up to read their previous messages for context. Things are vaguely starting to make sense.

Hesitantly, he responds, crisis averted. He rolls over, careful not to fall off the couch.

Sometime after Phil arrived and color returned to Ranboo's face, an unspoken decision for them to stay the night occurred. Ranboo took Niki's bed, and after much protest, she and Techno each took a couch. Puffy and Dream slept on the floor.

(Niki extended an offer to stay to Phil. He thanked her for the offer, but he had an actual bed to sleep in, and he was going to enjoy it.)

The couch, however, is not very spacious. It's not meant for a six-foot-three adult to sleep on; there's simply not enough leg room. If there were, people would be buying couches instead of beds.

Techno grimaces as the phone buzzes again.

harpocrates
> breaking a rib isn't something you magically recover from dumbass

maybe i know a guy, Techno suggests. He does not, in fact, know a guy who can heal people, but he should. They need to blackmail some healer into joining the Syndicate.

No, not blackmail. They'd be more liable to betraying them that way.

There are not enough healers dedicated to anarchy. Tragic.

harpocrates
> what guy do you know that i don't

It takes Techno a moment to think of someone. Dream, he thinks fondly, not that he'll tell this asshole. The librarian is one of the few things he can keep away from the world of villains and heroes Techno lives in, and he'd like to keep it that way.

This would, of course, be entirely pointless if Dream were a hero. He cares so much, and he's so enthusiastic—it'd make sense for Dream to be a hero.

Techno's never heard of a hero like Dream, though. He's just an ordinary civilian.

It's nice to have someone who's ordinary, who he can protect from the batshit craziness he gets involved in.

i know plenty of men you don't. <

harpocrates
> lies
> show me this man

no. <

> dick
> how's the kid
> i know you're probably pulling your hair out bc of him

Techno scowls at the phone. When has he ever become that agitated about something? Pulling out hair won't solve anything.

he'll be fine. <

harpocrates
> how vague
> and incredibly in-character

thanks. <

> it's like two am there you know
> can't sleep huh

contemplating murder. <

Harpocrates's murder, naturally. Techno forgot how irritating the man could be. Somehow, though, he gained Techno's trust—enough to be second only to a childhood friend.

𝐖𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄 𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐘𝐎𝐔, dreamnobladeWhere stories live. Discover now