Rivalry or? [dreamnoblade]

Chapter 6: Talking

A knock on the door echoed throughout the house. Inside, a figure woke from his slumber, or maybe he was already awake. There was another knock. Whoever was outside gave up on the attempts because the next noise was the sound of the door opening. "Techno?" The trespasser called, loud enough to carry through the house, but soft enough to show his concern. Not receiving an answer, the intruder walked around the house, poking and prodding anything vaguely human shaped. When he entered the reading nook, an unnatural mound on the floor caught his attention. "Techno, I know you're in there, it's Wilbur."
The mound shifted in refusal. Thinking was too hard right now, and the only way to stop thinking was to sleep. Additionally, Wilbur would likely try to weasel information out of him, and if there was one thing he didn't want to happen, it was that.
"I brought cheesecake." Techno's face peeked out to look at what was in Wilbur's hand. A fresh chocolate raspberry cheesecake. With his nose out of the blankets he was bombarded with the enchanting smell of the pastry. He hated that he couldn't refuse.
With half the cheesecake finished, Wilbur started his expected prying. "Can you tell me why you're acting like this?" He started, soothing and calm.
"I don't know." Techno said, poking at his half finished slice.
"You don't know what?" Wilbur clarified.
"Anything. My life is a mess and I don't want to think about it." Techno explained, trying to tell himself that longer he waited, the worse it would be.
Wilbur thought about it for a second. "You were fine a few days ago, can you tell me what changed? Maybe it'll make sense if you just talk it out."
Techno had thought about telling him. The night it happened he had thought about going to Wilbur's house and just rambling on and on about what happened, how he was feeling, everything. But if did that, Dream's identity would be exposed. After eating more cheesecake to get his mind working, Techno decided. "I can tell you half." Wilbur nodded in understanding. "I met this guy at a bar, we got very drunk, shared secrets, held hands, then I crashed at his place." Techno summed up, still wary of exposing emotions he was still grappling with.
"Did you do it?"
"No." Techno responded, glaring at him. He sighed and continued. "The other day he found out I was Technoblade. And let's just say he isn't exactly a fan."
Wilbur nodded, still processing everything, getting a good idea of the big picture. "And I'm guessing the half you didn't share relates to this guy's secrets." Techno nodded, his friend was perceptive as always. "Well option one is to cut him out of your life, never see him again, and hope you forget soon."
Techno thought about that option a little longer than necessary, but concluded, "That's almost impossible. Don't ask why."
Wilbur kept that in mind for later. "Well option two is to confront him, share your feelings, and talk it out." Techno gave him a look like Wilbur had just told him that dirt wasn't real and the sky was a nightmare. "I know I know, but this is the best I can give you with so little information. Think about it, you two have already shared secrets with each other, you've clearly been comfortable sharing feelings with him before, why does this time have to be different? You can even get drunk again."
Techno knew his friend was right. He was always right. But he couldn't imagine facing Dream again, he just couldn't.

"I need to talk to him immediately." Dream told George.
"Do you even know where he lives?" George responded, more focused on learning chess than his friend.
"No, but I'll figure it out, it shouldn't be too hard."
"Uh huh." George was not convinced.
"I mean think about it, he always leaves our shows to the north, so that narrows it down. He also said he lives far away from the bar. Oh, and if we can estimate his annual earnings as coliseum champion, then we can have a rough estimate of what size house he can afford." Dream rambled to himself.
George let out a large sigh, turning away from the chess board. "You're getting obsessed."
"No I'm not, anyone could do this if they really wanted to." Dream was already drawing a map.
"Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. Have you even considered what Techno feels about it." George said, trying desperately to talk common sense into his friend.
"Come on George, were you even listening? That's the whole point, to ask him about his feelings and tell him about mine."
"That's not how human interaction works." George sighed. "Think about it, didn't you say that he's shy in real life? A shy person wouldn't like you stalking them, do you want to make your relationship worse?"
George had struck a nerve and he knew it. As Dream curled into an anxious ball, he quietly asked, "What do I do then?"
Sensing resolution, George returned to the chess board. "Nothing. Just wait and see what happens. You'll see each other again eventually, you can talk then."
George was right. "It's getting late, I should go home."
Suddenly, a possible future flashed before George's eyes. "No. You're too emotional right now. I'll invite Sapnap, we can have a sleepover."
Dream smiled at his friend, he always knew exactly what he wanted.

Techno wasted no time. Once Wilbur left, he was out the door. He knew himself well enough to know that the motivation he felt would be gone in an instant if he let it, and if that happened, he would spend a week in sorrow. His memory wasn't perfect, but it was good enough that he only wasted a few minutes wandering until he found it. Dream's house.
The front looked a lot shabbier sober, but that wasn't surprising considering that this was the very outskirts of the bad side of town. He knocked on the thin door. Nothing. After taking care that no one was watching him, Techno dared a small peek through the window. Being one small room, it was easy to figure out that no one was home. He really should've expected this. Dream had a life, and plans, unlike him, of course he would be out. Techno wished he had brought a book.
As the sun set, he kept telling himself that if he went home, he would miss Dream, that Dream would slip by and fall asleep if he left for even a moment. His stomach growled as the bar next door was filling up. As it did, the familiar scents of crappy beer and crappier food sent Techno down a nostalgic spiral.
He remembered the first sip he had that night, how he almost spit it out. He remembered the food that the stranger had to help him finish. He remembered the sticky feeling of beer on his hands. He remembered the stranger's somehow stickier ones, how they had felt like a mess when they held hands. He remembered a lot about the stranger now known as Dream. Like the smile he wore when telling his most difficult stories. And his laugh that gradually turned into a wheeze as the night went on. He remembered when he first saw Dream, his dirty blonde hair sticking out like a light in the dark and grimy bar, the sympathetic and confident tone of his voice, the slight nervousness as he sat down, almost as if he had surprised himself. At some point, Techno fell asleep.
Morning came and there were no signs of Dream. The only thing that had changed other than the sun was the handful of coins dropped out of sympathy by his head. Techno stretched out his aching back and pocketed the coins. He tried, he failed, time to go home.

Dream woke up curled next to his friends, chess pieces littering the bed. Their sleepover had been fun, putting the whole matter with Technoblade into perspective. It wasn't life or death, so why worry about it now. Getting breakfast, he figured he would have time for a run, so he left his two sleepy friends and headed home to put on something more suitable. Dream was always the first to wake up, so he knew George and Sapnap wouldn't care if he was gone.
Enjoying the morning air that smelled much less of beer than his place, he closed his eyes as he walked down the dirt road.
"Dream?" A familiar voice called, which snapped open his eyes. Before him was Technoblade, with his hair slicking out in weird directions and dirt on his coat.
"Hi." Dream responded, immediately forgetting the entirety of the speech he had been writing all day yesterday.
After a few moments of silence, Techno blurted out, "Actually, I've been meaning to talk to you." He was nervous. His eyes had started shifting about and his hands were now in his pockets.
Dream didn't have a plan either. "Oh."
Techno looked like he was drowning, struggling to find something to say, or maybe simply how to start. "I don't hate you." He finally said.
Dream had not been expecting that. That they should forget about the night at the bar, that they should become the bitter rivals they told people they were, that they should continue as friends, even that they should go out, were all things Dream had thought of. As Techno rambled about theatrics and whatever else, Dream burst out in laughter. Wheezing, ugly laughter that could only be natural. Techno was stopped dead in his tracks.
"Of course I don't hate you either." Dream said after he calmed down. "In fact, I'm glad I saw you today, I was hoping we would be friends." He stuck out his hand.
Techno shook it. A rare, wide smile grew on his face as it looked like a thousand pound weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Maybe friends isn't the right word.