Rivalry or? [dreamnoblade]

Chapter 8: Another Coliseum Fight

     Techno was walking around town, having just stopped by the bookstore to buy a few new releases, when he remembered Dream mentioning the road side show today. He wasn't sure of the time, but decided to stop by just in case. The crowd was dense around the meat and corn shop, they had gotten wicked popular, luckily, his height allowed him to just barely see Dream, relaxing on a stool, chatting with the crowd. Techno waved a little wave he wasn't even sure Dream could see, not that he could've responded anyway.
     "Thanks, but I don't think I'm quite that good." He chuckled. "Next question, yes you with the blue apron." The lady with the blue apron was too far away and facing the other direction, but Dream repeated, "What do I think of Technoblade? He's a huge jerk, I hate that guy's guts! And he's been on top way too long, that's why I'm going to bring him down. But yeah, I think of him as a cruel, cruel tyrant with anger issues. Next?"
     Techno smiled, he could practically hear the wink in Dream's voice. They hadn't been hanging out for nearly as long as Techno had with his other friends, but for some reason, all of Dream's little vocal ticks had been ingrained into his mind. He knew what he sounded like when he was playing it up for the fans, or being sarcastic, or being honest. Just the other day he had surprised Dream when he called out his bluff during a card game.
     He was planning on sticking around for the rest of the QnA, just for fun, when he noticed the banana yellow shirt that Wilbur always wears. "Oh, hey man! Business hours over?"
     "Yeah just got off, I was actually thinking of stopping by your place." Wilbur said, squeezing through the still substantial crowd.
     "Sure, you can mooch off dinner." Techno sounded annoyed, but gladly walked back with his best friend.
     An hour or so later and they were cleaning up, still full. Out of the blue, Wilbur mentioned, "Are you ready for the coliseum match tomorrow?"
     "Of course, why wouldn't I be? The fight's normal, and the only other thing is some crowd pleasing banter with Dream. No big deal."
     "So you're not nervous or slightly flustered for any reason? Good." That was a weird comment. Techno wasn't sure how to respond, so he let it slide. "Oh, and how's it going with that friend you haven't told me the name of?"
     Techno immediately forgot about Wilbur's strange phrasing in favor of gushing about the past few days with Dream. "Oh, it's been great, we had another morning run the other day, and we played a bunch of different card games. He knows a lot of different versions, he even taught me some new ones, I'll have to show you sometime. But for some reason he didn't know about..."
     "This guy is Dream, right?" Wilbur interrupted.
     Techno, stopped dead in his tracks, trying to process what just happened. "Um, no. Why do you say that?"
     "Stop lying to me Techno. Dream started coming by the coliseum right after you said you made up with your friend. Also, you had your breakdown about secrets right after the manhunt. And, though I'm not confident, I may have seen you two out in public a few times."
     "Why did you think it was him when we were out, he wouldn't wear the mask." Techno challenged.
     "I saw his face when we signed the contract. You were even peeking in, weren't you." There was nothing Techno could do against that wall of evidence, Wilbur had thought this out thoroughly, and left no room for escape. Techno slowly lowered his head and backed into a corner. Things could all go terribly wrong now. "Oh, don't give me that face, I would never out you two, it'd be boring entertainment. And betraying your trust."
     "Then why bother figuring it out?"
     "So I could give you proper relationship advice of course."
     "Excuse me." Techno said, slightly embarrassed.
     Wilbur gave him a look. "Come on. You like him, don't try to deny it. If you don't want to ask him out right now, that's fine, I understand completely. Just know that I'm here when you need me."
     Techno was still embarrassed, but Wilbur's words were comforting, even if he didn't want to admit why.

     "Are you sure we can't play just one more game?" George asked.
     Dream sighed, exasperated at his friend. "No, I have work soon."
     "As if, you're just going to hang out with Technoblade again." He pouted.
     "Not this time, I'm going to be making an appearance at his coliseum fight. It was set up by the manager and everything."
     Sapnap popped in from the kitchen. "And after you'll hang out with him."
     "Exactly!" Dream responded. George rolled his eyes. "Aw, you jealous?"
     "No I am not jealous." George snapped. "In fact, I'm overjoyed that you two are getting along so well. What I'm sick of is you coming back and talking so happily about it, and then never making any advances! I know you like him, you know you like him, so why aren't you doing anything about it, you just talk about how cute he is or whatever, but it's worthless. I feel second hand agony for you every time. If I liked someone as much as you like Techno, by now we would've already"
     "Woah, woah, calm down George, you're freaking him out." Sapnap had come in at just the right moment. Dream was still reeling, barely processing what had been said. "Don't listen to him, it's not like there's a rule book for relationships."
     Dream nodded, but was still thinking about what George had said. He was right, Dream was getting stuck in a loop, and at this rate, nothing would ever change between them. But maybe he wanted that. After all, he had no clue what Techno thought about the whole thing, and he was having a good time right now, the loop was comfortable.
     Soon, he grabbed the bag with his change of clothes, green cape, and the mask, and headed into the main city, where people were starting to fill the streets in anticipation for the coliseum fight.
     Dream greeted Wilbur as he went into Techno's waiting room. "Hey! What are you doing here so early?" Techno asked.
     He was in his newly washed, iconic red coat, and he looked good. Dream had seen him in this outfit before, but they were both a bit distracted in the woods. Now though, Dream could properly take in every part of his handsome frame which was punctuated by the white fur trim. He almost couldn't get a hold of himself staring at his crush. Techno eventually snapped his fingers at him, successfully grabbing his attention. Dream quickly regained control and responded, "Oh yeah, well I got permission to have exclusive front row seats, no way am I going to give that up."
     "I guess, I hope you won't be disappointed."
     "Haha, no way that would happen." Dream sat down backwards in a chair, facing the entrance to the arena. "Good luck out there!" He said, raising his hand for a high five.
     Techno high fived back. "Don't need it." He grabbed his black cloak and sword and walked out, the sun shining behind him, making him seem like a dramatic hero. Dream caught himself swooning.
     Usually, it was a fun game for Dream to try to figure out which one was Techno based on his movements, he even prided himself on usually getting it by the final three. But now, he knew exactly which one he was. Now, he could notice things in the early parts of the game where Techno just casually walked by or pretended to be worse than he was. It was a whole different, fascinating experience, and he was transfixed. He watched as Techno masterfully used his blade, as his coat slowly got ripped and blood-stained, all up close. He was thriving in his element. And Dream started wanting a piece of the action.
     The battle was over. Techno took off his cloak to roaring applause and placed his prize, the crown, on his head. The glistening gold shone on his dirty hair and made his whole countenance sparkle. Dream smiled as he took his cue to step out into the sun.

     "Technoblade!" A familiar voice shouted  from the side lines. He cocked his head around to Dream while the audience freaked out around him.
     "Well well well, look who it is. I suppose you're here for my crown." He snickered.
     "As if, narcissist. I'm here for you."
     Dream said it menacingly, but somehow it made Techno blush.  "What, do you want to go noob?" The crowd yelled in agreement, still thirsty for blood.
     Dream made a noise that told Techno he smirked. He confidently grabbed a sword from a nearby fallen opponent and said, "Yeah, let's go!"
     Wait. What? Dream was slowly walking towards him, sword in hand. The audience was little more than a fly in Techno's ear as he processed what was happening. He couldn't back up, but he wouldn't move forward either. They weren't supposed to fight yet, they couldn't fight yet. It shouldn't happen. To an outside viewer he may have seemed stoic, but in reality he was sweating bullets.
     Suddenly, time slowed to a crawl. Dream had raised his sword, and as he turned his wrist and expertly moved his fingers to execute a little sword trick, the handle slipped. Dream had underestimated the weight of the sword, and as the blade swung over his head, he lost control.
     Techno watched the silver, stained blade fall. The sun glinted across the surface as the tip flew across Dream's clothes. The sword clanged and bounced on the floor, sending ripples through the stadium. All eyes were on Dream. Red seeped through his clothes across his right arm and part of his chest, gradually making a bigger and bigger stain, when he suddenly dropped to the ground.
     Time rushed by as people flurried about to get Dream to a medic. Techno was motionless. To an outside viewer he may have seemed stoic, but in reality, he was unable to move from the shock. Eventually, Dream had been carried out and Techno returned to his waiting area.
     Still processing it all, Techno slumped down in a chair. The same one Dream had been sitting on not long ago. For a while he sat there, blocking out the noise filling his peripherals.
     Then there was a click. Techno dashed to change clothes, not bothering with half of it. He slammed open his door and found Wilbur, talking with three people at once, clearly rushed with work. They made eye contact. "Where is he." Stated Techno.
     "Saint Fiona's, room 12." Said Wilbur, knowing exactly what he meant.
     Techno flew out the door into the streets, making on the fly calculations to determine the exact path to Dream. Squeezing through crowds, he didn't notice people talking about what happened. He didn't notice people thinking he had been the one to hurt Dream. His mind was focused, and there was nothing that could interfere.