MCYT Fantasy AU Oneshots

The Ball Encounters (2/3)

A/N: Sorry that this isn't fully connected to the previous part! Originally, this series was only this one shot, but I decided to write a sort of prologue and epilogue to it with Hurricane to flesh the story out a bit more. Hope you enjoy!

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Dream was currently being led away from the ballroom via the wrist by a haughty prince, his own eyes rolling a bit at the situation. Dream thought that his appearance at the ball would have been a great surprise for Techno—as did Sap and George for that matter. So why exactly was he being dragged aggressively away? Hell if he knew.

Eventually, he had to snap out of his thinking as Techno opened the door to a room Dream didn't recognize and pulled them both into it. From what Dream could gather from the moonlight that came in through the tall windows, it was a fairly nice library. Unfortunately though, he didn't have much time to take in the scenery as he felt himself taken by the collar and shoved against a wall, forced into staring at the glaring pinkette before him.

"What was that all about? Do you want to get noticed and possibly captured or something? Why are you suddenly so reckless?"

Among the anger that clearly lined the prince's words, Dream also noticed hints of desperation and... worry. He looked in confusion at Techno as he was yelled at, only one thought on his mind in response to all the accusations that were just made against him.

"Why do you care?"

It came out softer than he expected it to, and the reaction it gained proved to surprise him just as much. The prince just stopped and stared at him for a bit, then his eyes flicked down as he leaned away and let go of Dream's collar. Dream felt his eyebrows draw down; now it was his time to worry.

"Techno—"

"You're my only friend. The only one I can be myself with," he sighed heavily, "I'm not—I'm not good with feelin's, but..."

Techno closed his eyes and turned away from the other, pinching the bridge of his nose. He really wasn't good at expressing his emotions, huh?

"I just don't want to lose you. Don't want to go back to bein' miserable every day. You've... made me happier than anyone has ever before. And I don't know why."

He sighed and let his hand fall from his nose, glancing up slightly at the night sky, visible from behind the glass in front of the two. Just one more thing, you can do it.

"I'm—I'm sorry for yellin' at you and gettin' angry... you didn't do anythin' wrong, I just—"

This time it was Techno's turn to be cut off as he felt arms wrap around his waist and a warm body against his back. He stiffened in surprise and tried to turn around, but Dream just hugged Techno tighter to stop him. The prince kept his gaze on the ground, face flushing in embarrassment. Stupid Dream and his stupid hugs and stupid Techno who would never get used to physical affection.

Dream's voice was slightly muffled since he had his face pressed against the crook of Techno's neck, but the prince could still understand him well enough, "hey, hey... calm down—you're stressing yourself out. Just... breathe for me, okay?"

Techno was caught off guard by how softly Dream was treating him in the moment. He usually wasn't this compassionate, and the prince didn't know how to feel about this seemingly sudden change. In the moment however, all he did was take in a shaky breath and nod slightly, doing exactly as Dream asked and calming himself down with deep breathing.

While Techno was composing himself, Dream just softly hummed into his shoulder with a hidden smile on his face. The sounds and vibrations from said humming helped to calm the pinkinette down more, as did the hug he was still trapped in. Techno sighed as he was now fully composed.

"Good?"

"Yes... thank you."

"Anything for you, Bacon."

That stopped Techno in his tracks, eyebrows creasing as he took in what Dream had said. Dream, on the other hand, became a little worried from Techno's silence and hoped he hadn't set him off again. He gently let go of the hug and moved to face Techno, planning to say something. His plans were quickly forgotten, however, and replaced with pure shock as Techno snorted and went into a fit of giggles.

Dream was extremely caught off guard at the pinkette's laugh, the sound being quite rare usually. Dream couldn't help but smile and laugh along as well since Techno's laughter was so infectious to him. They laughed together for what seemed like forever, neither wanting to stop since it felt so good to laugh with each other; it felt so good to be with each other.

Techno and Dream finally calmed down from their laughing fits and now just sat in silence with gentle smiles on their faces. They sat there staring at each other for a while and basking in each other's presence. Techno couldn't have been happier to have such a strong bond with another person, let alone one that was his own age. It had been a long time since he had had something like that. But as he mulled this over, he had an epiphany.

Dream was really, really stupid. The absurdity of their current situation—and their relationship in general—made the pinkette laugh even more.

Outside of Techno's own mind, Dream had been left staring back at the prince in confusion for a minute or so as the other sat stock still. Dream figured he must have zoned out or something, though he then realized how confused Techno's face grew and that just made his own confusion worse. It all finally came to a head when Techno snapped out of whatever trance he was in and began to laugh again, completely baffling Dream who gently reached over and put his hands on the pinkette's shoulders.

"Are you okay? Did you zone out or something?"

The genuine concern in Dream's voice just made Techno snort and laugh a bit more, glancing up at him with a wide grin on his face.

"Y-Yeah—yeah sorry about that, just uh, realized something."

Dream cocked an eyebrow at him, "realized what...?"

"Realized how stupid you are."

It took a second for Dream to register the statement, though when he did he immediately felt his face fall. Dream began to say something, thought for a moment, then closed his mouth. This reaction made Techno laugh even harder and Dream couldn't help from wheezing hard as well.

"Geez Techno, you don't need to be that mean!"

"So you're admittin' I'm right?"

"Well obviously you are! I'm not gonna deny it, but that doesn't mean you have to say anything in the first place!"

"And they hated him for speaking the truth...."

Dream just gaped at Techno for a moment, then smiled and wheezed a bit more, "alright that's it--c'mere God complex."

Techno reacted with near-supernatural reflexes, jumping away from Dream as he was lunged at, "if you wish to catch me, train for another one hundred years."

And with that, the chase started. Techno threw his crown and cape to the side before he ran off deep into the large library. He weaved between bookshelves and furniture which Dream usually vaulted over when he could. Laughter echoed around the large room as the two boys played around. Two boys. Not a prince and a thief; not a royal and a rebel; just two friends basking in the freedom they gave each other. Sure, they probably should have been in the main ballroom and not running around the library, but who cares? Why would they need to care about what would happen in the future?

The present was perfect to them, and they wanted nothing to taint that.