LOSING GAME ➳ dreamwastaken

𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐝𝐚𝐰𝐧

Technoblade threw open the wooden shutters, allowing beams of sunlight to flood the room. Dust swirled through the air and Reverie coughed, clearing her lungs of the particles. She closed the door behind herself to block out the harsh thrashing of the bitter cold wind and her eyes scanned the room, examining a small portion of what would be her new home.

The cabin was modest, the little furniture which it held swathed in layers of dust. It was evident that the small house had been vacant for some time.

"How'd you know this place was here?" Reverie inquired, slipping out of her Netherite armour. She let out a sigh of relief as, at last, the weight of the heavy armour cleared and she was able to relax her stiff shoulders.

"This is where I lived before I came to Pogtopia," Technoblade answered. Reverie quirked an eyebrow in surprise.

"Really?"

"Mhm," Techno hummed in confirmation. He unfastened his cloak and tossed it aside, where it lay abandoned on a dusty wooden armchair, then he rolled up the cuffed sleeves of his shirt. "There's only one bed. You can take it for now, I guess."

Her eyebrow still arched, Reverie stared at Technoblade. "You guess?"

"Well, you are my guest. It's common courtesy isn't it?" he shrugged. Through the monotone exterior of his voice, Reverie detected traces of bitterness. She awkwardly fumbled with her fingernails while chewing her lip, expressing her uncertainty.

Although they may have built up the foundations of trust for one another, Reverie and Techno were still far from friends. She had come to realise that Techno was not going to turn around, unprovoked, at any given moment and drive his sword through her stomach, but she still could not help but be intimidated by him.

"Techno, if you don't want me here, I understand," Reverie said. "Your job is done, you want to retire and be alone. I get it. I can find somewhere else to stay."

A shrewd scoff escaped Techno. "You go out there alone and they'll find you in a matter of days. I may not be thrilled to have you around, but I certainly don't want you dead."

"You flatter me," Reverie drawled sarcstically.

After he summoned the Withers, Technoblade had seized Reverie's wrist, telling her that they needed to get out of L'Manberg at once. He informed her that they were now wanted criminals, which Reverie could have guessed herself, considering they had both played a substantial role in the destruction of a licensed nation. She fled L'Manberg alongside Techno with no question, and did not begin to feel dubious until they reached the frosted wood.

She was so very far from home—not that she had a designated home anymore, as Dream had burned down her house and she was no longer welcome in L'Manberg, but she had left behind everything she knew in the blink of an eye without question to escape into the woods with a man she had only known for a few short months. The only bonding she and Technoblade had ever done involved violence—training, battling, and Reverie being stabbed.

What a wonderful friendship.

Instead of climbing the ladder that would bring her to the loft in which she would be sleeping, Reverie exited the cabin and crossed the snowy lawns. As she approached a frozen lake, the cold winds whipped around her, nipping at her ears and piercing her nerves.

A small section of the lake had melted—chunks of ice floated on the surface of the midnight blue water. Shivering before her skin had even come in contact with the icy lake, Reverie plunged her sullied hands into the freezing lake.

The sudden strike of coldness made her gasp in shock and her muscles tensed. Trembling all over, she made quick work of cleaning her hands. As she washed Wilbur's dried blood away, tears sprang to Reverie's eyes and a wave of nausea washed over her.