Immortality is a Curse || DreamSMP

Exile and War

The trio returned to the house just as the sun's final rays sunk below the looming mountains, cold, weary and hungry.

The door creaked open, signaling Phil and I that they had returned. We had taken refuge on the living room couches, resting our exhausted bodies in front of the roaring fire, curled up with a book and a strong drink, drifting between chatting aimlessly and sitting in serene silence. A dinner of hearty rabbit stew was slowly cooking above the flame, filling the house with a mouthwatering smell.

I glanced up to see Techno breeze through the doorway, only pausing to ruffle both boys' hair, and brush their clothes off to get rid of the snow that clung to them before disappearing farther into the house. I smiled fondly, knowing he had picked up the habit from when he used to do that for me, so the snow wouldn't burn my skin when it melted. Phil had told me that he did it to anyone he trusted, and had continued to do it even when I wasn't there.

Tommy kicked off his shoes and threw his winter cloak aside as he walked over and flopped onto the empty couch across from us. Ranboo took his cloak off and retrieved Tommy's stuff, hanging both of their cloaks up to dry before he joined Phil and I on the couch. Phil got up, letting us know he was going to make a warm drink for the tired and cold teens.

"How was your day?" I asked, as the lanky boy laid his head on my shoulder with a content sigh.

"Oh it was great! I learned so many cool things!" He beamed, sitting up and twisting to face me. He told me all about everything he had seen and learned, his excitement appearing in his voice and the gestures he made as he described everything with a sense of awe that made me so unbelievably happy to hear. Phil returned, handing a steaming mug to Ranboo and Tommy, and when I caught a whiff I recognized it as his favorite thing to make for cold nights. Steaming milk mixed with cinnamon and a few other savory spices, it was great to drink before you headed to bed, and was amazing after a long day in the snow.

"What are you drinking?" Tommy asked curiously, disregarding his drink for the ones the 'adults' had, leaning over to peer at my drink.

"Blood Wine." I flicked his forehead as he reached for the glass. "And you know you aren't allowed to drink anything of mine, you scoundrel. You have your own." I teased, watching his face morph into a pout.

"Why not!!!" He demanded loudly, crossing his arms. "I'm a big man, I can handle it!" I held back my laughter. "Fuck you, you tall bitch, I can handle your shitty "Blood Wine", I'm not a child!"

"You are still not allowed to drink it," I informed him, snickering as he jumped back into his tangent. Picking up the wine glass, I swirled the contents absentmindedly, before taking a sip. He sulked, taking a sip of his own drink.

"Gods, I've missed Nether liquor." I groaned, setting my head back against the wall. Phil chuckled, reaching over Ranboo to pat my knee, making me roll my eyes and shoo him away.

Techno wandered into the room at that point, a whiskey glass of what looked like Crimson Mead, another Nether brewed liquor, in his hand, having replaced his cloak with a fluffy blanket around his shoulders. He took a sip of the hazy red drink, claiming the empty spot next to Phil.

"Anythin' interesting happen while I was gone?" He asked, clearly expecting the answer to be 'no'.

"Actually, Dream did stop by not too long after you left." Phil said, sitting up. "Any idea what that was about?" Techno raised an eyebrow, shifting so he could see both of us better.

"Wait, Dream?" Tommy piped up, his body going tense. His voice wavered, and his entire body seemed to be screaming with a fight-or-flight response. I shifted my attention onto him, concerned.

"No clue, I haven't talked to him since the Manburg war. Did he say anything?" Techno asked.

"I dunno, Ether scared him off before I could talk to him." Both of their gazes shifted to me, but I just shrugged and sipped my wine.

"Said he wanted to talk to Techno." I responded simply, reaching over and brushing my hand against Tommy's arm. He flinched slightly, before relaxing when he met my gaze. "Tommy? Is everything okay?" I asked. He shuddered, shrinking back into the cushions.

"He's looking for me." He muttered, barely loud enough for me to hear. I tilted my head in concern, taking in the defensive position his body had taken. He took a deep breath, reaching out and taking my hand, gently tugging me closer. I leaned over the arm of the couch until our heads were nearly touching, and he told me about how they had a nasty history, and Dream was the reason that he had been exiled from his home. "He's super angry, because I left Logstedshire." He murmured. "He might kill me if he finds me." I frowned. 

"Alright, so no telling Dream that Tommy is here." I concluded, loud enough for everyone to hear. "Tommy is under our protection, regardless of what Dream says. I don't trust him with either of the kids."

"Alright." Techno said, shrugging. "Lets make some Invis pots, just in case. And I can work on a spot to hide Tommy in if worse comes to worse." I dipped my chin into a slight nod, thankful for his unyielding and unquestioning loyalty.

"Thanks Techno." Tommy murmured. Techno tilted his head in surprise at the unnatural manners from the teen, but didn't say anything otherwise. I rubbed circles onto Tommy's back in a soothing manner, chatting quietly with my brother-figures as we divided the stew and ate, and into when the two teens drifted to sleep in their seats. 

Phil chuckled softly as I took each of them to their separate sleeping areas, and we left the living room so Ranboo could sleep uninterrupted. 

As we sat around the kitchen table, finishing off the bottle of Blood Wine Phil and I had opened after we had finished organizing the house, we discussed our future plans, and how we wanted to deal with Dream and this government that had threatened and injured my brothers.

"That nation is going down in flames." Phil muttered.

"Can we make it go down faster?" I asked, draining my cup.

"Sure."

"About damn time. I already have a plan on how we can take it down." Techno added, passing me the bottle and allowing me to dump the last few drops into my glass.

"Impatient much?" I teased, sending him a smug smirk

He shrugged, moving to grab another bottle from the cupboard, placing it in front of Philza.

"The voices demand blood."

"Oh yeah, because you don't want to do this as much as the voices do." I snarked.

"You don't even have voices and you want to do this."

"Okay, and? You use your voices as an excuse, at least I own up to my chaoticness."

"Well now that was just rude."

"Can we have ONE conversation without you two fighting?" Phil demanded, as he poured himself a large glass of wine.

"Sorry, Phil." We both chimed, glaring at each other. 

"Lets hear this plan of yours." I said, gesturing for Techno to continue. He laid down the bare bones of what he had, allowing Phil and I to add our input or help work out any flaws and get through any issues that came up. We dragged out the most recent map of the SMP that Techno had, laying out pathing and looking for spots that would put us at an advantage or a disadvantage, and spots that we could set up traps or supplies.

"Show us this vault of yours," I asked, a wicked grin slipping onto my face when he mentioned it, telling us he had supplies inside. Techno grinned as well, standing up.

"Oh, its just a little side project I've been working on..."

:)

(Words: 1349) 

(Art Credit: formalydehyde)