on temporizing || Dream SMP Timeloop Fic

Chapter 17

81. (credit to QueenQuinn)

Dream stepped through the portal and was greeted with a scream of "MERRY CHRISTMAS, BITCH!" and a large object headed straight towards his face. Years of experience allowed him to duck rather than freeze, but the projectile still clipped him in the head and sent him sprawling on the ground.

"Oh shit!" Hurried footsteps. "Big man, you good?"

Dream groaned and pushed himself into a sitting position. "What. . . what was that for?"

Tommy had the decency to look sheepish. "Your, uh, Christmas present."

"My--" Dream turned to look at the package lying in the snow. It was wrapped in modest brown parchment paper and tied with twine. ". . . you got me a present?"

"Just open it," Tommy huffed. Dream struggled to his feet and dusted the snow from his clothes, then retrieved the package. After a minute of struggling with the twine ("Just pull the fucking strings-- have you never seen a bow before?!"), he managed to peel the parchment away, revealing. . . a pile of black cloth.

Dream stuffed the wrapping into his inventory, then shook out his new present. It was a hoodie, completely black save for the white reset symbol stitched over the heart.

"Did you. . . make this yourself?"

"Damn right I did," Tommy huffed. "Took me ages."

Dream turned the hoodie over in his hands. "This is. . . this is amazing, Tommy. Thank you."

Tommy grinned. "I made it, of course it's amazing! Plus, it's about time you wore something that wasn't bright green. Dunno who taught you fashion, but it's the ugliest thing I've seen since Schlatt's face."

"It's not that bad!"

"It really is. Which is why I took the creative liberty of making you something in a different color. It physically pained me to make you another fucking hoodie, but I gotta ease you into decent fashion."

"A hoodie is decent fashion," Dream grumbled. He rubbed the fabric between his fingers. "I have to ask, though. . . why black?"

"'Cause black looks cool," Tommy deadpanned. "White gets dirty too easily, gray is too similar to your ghost outfit, blue and yellow definitely wouldn't look good on you, you know why I didn't use orange, purple is Purpled's brand, red reminds me of loop 90, and you tried to murder me the last time I dyed your hoodie pink."

"Fair," Dream admitted. He had shimmied the hoodie over his head and was now tugging the hem down. "How do I look?"

"Like an idiot," Tommy informed him. "Who the fuck wears a hoodie over a hoodie?"

"It's cold!"

"So?! I'm wearing a t-shirt, you don't see me keeling over and dying of hypothermia, do you?!"

"You have a fur cape!"

"And I look awesome in it. Your point?"

Dream rolled his eyes and huffed, looking back down at the hoodie. His exasperated expression melted into something slightly warmer. ". . . thanks, Tommy." He paused for a moment, then reached into his inventory. "Merry Christmas."

"Are you fucking serious," Tommy deadpanned as he took Cat from Dream. He ran his fingers over the smooth surface of the disc. "Did you-- did you steal this from Bad and Skeppy?"

". . . I plead the fifth."

"Americans," Tommy grumbled. He flipped the disc over in his hands. ". . . Wow, I haven't seen this in forever. Gotta complete the set now-- do you think I could slip Mellohi from Tubbo without him noticing?"