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He hadn't even realized it was his birthday. That might've been the funniest part, honestly. He hadn't realized.
Hadn't realized when the large, impenetrable wall of lava was slowly sinking into the ground. Hadn't realized when he spotted Sam's large form across the way, carefully monitoring the buttons. Hadn't even realized when he saw Quackity's netherite clad form inch it's way across the platform, manic grin donning his face.
"What're you doin' here?" Technoblade growled, instantly on the defensive.
There wasn't much he could do, though, given that he'd been stripped of all armor and weapons. Dream had learned that lesson the hard way.
Where Technoblade was confrontational, Dream was cowardly, already huddled away in the corner of his cell.
"Dream!! Dweamie!" Quackity's voice was cheerful and grating all at once.
Dream hadn't missed it.
"Cmon, Dream, no need to be afraid," Quackity continued, completely ignoring Technoblade, "Honestly, were you expecting me not to come and celebrate with you?"
"Celebrate?" Techno asked where Dream remained unresponsive, "Oh." He seemed to come to a realization.
"What, don't tell me you forgot?" Quackity was almost at the cell now, "It's your birthday today, Dream!" Quackity said with excitement. He drew his sword, "Then again, I'm not surprised you forgot. Dream's dumb little brain to too stupid," he spat the word with venom, "To remember even his birthday. Poor baby."
Dream's hands moved to cover his ears in a weak attempt to block out Quackity's voice. Technoblade made a move to block the blonde from Quackity's view.
"Out of the way, Technoblade," Quackity said threateningly. He brandished his weapon, "You might be powerful, but you don't even have a pickaxe this time. You're worthless right now."
Technoblade didn't move.
Pointing his sword at Techno's throat to keep him frozen, Quackity walked past him, harshly grabbing a trembling Dream by his dirty hair.
Techno took a step back in caution.
Quackity sneered, dragging Dream towards the front of the cell and holding his face dangerously close to the lava, "If you want to play the hero, Technoblade, by all means go ahead. I can move my attention to someone else."
Techno's red gaze flickered from Quackity's face to Dream, which was partially obscured by his hair. He held up his hands in surrender.
Quackity smiled, releasing Dream, who quickly scrambled back into his corner. Quackity raised his blade, poking Techno's shoulder with the tip of his blade. He watched with sick fascination as blood began to stain Techno's white, frilly shirt.
"Put on the chains."
Before Quackity had arrived, the shackles embedded into the wall had gone untouched. They were rusty, Techno thought that he might have enough strength to rip them from the obsidian.
"Why?"
"Just do it!" Quackity's patience was thinning.
"If I put on the chains do you swear that no harm will come to Dream?"
Quackity flashed him a cruel smile, "Of course, I'm a man of my word."
For some reason, Techno didn't doubt that.
Slowly, Techno shrugged off his cape, letting it fall unceremoniously to the floor. He placed the cuffs on his ankles, before standing up and clasping them around his wrists.
Quackity glared at his slow pace, jerking Techno's hands out to inspect the shackles. It was almost funny to see Quackity, five foot eight at most, manhandle Technoblade, who was at least half a foot taller than him.
Dream didn't laugh. The guilt in his throat was choking.
When Technoblade was fully chained, Quakcity backed away, examining his work with pride.
Then, he turned around, facing Dream once more. The man remained unresponsive.
"Dream," Quackity sing-songed. Dream glanced up, eyes sliding to the chained Techno who was watching him intently.
"Leave him alone, Quackity," Techno warned, his voice taking on an odd quality.
Quackity tutted, looking back at Techno, "Now, now, Techno. I only promised not to hurt him, not that I wouldn't touch him."
Techno glowered at him.
"Stand up, Dream."
On weak legs, Dream stood, back still to the wall.
"Come here. I thought, for your birthday, it would be too mean of me to try and get the book from you. I'm not cruel, after all."
Dream knew very well that that wasn't true, but didn't dare say it aloud.
"But I figured I just had to do something for your birthday, what kind of person would I be if I just ignored it?"
A much better person than you are now, Dream thought, desperately trying to conceal the disdain in his eyes.
"So I came up with this idea instead. Give me your hands, Dream."
Obediently, Dream held out his scarred hands.
From within his inventory, Quackity withdrew a thick rope, followed by a piece of dark cloth.
Dream eyed the cloth anxiously as Quackity bound his wrists. Abruptly, Quackity pulled his forward and forced Dream to his knees, his back facing Quackity. Releasing him, Quackity tied the dark cloth over Dream's sunken eyes.
Dream made a small noise of protest as his vision was obscured, but quickly quieted when Quackity pulled harshly on the blindfold.
"Be a good boy Dream and stay here." With more rope, he tied Dream's legs together, rendering him completely immobile.
"What are you doing?" Techno's voice was muffled beneath the fear raging in his ears.
"None of your business, piggie."
Vaguely, he heard Techno's growl.
In a panic, he struggled against his bonds.
Quackity kicked him.
"Hey!" That was Techno's voice again, "You said you'd leave him alone. He can barely stand, he doesn't need a kick in the ribs, Quackity."
"Keep your criticism to yourself, Technoblade. I'm in charge here."
"You're a sick bastard is what you are."
There was a large sound, flesh on flesh. Techno hissed.
"Shut up," Quackity demanded. He sounded angry.
Someone spit.
Another hit.
Quackity laughed, "This is what I cam here for, you know. I figured that this would be a new experience for Dream. A new type of helplessness." He nudged Dream's huddled body with his foot, "Is it working, Dreamie? Are you sad that you're absolutely useless while your... friend... is being tortured?"
"So you're just gonna make him sit there while you- What? Torture me?"
"Precisely."
There was another large thud and Techno grunted.
"Tell me, Techno. Do you prefer blunt or sharp edges? Dream always screams more with the blunt ones, but there's always much more blood when I sharpen my sword first. Why don't we try it out?"
The sound of clothing tearing - presumably Techno's shirt - and then a low hiss.
Without his eyes, Dream's mind was left to its own devices to create the scene by itself.
He could imagine it. Quackity slowly dragging his blade over Techno's pale skin, the blood dripping down his chest and staining his pants, making the material darker than it already was.
He could imagine Techno biting his tongue, trying to save Dream the horror of picturing the scene, refusing to give Quackity the satisfaction.
It wasn't working. Dream could picture it perfectly.
There was a clank of metal on stone as Techno jerked away from Quackity.
Quackity sighed, "Cmon, Techno. I need you to be more responsive. You don't want to ruin my present, do you?"
Oh. That was right. It was Dream's fault this was happening. Quackity was here because Dream had been stupid enough to have been born.
The guilt that had been bubbling in his throat finally boiled over, and Dream had to bute the inside of his cheek to keep from crying out.
Begging Quackity to stop would do nothing.
It was silent for a moment, not as much as a reprieve as Dream wished it was, before Techno took a shuddering breath.
Horror filled Dream at the sound of Quackity's pliers opening and closing.
Gods, not the pliers.
Had Quackity brought all of his equipment? If he'd brought the pliers, that meant me might've brought the branding iron, too. Or the sheers.
A horrible, awful ripping sound filled the small cell.
Dream shrunk in on himself, wishing to the gods that his hands would magically be freed so he could cover his ears.
Again. Another fingernail gone. Techno let out a low moan of pain.
Quackity kicked him in the side, "Be louder."
Again.
"Fuck!" Techno shouted. Dream flinched at the noise. Techno didn't yell often.
"That's it, piggie."'
"Go fuck yourself, Quackity. Seriously, jump off a bridge or something."
Surprisingly, Quackity ignored him, choosing instead to tear off another of Technoblade's fingernails, "You're running out of nails, Techno. I wouldn't get so mouthy." Quackity laughed as he pulled again, making Techno gasp loudly in pain.
Dream should've been counting. She should've kept track of how many nails Quackity had ripped off so he knew how much longer this would last.
He was so stupid. Techno was being tortured and Dream couldn't even count? Pathetic.
Quackity shifted, his footsteps making their way closer to Dream before he suddenly stopped.
"I think one hand is enough. For now."
Dream could hear Techno's muffled pants from across the cell as he fought to silently catch his breath.
Quackity nudged Dream with his foot, causing Dream to spasm with surprise. There was no tensing in anticipation if he had no idea what was about to happen, "Do you like your present so far, Dreamie?"
With the little courage he had left, to turned to look at (where he thought) Quackity was, "Fuck you," he spat out, voice rough from fear and disuse.
"Heh." Quackity gave a dry chuckle before slamming his heel into Dream's ear.
The force of the kick sent him skidding across the ground, only coming to a stop when he collided with one of the rough prison walls.
He groaned, disoriented by the ringing in his ears.
Faintly, he heard the sound of a deep, angry voice. Technoblade.
"Honestly, Techno. You're not very much fun. Dream was much easier to break."
There was no response.
"Hmm, maybe it's just that pain doesn't get to you. But I'm sure something does, Technoblade. I just have to find out what it is." Quackity paused. Dream knew enough about Quackity's mannerisms to guess that he was studying Technoblade carefully, "Actually, now that I think about it... You've always had a thing about your hair, haven't you?"
Dream froze.
Technoblade did have a thing about his hair. As long as Dream had known him, Techno had kept his hair long and perfectly styled. He had even made the effort to maintain its pristineness while trapped in the prison with Dream.
From what Dream had gathered, long hair had something to do with Techno's piglin heritage and honor. Dream could only guess how Techno would feel if Quackity did something to it.
There was the jangle of chains as Quackity yanked on Techno's hair.
For the first time since he had been bound, Dream felt tears well in his eyes. He was so useless.
"Let go of my hair, Quackity," Techno warned darkly.
"Ohhhh, so I was right. Your hair is special," he tugged on it again, "You know, Techno, looking at you now... you could really use a haircut."
"Let. Go."
"No," Quackity whispered, quiet enough that Dream could only just barely hear him.
The sound of rummaging echoed off the walls as Quackity searched his inventory, humming in excitement as he withdrew a pair of sheers.
Ah, Dream thought as he heard the tell tale sound of metal sliding against metal, so he did bring them.
"Hold still Techno," Quackity chided, "Wouldn't want to cut that pretty face of yours."
A snipping sound.
Dream blinked in surprise as a piece of hair fell onto his cheek.
Was he directly beneath Techno and Quackity. With the ringing in his ears, it would be impossible to gain enough perspective to tell.
Another piece of hair.
Technoblade was silent. The only sign of his anguish was the rattling of his chains as his hands shook.
A rogue tear slipped down Dream's cheek.
Maybe Quackity was right. Maybe it would be better if he stayed locked in here. Alone.
At least that way his miserable presence couldn't transfer onto the people he liked.
It was another few minutes before the snipping stopped. Technoblade hadn't made a sound the entire time.
Quackity stepped back with a pleased sigh, "Honestly Techno, I think you look much better." He clicked his tongue, "Oh, don't look at me like that, piggie. You haven't even seen yourself yet!"
"Go to hell," Techno ground out, voice tight.
Quackity laughed, "Maybe later." Heaving a breath, Quackity shuffled around, "Well, I think that'll be all for today. I'm a busy man, you know, and it's rude to keep me waiting. Well, Dream, what do you say? Didn't you just love your birthday gift?"
Dream didn't have the energy to play along with Quackity anymore.
Quackity kicked him in the ribs, "What do you say, Dream."
The last of Dream's will crumpled.
"Thank you, sir."
"You're welcome." He passed, as if surveying his surroundings, "Well, I'll be headed out now. Dream," he knelt down beside Dream and, using the sheers, he quickly did away with the ropes holding Dream in place.
He stood, somewhere along the way, he dropped the key to Techno's shackles, the small piece of metal making a small ringing sound as hit the floor.
And just like that, Quackity was gone, leaving Dream and Technoblade to pick up the pieces.
A sob forced it's way past Dream's lips. His mouth tasted like copper from how hard he had been biting his cheek to keep quiet, "'m sorry. Techno," he forced out, attempting to stand but immediately losing his balance. With a steadying hand on the wall, crawled closer to Techno.
Dream had been right, he was barely a foot and a half away, "I'm sorry."
His hand brushed against one Techno's hips, and he traced the man's leg downward to find the shackle on his ankle. With one hand on the shackle, Dream frantically passed his other hand over the rough obsidian floor, searching for the lone key that Quackity had dropped.
He nearly let out another sob as his calloused fingertips brushed over the rusty metal.
"I knew you shouldn't of come here, Gods I'm no sorry, I'm so sorry."
"I'm fine, Dream," Techno managed, his voice just as rough sounding as Dream's, "I'm alright. Is your head okay?"
"I'm okay," Dream whined, even though he really wasn't. Blindly, he brought the key to Techno's ankle, shakily inserting into the lock.
The shackle popped open with a snap.
The process was repeated with Techno's other leg before a large, bloody hand took the key from Dream, "I've got it from here."
A moment later, Techno was leaning down to meet him, caressing his face gently as he untied the blindfold.
Dream's teary gaze met Techno's crimson one.
Techno's hair was short.
He looked so wrong with short hair, so unlike himself.
Technoblade must've seen the despair in Dream's gaze, because he gently brushed a thumb over Dream's cheek, "I told you, I'll be alright. It'll grow back."
"But- but it was important to you."
"You're also important to me, Dream." He ran his finger through Dream's hair. How bizarre was it that Dream's hair was no longer than Techno's, "It'll grow back."
"Okay," Dream said, too exhausted to argue back anymore. He brought his own thin hand up to cradle Techno's face.
"Go to sleep, Dream. We'll be fine."
"Will we?" Dream asked in anguish?
"We will."