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At the end of existence, there is one giant island, made up of cold, dead, yellow stone, and a god sits on it to watch as the universe dies.
Dream's not sure what he is anymore. He exists still, that's for sure, after he made that soul deal eons ago. If he thinks hard enough, he's got a body to fold under him as he sits on the edge of his island, a mouth to smile with and hands to grab with, but if he's not careful, that body leaves and he's reduced to just... floating.
After many, many eons, Dream gets bored. Maybe that was part of the deal, in the end: human restlessness, amplified tenfold by the curse of immortality. There is only so much staring one can do at an empty void, see, and Dream gets antsy fast. He takes to walking along his island, using the stretch of yellow, sad stone as a place for a new country. He imagines tall buildings and lush trees.
Nothing occurs around him. The End watches him back, sometimes. There are no visible eyes, he knows that, but Dream understands that he isn't alone here and knows he must heed that. There is no need to offend some kind of all-powerful being before his lifeforce can be snuffed out of existence.
It's been so long before something changes that Dream thinks he's finally beginning to lose those last dregs of humanity he's held onto for all this time.
Then he sees Technoblade.
It's not a corporeal body he finds, per se, but the glowing ball is definitely the remains of the Blood God's vessel. Dream approaches carefully, coming to stand next to him on the edge of the island. Nothingness stretches out below them.
"Hey, Techno," Dream says casually, using his voice for the first time in thousands of years. Even before there was Nothing, he has been alone for a long time and hadn't found the use in talking since.
"Dream!...haven't seen him...Dream pog!...hello hello hello hello hello hello...nice void, isn't it?...missed you...missed you Dream hope you're doing okay...stream soon please...stream soon...void pog," empties from Techno's mouth in a slow waterfall. The drawl is not Techno's.
"Hi Chat, I missed you, too," Dream replies, smiling at the appreciation Chat throws toward him despite it having been so long since they spoke. "Is Techno in there, too?"
"Technosleep...he's asleep...take the wheel!...chat takes the wheel, that's what he said, got to the nothing and fell asleep...Dream pog...Technosleep...hi Dream!...this user was banned for inappropriate language...Techno's asleep, Dream...Technosleep...hi Dream!"
Dream pauses for a moment. He thinks about the memory of finding Techno eons ago, waking up with a waft of godly power and making him glow red for far longer than was necessary. Still, he can't remember the specifics of the action and won't perform it in fear of losing the only other companion here in the Empty.
"Blood for the Blood God!" Techno's mouth murmurs, some other voice much deeper than either his usual or Chat's and Dream looks up, right into the depths of the glowing mass of Technoblade, before physicalizing a dagger (he had no idea he still could) and running it up his arm.
As the blood puddles along the edge of the cut, Techno's form stirs. It begins to morph, taking the vague shape of a body before becoming Techno's signature look, crown and mane of pink hair and all.
"Chat, dammit," Techno growls, running hands through his hair as he shakes his head. "I was trying to wait this shit out, why did you-" He looks up to see Dream. "Oh. Hello."
"Hey, Techno," Dream says with a bare smile. "Good sleep?"
"I was trying to wait out my inevitable heat death, so maybe not the best one I've ever had," Techno muses, hand dropping to the sword still at his hip. It's where it has always rested, maybe as a sort of safety net. Dream's never asked about it. "Have you slept?"
"No. Of course not. I- well, I've just been staring, but I don't think I've felt anything for a long time at this point. Then I saw you."
"Careful, Dream, that makes it sound like Chat's been right about your feelings," Techno teases, shaking out his hands and cracking his neck. "I don't remember corporeal forms being this heavy. I liked being a growing ball with no thoughts. It was comforting."
"I'm sure it was." Dream takes a deep, shaking breath. "Well, welcome to the End of the Universe, Technoblade."
"Thank you for welcoming me," Techno says. "So, you've just been staring out into the Void? I mean, we have a bunch of things to do now that there's two of us."
"What are you implying?" Dream raises an eyebrow.
That starts them on a tirade of gameplay that must last hundreds of years, or maybe not too long at all (time works differently here). Their powers to create haven't stopped and seem to be unlimited. Every card game possible is conquered, then chess, checkers, darts (how Dream found a wall, neither of them knows), electronic games, handshakes, and even physical contests like races and jumping the highest.
"I like that it's you," Dream says when they finally drop the poker cards after making it impossible for either of them to win. "Stuck here with me."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. There's no one's ass I'd rather kick," Dream laughs, pulling out a complicated board game he'd only been exposed to once, and that had still been when he was mortal.
Techno laughs too, and they get to work on the game.
It takes a long time, maybe once they've reached the point of true boredom, that they try touching each other as a pastime. Even in a sexual sense, it means nothing anymore, feels like little except for two bodies standing in close proximity, and Dream mourns carnal pleasure despite not having known it for a long time.
"Fucking is out of the question, then," Techno sighs, and when he says it, a crunch is heard and a part of the island drops off. Techno looks at it for a long moment before continuing. "Dream, I think we're holding the end of the world together."
"What a cruel ending," Dream says, and another part of the island drops off. "So we're just still holding on? Holding onto what?"
"Life, I guess," Techno says. "We probably still need to accept the fact that we're going to actually die. Chat's gonna be pissed, you know, cause 'TECHNOBLADE NEVER DIES' is my best catchphrase."
"Mortality," Dream says, staring off into the Void. "We're going to die."
Another chunk of island stone slips away. It doesn't fall, necessarily, now that Dream's paying attention. It more falls away and disappears like it never existed in the first place.
"I'm not ready yet."
"Then we'll stay here. Got any books up your sleeve?"
They make it through the entire human library(or at least the stuff that both of them can functionally read without wanting to accept their deaths faster). Language is easy to grasp and impossible to understand, and Dream's sure that he and Techno aren't saying most of the words correctly anymore. The important thing is that they understand each other, and without that, Dream thinks he might just want to die right then and there.
"I never really liked Russian," Techno says, dropping a book on the stone. It disappears as it hits. "Not sure why. Annoying to learn in my brain, I guess."
"What were you like as a human?" Dream asks out of the blue, but he knows it's been a question in his mind ever since he and Techno met for the first time.
With the help of Chat, Techno relays his life's story, from his birth and all through the centuries to where they stand now. In turn, Dream tells his, talks about his mother and father, his siblings, each lover he'd taken, and the realms he'd ruled over and subsequently destroyed. It's nice to speak about it all, to finally let someone else know about the true cost of immortality as Dream relives the deaths of every beloved friend he's ever had (besides Techno, of course), and as they both talk, pieces of the island fall away.
"I loved you," Dream admits. "I don't think I can anymore, not with how far away I am from my human-ness at this point, but I know that I loved you when we had the SMP together, when we fought in the tournaments, and even the night when you found the sword and almost snuffed mu light out for good."
"I'm glad I didn't kill you that night," Techno admits with a smile. "And I loved you, too. With how we're together now, I suppose it could look like love from an outside perspective. Chat certainly seems to think so."
"Do they know they're all going to die, too?"
"They do. They are loyal to no end, Chat is, and they think and feel much of what I do. It would be strange to have beings within your mind who don't agree with you. So yes, they are ready to die, and though I will miss them, I find solace in knowing that we will both die at the same time so as to not leave the alone for a period of time."
By now, the island isn't very large. It's less than any of the homes Dream's lived in for longer than a week, less than Techno's old cabin, less than any ring they've fought in. They sit side by side, legs swinging over the edge, and stare together.
Techno presses a kiss to Dream's mouth. It feels like nothing, just that presence of another next to his lips, but Dream smiles nonetheless. It's a show of affection and one that means something to the bare dregs of manhood he still has.
"I think I'm ready," Techno says, and another piece of the island slips away. It's barely big enough to fit the two of them now.
"I'm not," Dream admits.
"Do you think you can function here without me, then?"
Dream stares out at the Void. It isn't even black; it's a deep blue, calming in the same way the deep ocean is, which is not at all. He swallows. He doesn't need to but it still helps in some way. "Yes, I can live without you."
"Bye Dream!...Dream pog...all gone, time to be all gone... bye-bye Bi bye Dream...we're all going to die! weeee!..." Techno falls into Chat's voice for a moment before coming back.
"Bye, Chat," Dream says, and he feels sad.
Another kiss, longer this time, and for the first time in a long, long, long, long time, Dream feels the spark of something that he's been missing desperately.
When he opens his eyes, Techno is gone.
Dream sits and stares for a lot longer. Without Techno, there's only enough room for one body on the island now, and Dream begins making a checklist of all the things he likes remembering.
Apples. Swords. Blood. Gold. Books. Adrenaline. Climbing. Techno's potato soup. Living with George and Sapnap. His parents. His siblings. XD. Each person he'd loved and each animal he'd spoken to during his wild adventures.
"I love you," Dream says aloud. He can't help it, not when he looks out at the dark blue Void and realizes he's glad to be the last thing in the Universe.
With that, Dream fades away, just like the island, just like all the lives and paths he'd ever crossed, and with that, everything begins anew.
And the Universe said, "I love you, too."