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Dream spends a lot of time by the fire.
More often than not, he’ll clear a small space near the wall, lean himself against the bricks, and rest. Sometimes he’ll have a book open, or a journal and quill, so he can keep his eyes open - but more than once, Techno’s caught him with his eyes closed, the scales on his cheek squished against the rim of the fireplace, a quill teetering on his fingertips and his journal splayed across his lap.
Techno had moved the book and quill to a safer location once, the first couple times he’d found Dream asleep by the fire. After that, it’d been two whole weeks before Techno caught him dozing again - so now, he just leaves it.
Phil hasn’t seemed to catch the memo yet, though, even though Techno’s pointed out many times that listen, you don’t need to leave the folded blankets by the fire, he’ll pick them up if he wants them. Yet he’ll find the stack there anyways - a prime repellant for their incredibly skittish houseguest.
Maybe he just needs to be more blunt about it, he thinks, as he moves the stack of blankets from the fireplace to the side of the rocking chair once again.
The front door opens, and Techno’s ears perk at the sound of snow being shaken off of Phil’s wings. He feels the blast of cold air, and then it settles again once the door shuts.
“I’m home,” Phil calls. “Techno?”
“Mmyup,” Techno calls, smoothing out the blanket on the top of the stack as Phil walks into the room.
“Hey mate. Fed your dogs, by the way, just in case they try to convince you into giving them a second dinner - are you moving the blankets?”
“Mmyup,” Techno repeats.
“I put those there for-”
“I know,” Techno interrupts. “Phil, have you ever seen him take a blanket from the stack while they’re over there?”
“Nnno?” Phil says, with a tilt of his head and a bit of hesitance in his voice. “But I mean, just in case, right? Are you like - attached to it being by the rocking chair?”
“No,” Techno sighs, “that’s not the point, Phil.”
Phil quirks a brow. “I know he’s not allergic to the blankets.”
“Allergic to being offered ‘em, though,” Techno says.
“Well, I just don’t want him to get cold. You know, he’s always bundling up, even inside.”
“We live in the arctic.”
“Yeah, well,” Phil sighs, “maybe we just need a bigger fireplace or something.”
“Thaaaat’s definitely a multi-day project,” Techno comments, turning away from the rocking chair and heading to the kitchen.
He misses the glint of determination in Phil’s eyes.
Techno’s out by the farms, lost in the rhythm of trying to till frozen-solid dirt when the sound of snow crunching under something other than his hoe reaches his ears. He leaves the tip of his tool buried in the ice, letting go as he turns to face the footsteps.
“Dream?” Techno says, looking him up and down. “Are you okay?”
Dream’s bundled in a winter coat, but the usual warm green tint to his face is hardly present. Instead, his cheeks, nose, and ears are flushed a bright red. There’s flakes of snow in his hair, and his arms are folded tight, hands tucked under his armpits.
“Mmh? Yeah, I’m fine,” Dream says, and Techno swears he hears the smallest chatter of teeth. “Wanted to see what you were doing.”
“Tillin’ dirt, but that can wait,” Techno says, fully turning away from his gardening and getting closer to Dream. “You look like you’re freezing. How long have you been out here?”
“T-ten minutes?” Dream says. His brows furrow, and he looks a bit bewildered. “Not that long. I’m fine, Techno.”
“You do not look fine,” Techno says. “Look, you can do whatever weird stuff you want, man, but I’m not letting you freeze to death. Come on, let’s get you inside.”
“It’s not much colder out here than it is in there,” Dream protests as Techno ushers him back to the front porch. “I’m literally fine! The snow isn’t gonna kill me.” Of course, his statement doesn’t worry Techno any less - has he stopped being able to tell what’s cold? Is he hypothermic? Does he need to dunk him in a warm bath or something?
Techno’s confusion doesn’t go away when he steps inside, Dream in tow - in fact, it just gets worse.
“Phil?” Techno calls out. He shuts the door behind him. The cold doesn’t ebb away as it usually does. He kicks his boots off by the door, and Dream follows suit. “Phiiiil. Why is it freezing in here?”
A soft clatter comes from the next room.
“I thought you were still gardening!” Phil calls out. “I’m not done yet!”
“Done with what?” Techno asks. He steps forward, rounding the corner and getting a better look at the living room. He stops in his tracks.
The fireplace is half-torn apart. The wall has been extended backwards, and is - thankfully - intact, so the wind isn’t chilling the entire house, but Techno knows that wall would have had to be knocked down for a good hour - maybe forty-five minutes, considering how fast Phil seems to be working. The fire is certainly not lit, and Phil is crammed inside the chimney, carefully layering bricks and cement to finish the whole thing off. It’s twice as large as it was before.
“Phil.”
“Yeah, mate?”
“Phil, when I said this would be a multi-day project, I didn’t mean it as a challenge,” Techno says, not sure whether he should sound fond, exasperated, or annoyed. “We’ve gotta get the fire going again.”
“Did you fall in a snowdrift again?” Phil asks, poking his head out of the chimney. “I’ll just be another hour or - oh, hey, Dream.”
Dream, when Techno looks over his shoulder, is doing his best to disappear into his coat. His lips are pulled into a tight, thin line. “I’m fine, Techno,” he promises. “It’s not that cold in here, you can - just let Phil finish.”
“Your nose looks like a cherry,” Techno says. “I don’t want you freezing your toes off.”
“I can get the fire going again and finish tomorrow,” Phil says.
Insistently, Dream shakes his head and backs away. “Nah. I can wait an hour. Have at it, Phil,” he says, and before either of them can protest, he makes a break for the stairs, towards the guest room.
Techno gives Phil a long-suffering stare.
“I mean, if he says it’s fine…”
“Phil, have you ever known Dream to be a particularly honest guy?”
Phil has the sense to look a little embarrassed as he says, “I - okay, no. Is it really that cold in here?”
“Pretty cold,” Techno says. “I think it’s affectin’ Dream worse than you or me.”
“I’ll get the fire going,” Phil concedes. “You wanna check on him?”
Techno nods, then makes his way up the stairs. It’s a little warmer up on the second level of the house, but not by a lot. He knocks on the door of the guest bedroom, and when there’s only a soft mumble of a response, he decides that’s a good enough answer and slowly pushes the door open.
There’s a mess of blankets on the bed, and Dream sits in the center of them all, curled with his knees to his chest. His outer layers with snow all over them have been tossed aside, leaving him in a cotton shirt and pants, with a pair of thick woolen socks.
“I said I’m fine.”
“Any particular reason why you’re freezin’ worse than the rest of us? Don’t-” and Techno lifts a finger, stopping Dream from interrupting before he can make a sound, “-try to tell me you’re fine. Listen. You’re clearly cold.”
If looks could kill, Techno would be very, very dead. Luckily for him, they don’t, and eventually, Dream breaks his murderous stare to look over at the wall and grumble, “Dude, I’m a reptile.”
“...Okay, yes,” Techno says, gesturing with his hands for Dream to keep talking. “I keep livestock and dogs, not snakes and lizards, you gotta tell me more.”
Another glare. “I don’t make my own body heat,” Dream finally says. “You know. Cold-blooded?”
Techno raises his eyebrows. “Huh. Okay. We can fix that until Phil gets the fire going,” he says. He takes off his coat and hooks it by the door. “Scoot over.”
Dream opens his mouth and then closes it again, expression buffering. “What?”
“Scoot,” Techno repeats, approaching Dream’s bedside.
Still bewildered, Dream scoots over. The bed makes a large dip under Techno’s weight when he climbs on, situating himself next to Dream, and Dream nearly falls into his side before he scoots a tad further away.
“What, uh,” Dream says, “What are you doing?”
Techno holds an arm out. “I don’t bite. I promise.”
“...I don’t get it. Is this like, a joke?”
“Nope. I mean, if you’re allergic to cuddling, I’m not gonna make you, but I promise you I’m gonna be warmer than a blanket right now.”
Dream gives him a skeptical stare, the debate visibly happening in the way his brows furrow and his eyes flick left and right between Techno’s face, his open arm, and the rest of his body. For a moment, Techno thinks he might refuse - but instead, he scoots a little closer.
“...Fine,” Dream mutters.
Techno lets him situate himself, even if the first few attempts end up with an elbow somewhere in Techno’s ribs, but eventually, Dream finds a comfortable spot nestled against Techno’s side and stomach.
It’s not the greatest for Techno, if he’s going to be honest about it - Dream’s as cold as an ice cube, shoulder poking into his armpit, head resting against Techno’s collarbone. But he feels the way Dream shudders as soon as his body touches something warmer than itself, and thinks, yeah, he can deal with a human ice cube for as long as it takes the house to warm up again.
After several minutes, it’s not even that bad anymore. Dream seems to be warming up, at the least - the soft chattering of his teeth has stopped, and his breathing is even and deep.
The creaking of the staircase outside the bedroom door announces Phil’s arrival before his knock does. The door opens almost as soon as Techno calls for him to come in, and Dream tenses a little at Techno’s side the moment Phil pokes his head in.
Phil opens his mouth to comment, but Techno gives him a very careful stare. Wordlessly, he hopes it communicates don’t you dare scare him off.
It succeeds. Mildly.
“You warmer up here?” Phil asks.
Dream, still tense, makes a bit of a non-commital noise.
“He’s still a bit cold,” Techno says. “Did you start the fire?”
“Yep,” Phil says, “and I can finish the construction tomorrow. Sorry about turning the house into an ice box, mate.”
“S’fine,” Dream mumbles. “Techno’s like a fuckin’ space heater.”
“What can I say? Netherborn run hot,” Techno chuckles.
Phil sets his coat by the door and goes to sit on Dream’s side of the bed. “Got room for one more?”
Skeptical as ever, it takes Dream another moment to decide before he sighs and goes, “I mean, fine, but I swear, I’m not that cold!”
Phil tosses his legs up onto the bed, shimmying a little closer, then places the back of his hand against Dream’s upper arm. “Christ. Nope, if you’re still cold next to Techno, you definitely need to warm up a little more.”
Dream groans, but doesn’t protest anymore as Phil presses closer. “Are you guys going to do this every time you can’t run the fire, or what?”
“Unfortunately, I have a pretty strict policy against Dreamcicles,” Techno says.
“Sorry mate, looks like you’re stuck with him,” Phil snickers. “Could be worse though, right? This isn’t that bad.”
Dream holds another breath as he adjusts his spot between Techno and Phil, then lets it go. He lets his eyelids droop.
“Nah. This isn’t that bad.”