Chapter Text
“Techno,” Phil says, nudging him affectionately with his snout, “you’re pouting.”
“I am not,” Techno says. “I’m the Blood God. I’ve never pouted in my life.”
“Considering you look sadder than the hatchling, my eyesight must finally be going,” Phil says with a small laugh.
Techno snorts, turning his head away definitely. The show lasts about thirty second before he turns back and whines, “he won’t even look at me, Phil.”
Phil softens, brushing a feathered wing against Techno’s scaled one. “You gave him quite the fright, mate,” he says. “He’ll warm back up to you in due time. You and Wil were the same way to me.”
“I don’t like scaring him,” Techno mutters, gazing across the cavern to where Tommy is tucked into his little den, buried almost completely under the pile of gold. “But I can’t- he can’t leave. He can’t.”
“I know, mate,” Phil says. “I’m not saying you did anything wrong. It’s important to establish who’s in charge here. Give him a bit of time. He’ll be crawling back before you know it.”
Techno sighs. The week since the Incident has been rough on all of them for a variety of reasons. Tommy’s been resolutely avoiding speaking to any of them unless it’s the spit curses, spending most of his time curled up in a far corner staring mournfully at his missing scale. His absence is making Techno increasingly agitated, which, in turn, is turning the mood of the entire cavern even more sour.
Not to mention Techno’s den is not nearly large enough to comfortable fit three full-grown adult dragons, and Phil and Wilbur don’t seem to have any intention to leave soon.
Speaking of Wilbur… “when’s Wil getting back?” Techno asks, winding his tail around Phil’s.
“Should be soon, I’d think,” Phil says. “He just went out to grab a bite and meet a contact. Said he shouldn’t be gone more than a day.”
Techno hums, turning his neck to run his snout through Phil’s feathers. Phil purrs in contentment, ruffling his feathers slightly to allow Techno better access to preen.
“Any word on Dream?” Techno asks.
“You’re asking the wrong person, mate,” Phil says. “You know I stay out of that stuff. I only came because Wil told me you’d found a hatchling.”
Techno huffs acknowledgement, plucking a dead feather out of Phil’s wings. Phil chirps, twisting his neck to snort a few sparks on Techno’s head.
It’s a peaceful moment, which is why it’s immediately ruined by an insistent nudge from Wilbur through the clan bond.
Techno and Phil both look up. Techno can’t remember the last time Wilbur felt this panicked through their bond. Tommy must sense their agitation, because he peeks his head out of the pile of gold he’s been sulking in.
“He’s coming,” Tommy says, the first time Techno’s heard him speak in two days. He glances over at Tommy to see him staring, eyes wide, at the entrance to the cavern, body wound tight enough to snap.
A shadow falls over the entrance. Green light filters into the cavern through the webbing of two extended wings.
“Greetings, Blood God,” Dream says. “May I request entry to your den?”
Techno subtly moves to the side, making sure Tommy is covered by his body. He knew this day would come eventually, but with so little warning, so abruptly-
“Dream,” Techno says. “Fancy seeing you here. I don’t think I ever told you where I live.”
“Yes, well, everyone talks when you know who to ask,” Dream says. “Philza. Good to see you too. I hope I’m not interrupting any family reunions?”
“Not at all,” Phil replies, mock-casual. “I’m just surprised you made the trek all the way up here.”
“I’m afraid I’ve had no choice but to,” Dream says. “Do you mind if I come in?”
Yes, actually, Techno would mind a lot. But he really needs to know what it is Dream exactly wants or this whole issue is never going to be put to rest, so he says, “Yeah, sure.”
Dream nods, slinking his way into the cavern. Wilbur appears on the ledge he’d abandoned, staring down at the rest of them with an expression twisted in distaste.
“So, Dream,” Techno says, “what brings you all the way out here? Must be big, if you can’t solve it yourself.”
Dream hums, tail flicking back and forth. “It’s a… sensitive issue, you might say. I’ve lost something very important to me, and I would very much like to get it back.”
“You lost something? What, like, a shiny ring?” Techno says, cocking his head like he’s surprised by this news. “That just sounds like you bein’ irresponsible. Have you tried looking around your den?”
Dream’s jaw twitches, but he doesn’t stop smiling. The forced pleasantries Dream thrives on are never something that’s appealed to Techno. Needless to say, it makes conversation with him very unpleasant.
“Yes, I’ve searched my den many times,” Dream says. “Searched every nook and cranny. It’s nowhere to be seen.”
Techno hums. “Sounds rough, but I don’t know what you want me to do about it,” Techno says. “I doubt any trinket you’ve lost will have found its way all the way up here.”
Oddly, the air hums with anticipation. Dream’s tail thrashes, his gaze sharpens, his mouth curls back, and then he says, “I’m calling in my favor.”
Oh.
Huh.
One thing Techno has maybe forgotten to mention: the Favor. Capital “F” Favor, because of the few favors Techno owes, this is undoubtedly the largest.
See, there has only been one point in history in which the Blood God suffered a loss.
It’s a story forgotten by most. Very few involved in the affair lived to tell of it. But there was once a kingdom that, through use of trickery and underhanded means, managed to capture Techno and nearly kill him.
Dream had saved him. He and his clan (a different clan from his current one, at the time, one Dream had not led and the name of which has long been lost to time) had swept in and torched the human kingdom to the ground, saving Techno from what would have been his death.
Dream may not have been the clan leader, but he was the one who cut Techno’s bonds, the one who helped usher him off the battlefield, and the one who had commanded the squad that had set him free. And as such, Techno owes him a Favor, a life debt that’s been waiting many years to be repaid.
Honestly, Techno had pretty much forgotten about it. He’d assumed Dream had as well. And yet here Dream stands, cashing in the Favor, for… for what?
“Interesting,” Techno says, managing to find his voice past the haze of surprise. “You must have lost something very important.”
Dream hums. His tail is still thrashing, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth…
“So what, exactly, are you expecting me to do?” Techno says, cocking his head to the side. Past Dream, he can see Wilbur’s talons tighten their grip on the stone of the ledge.
“Nothing much,” Dream says. “I’d just like to employ your help in searching. If you don’t find it, then I’ll consider the debt repaid regardless.”
“I’m hardly a tracker,” Techno says. “I doubt my help alone would make any difference.”
Dream snorts. “No need to be humble, Blood God. If you try, I’m sure you’ll be able to sniff it out.”
Well. He’s not wrong, and Techno won’t pretend like Dream’s words don’t stroke his ego a little bit. But still-
“What am I looking for, then?” Techno says. “Can’t find it if I don’t know what I’m supposed to be finding.”
The silence in the cavern feels like a living thing, heavy in the air. Every dragon in the room seems to hold their breath as Dream opens his mouth to speak.
“I have a hatchling,” Dream says.
Exhale.
“I’ve kept his existence a secret for his safety,” Dream says. “You understand, right? I’ve got too many enemies.”
“Wait, wait,” Techno says, “you’re saying the thing you lost is a hatchling?”
It might not be Tommy. It might not be Tommy. It might not be Tommy.
Dream shifts a bit, then nods.
“‘Lost’ as in kidnapped?” Wilbur pipes up. Techno watches Dream crane his neck back to meet Wilbur’s eyes. Wilbur’s face is decidedly devoid of emotion, carefully blank like sculpted marble. “Or ‘lost’ as in ran away?”
Dream shifts again. He tail scapes along the pile of gold underneath it. It’s really, really setting Techno’s nerves on edge. “I certainly hope he didn’t run away of his own volition.”
“But you don’t deny the possibility?” Wilbur says, head titled.
“I would be foolish to deny any possibility,” Dream says. Techno’s lip curls in distaste. Dream likes to fashion himself similar to Techno, an unbeatable warrior, but when he speaks like this, all slippery and half-truths, he reminds Techno much more of Wilbur.
Not that he’d insult his brother by comparing him to Dream. As annoying as Wilbur can be, he’s leagues better than this sniveling pile of green scales.
“Let me get this straight,” Techno says. “You want me to find your hatchling?”
It might not be Tommy. It might not be Tommy.
“Yes,” Dream says. “I would greatly appreciate your help in finding him. I’d hate for him to get himself hurt on his own.”
It might not be Tommy.
“What does he look like?” Phil says, feathers rustling.
Dream hesitates. Every muscle in Techno’s body is tensed, ready to strike.
“Mate, we can’t exactly look for him if we don’t know what he looks like,” Phil prods.
Dream’s tail scrapes across the ground again. “He has gold scales,” he says, and Techno’s stomach drops. “Smaller than an average fledgling.”
It takes everything Techno has not to turn and look at where he’s brutally aware Tommy is huddled beneath his den of gold. He wishes he could be shocked or surprised, but-
Who is he kidding.
He is… surprised, a bit, that Tommy hasn’t immediately bolted for Dream. Even if he hadn’t spent the whole time he’s been in Techno’s den swearing Dream would rescue him, he is, apparently, Dream’s hatchling. Any normal hatchling would be bolting for their parent the second they spotted them, and yet Tommy is frozen still.
“Lost as in kidnapped?” Wilbur’s voice echoes in his mind. “Or lost as in ran away?”
But if Tommy ran, then why did he still claim to be a member of Dream’s clan? Why did he swear Dream would save him, and why does he cower away now?
“I’m surprised you were able to find anyone to have your kid,” Techno says, trying to speak around the lump in his throat. “Last I heard, your romantic prospects weren’t looking too bright.”
“Ha, ha,” Dream says dryly. “He’s not mine biologically. I saved him from a human kingdom that was keeping him captive.”
“What would a human kingdom want with a hatchling?” Wilbur says.
Dream snorts. “You know humans,” he says, and, unfortunately, Techno does. “They always want to think they’re stronger and smarter than they are. They probably just saw him as a pretty status symbol, not knowing just how valuable he really is.”
“Oh?” Phil says, wry grin splitting his snout. “Is fatherhood finally making you soft, Dream?”
Dream blows a puff of smoke from his nostrils. “Hardly. That little dragon is more attuned to magic than anything I’ve ever seen. Even the Fae would be hard-pressed to match him. The humans had all that power right under their noses, and all they cared about was his scales and talons.” A nasty sneer twists his face, canines flashing in the light. “They didn’t deserve him. No one deserves him except for me.”
Techno can feel a snarl building in his throat. If Dream is talking about Tommy- and he has to be, Techno’s no fool and he certainly isn’t going to lie to himself- then how dare talk like that about Techno’s hoard.
Behind the blue of instinct haze, a part of Techno’s brain pauses on the implications in Dream’s words. It’s not like he hasn’t noticed Tommy’s attunement to magic. Tommy is always able to sense Wilbur or Phil’s approaches before he is, even though Techno is clan with both of them and Tommy is not.
Techno had written quite a lot of it out as coincidence, considering Tommy lived with him for weeks before realizing who he was. It seems impossible that Tommy wouldn’t be able to tell the extent of Techno’s power if he really was so attuned to magic.
Although… the arctic is something of a magical dead zone, an area too extreme for many magical creatures to make their home and therefore largely devoid of any magical residue. Tommy wouldn’t have had anything to compare Techno’s power to, which could perhaps explain it… expect Tommy wasn’t born in the arctic, so surely he’s seen other dragons before…
“Relax, Dream,” Phil says, shaking his wings out. His voice is carefully neutral, even though Techno knows his brain must be making the same calculations that his is. “We’ll find your hatchling for you. What’s his name? It’ll be easier to find him if we know.”
“Name,” Phil says, a harmless term, but they all know he really means “Hatchname.” Dragons aren’t Fae- they aren’t so magical that their mere names hold power over them- but knowing a dragon’s Hatchname still gives you a greater link to their magic. It really would be easier to find Tommy if they knew his Hatchname. But the idea that Dream knows what Techno doesn’t, that final piece of priceless information about his little gold, is so repulsive-
“Theseus,” Dream says, and the name falls through the air like a star from the heavens themselves. “His name is Theseus.”
The name floods through Techno like thick honey. Theseus, his mind crows, Theseus Theseus Theseus. Theseus the human hero, Theseus the priceless piece of gold no treasure could ever hope to match. Theseus.
“Theseus,” he murmurs, and then all hell breaks loose.
Tommy makes a noise halfway between a choke and a squeak, shifting enough to send a small avalanche of gold coins down the side of his little burrow. Dream’s head snaps to the movement, electric-green eyes widening as he jerks towards Tommy. Wilbur chose that moment to throw himself off of the ledge and directly onto Dream, teeth clamping around the back of Dream’s neck.
Techno releases the growl that’s been building in his chest, long white teeth snapping at where Dream thrashes on the ground. One pink wing flares out to shield Tommy from his view.
“Theseus,” Dream snarls, tail whipping through the air behind him. He bucks upwards, hissing as Wilbur’s teeth tighten around his neck. “Techno, you fucking traitor-”
“Get out of here, Dream,” Techno growls. “Assuming you want to leave with your scales attached.”
“How dare you,” Dream hisses. “You fucking- you stole my fucking hatchling. The clans will have your head over this.”
Technically, he’s right. Stealing a hatchling is perhaps the biggest breach of clan law there is, and it’s more than grounds for war. But…
“He ran from you,” Techno says, red eyes flashing. “He ran to me. That makes him mine.”
“That’s not how it fucking works, you traitorous lump of scales,” Dream snarls. “You can’t-”
“And who’s going to stop me?” Techno says, taking a step closer. “You? When they won’t even be able to find your talons once I’m done with you?”
“You-”
“STOP!” Tommy yells, shoving his way out from behind Techno’s wing. Both Techno and Dream’s heads snap to him as he glares at them, shaking slightly. “Stop fucking- fucking talking about me like I’m not here, alright? Just- just fucking-”
“Theseus,” Dream hisses. “Did you really run to the Blood God? After everything I’ve given you?”
Tommy’s face blanches. “Um- well-”
“I saved you,” Dream continues, seemingly unaware of the blood streaming down his neck from Wilbur’s fangs. “I gave you a clan. I gave you a home. And this- this is how you repay me? You run away to the first dragon who’ll take you?”
“That not- no-” Tommy says, taking a step back.
“Was I really so awful to you?” Dream says, poison eyes wide. “Was I really so cruel that the Blood God seemed like a better alternative?”
Tommy glances between the two of them. Techno wants to reach out and scoop him into his talons, but he doesn’t want to scare Tommy, not when Dream is right there.
“He-” Tommy swallows. “He lets me fly.”
Silence. And then-
Dream laughs. It’s an ugly laugh, a little hysterical and high-pitched and cruel.
“That’s it?” he says, sneer twisting his snout. “He lets you fly. Big, bad Dream won’t let you fly for your own safety, but the Blood God will. That’s it.”
The last pieces suddenly fall into place.
Tommy is an anomaly- exceptionally powerful, but even more vulnerable because of it. A magical conduit with no knowledge of dragon culture or customs, eager to latch onto the first one of his own kind to show him kindness. And Dream, gifted a perfect chess piece, denying him a dragon’s fundamental right to fly in order to control him better, dressing it up as being for his own safety.
“Theseus,” he says, his voice coming out more as a growl than words, “forbidding a dragon flight is a breach of clan law. It’s a fate we view as worse than death.”
Tommy’s gaze snaps to Techno. “Huh?” he says, and his voice is so small and fragile that Techno, the unbeatable Blood God, nearly breaks then and there.
“Oh, that’s fucking rich,” Dream says. “You know what else is a breach of clan law? Stealing a hatchling.”
“He-” Tommy glances at Dream, then back to Techno. His blue eyes are wide and watery with heartbreak. He looks at Techno again. “He hurt me?”
Techno remembers the wounds covering Tommy’s body. He remembers the way his ribs stuck out, the frailness with which he moved. And he remembers- he remembers the fear in Tommy’s eyes whenever Dream’s name was mentioned.
“Yes, Theseus,” he says. “He hurt you.”
Tommy tucks his tail under himself. “You hurt me, too,” he says, tail scratching at where the missing scale has scabbed over.
Techno leans down, brushing his snout against Tommy’s forehead. “That was the one and only time,” he says. “All I did was get rid of the traces of him.”
Tommy ducks his head away, but he presses his body against Techno’s leg. Dream hisses, fangs flashing.
“He’s the Blood God, Theseus,” Dream says. “A goddamn killing machine. However nice you think he is, he’ll turn right around and stick his fangs in your throat. You’ll fucking regret this.”
Tommy turns away from Dream, presses his face against Techno’s stomach. “I don’t-” he says, eyes squeezed shut- “-want to listen to you.”
“Theseus,” Dream snarls, but Techno’s already giving Wilbur a meaningful glance.
“You heard him,” Techno says, and a smile twists across Wilbur face for a split second before he’s launching himself into the air, Dream’s throat still clutched between his teeth. Phil follows them out of the cavern.
“Theseus!” Dream shrieks as he’s dragged away. “The-Thes-”
And then he’s gone.
Techno can feel Tommy shaking like a leaf. He moves his leg to Tommy’s other side, positioning Tommy between his two front legs as he settles down, tucking Tommy under his chin. Tommy whimpers, curling into a little ball.
“Shh, little gold,” Techno murmurs. “You did good. You did so, so good.”
A deep purr slips out of his chest. After a long moment, Tommy’s higher purr fills the air alongside it. Techno blows a few sparks onto Tommy’s head, letting the purrs flood his chest like warm honey.
“I don’t-” Tommy starts, then stops. His brow crinkles. “He was good to me, sometimes. He did save me.”
“He was using you,” Techno says.
“I know that!” Tommy says, a little indignant. His expression fades and his head leans against Techno’s scales. “I do know that. But-”
“He was all you had.” Techno hums, brushing his chin gently against Tommy’s head. “I understand, little gold. But you’ll never have to settle for him again. We’ll love you more than he ever could.”
“You don’t love me,” Tommy says. “You just… want to own me.”
“Those things don’t have to be so different,” Techno says. “Is it odd to cherish the things you own?”
Tommy is silent for a long time, and then, “I guess not.”
Techno hums again. “Being mine means being loved, little gold,” he says. “It’s hardly the worst fate you could ask for.”
And as the sun slips beneath the cavern’s entrance, Techno smiles.