LOSING GAME ➳ dreamwastaken

𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐮𝐬

Despite the gelid temperatures and gentle snowfall, Reverie still found herself sweating as she and Techno trekked out of the woods, trudging through the many feet of snow.

"You look tired," Techno stated pointedly. Out of the corner of her eye, Reverie glared at him.

"You just made me chase a cow around the forest for twenty minutes."

Techno shrugged. "Well, at least we have dinner."

Although she herself had gone hunting many times, Reverie still refused to look at the animal carcass that was slung over Technoblade's shoulder. Just the scent made her grimace in distaste. Techno would definitely be cooking dinner alone.

Bolting shut the cabin door behind her, Reverie announced that she was going to retreat to the loft and change out of her sodden clothes while Techno got to work on preparing the food. Reverie climbed up the ladder, her frozen fingers barely able to secure a firm grip around the beams, then held onto the wall for support as she kicked off her brown leather boots.

She had just reached to tug the green fabric out of her hair when she spotted him, curled up underneath the covers of Technoblade's bed, his hands clutched close to his chest. With a dull ache in her chest, Reverie let out a solemn sigh then turned and called down the ladder.

"Techno, we have a guest."

There was a clamour of noise, including the dropping of a knife to the floor and the clanging of dishes. Technoblade was at the foot of the ladder in a matter of seconds.

"A guest?" he questioned, his eyebrows furrowed and a glint of alarm in his eyes. He hurried up the ladder, clutching the axe that still hung from his belt, and when he saw his brother sleeping soundly in his bed he let out a jesting chuckle.

Techno folded his arms. "Well, what do we have here?"

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Techno sat on a stool in the corner, his arms crossed and his brooding eyebrows twisted with his expression of cold cynicism. Tommy was still wearing his torn red and white shirt and beige jeans, and Reverie had a gut feeling that he had not changed his clothes at all since she had visited him at Logstedshire. Cuts and bruises riddled his face, and his palms were grazed and stained with dried blood.

Reverie fixed Tommy a mug of hot chocolate, which he eyed sceptically before daring to drink.

Reverie rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to poison you, Tommy."

"You wouldn't know," Tommy seethed, a flower setting on his face. "You know, traitor and all that."

"I didn't betray anyone," Reverie said. It was quite the task to keep the indignance out of her tone. "I made it very clear that I was on Wilbur's side, not L'Manberg's side."

"Yeah, well, Wilbur went insane, so—"

Without any forewarning, a ripple of anger surged through Reverie's veins. She balled her hands into fists as an effort to control this anger, but she could not help it when she snapped at Tommy, because she had made a vow to protect Wilbur's good name.

"Wilbur was the only person in Pogtopia that had any sense—the only person in L'Manberg, the only person in the entire kingdom that was in the right state of mind," she hurled.

"Why do you care, anyway?" Tommy bit back. "He's dead, so what does it matter?"

Instant regret unfolded on Tommy's face as the words slipped from his tongue, and Reverie felt her stomach twist into horrible knots. On his seat in the corner, Techno shifted uneasily but displayed no other signs of distress. As tears bubbled up inside her crystal eyes, Reverie drew in a deep breath, attempting to calm her emotions.