Order 73 ~DNF~

𝟛𝟘

heyyy

//

𝒢𝑒𝑜𝓇𝑔𝑒 𝒫𝒪𝒱

Dream swallows at my intense gaze, waiting impatiently for some sort of reaction. He chews his lip, weighing the proposal in his mind. "There's no way they agree to that." He mumbles.

"There's no use in being afraid to ask," I point out, excitement causing my fingers to jump to the keyboard, looking up Techno and Phil's various accomplishments. "Just imagine your artificial intelligence powered by their solar technology. Dream,"

"That would be pretty damn cool," He agrees, a smile creeping up onto his face with every second that passed. "You know I can't afford to get my hopes up too much right?"

"It will work. Has there been a single problem we haven't been able to solve together?" I correct mindlessly, rolling my eyes at his caution.

He nods along, grinning with a cheeky glint in his eyes. "Oh George, what would I do without you?"

"Probably descend further into the depths of your pessimism." I deadpan, scanning the bright screen that was starting to make my head pound.

"You know what? I'm not gonna argue with that." He drops his cheek onto the top of my head lazily, dodging my annoyed swats at his face.

–

The days trickled by like the sand in the hourglass on Dream's desk. Even such a simple mechanism was made into flawless tech, the hourglass turning on its own as the last grain fell through the small opening every hour. Show off.

It took a little bit to work out chinks in the armor of our plan, but by the end of that night, Dream and I were confident with its framework.

Sapnap was off in North Carolina for a showcase as a representative from DTech, and I could tell it affected Dream quite a bit that he didn't have his best friend within arms reach. I wish he was here with us for a third opinion, but we decided to leave him alone, considering he was quite stressed about the trip when he left.

Both of us were far too busy trying to figure out how we were going to convince Phil and Techno–their company being about three times bigger than Dream's–to merge and fend off Barlowe. It was currently a work in progress. Despite all of that, my life has gotten far less stressful. It was amazing how much having a safe place to live lifted the weight off my shoulders.

Despite my ridicule of him, Dream was the best roommate I could ask for, although I'd never admit it to his face. He woke up before me each day and would make breakfast for the both of us. I tried doing it one day, and ended up burning the toast and somehow almost blowing up our floor because I couldn't turn the stove on correctly. He forgave me pretty quickly, promising to only bring it up once a month.

Evenings on the sofa, warmed by the hot chocolate I got the both of us addicted to, with our laptops in front of us became a daily routine.

There were a few nights that I would agree to night shifts; those were Dream's favorite nights. Although rainy days were few and far between in December, we'd wait for the rare instances, jumping on the shift whenever available.

No one ever came in when it was raining, at least at night. We'd goof off and laugh at our own stupidity in the quiet ambiance of the cafe. He'd bring up different arguments we had when we first met, and I'd insist that I had won every single one. When he tried to get too much work done on those nights, I'd steal whatever he was working on and watch as he got pissed.

"Oh my God. Again?" Dream scowls, taking a swipe at his usb drive I was twirling in my fingers. I grin shyly, stepping back. The chair lurches forward and he almost pitches to the ground.