The snowstorm lasted for only a day more, Dream and Technoblade regaining power within a few hours after the snow had stopped blowing. While neither knew why the power had gone out, they did know they were grateful for it. Dream, however, was still sicker than ever, having barely left the bed at all. Techno was worried for him but also knew that there was very little he could do except provide food, drink, and some entertainment. Dream seemed to appreciate it, however.

About two days after the snow stopped, a snowplow came down their road, enabling access to the rest of the world once cars were dugout. Technoblade got straight to work on that, Dream being dead asleep in bed. When the pinkette came in a few hours later, he was surprised to see the blanket-wrapped barista, preparing a hot drink for him. He took off his gloves and hat, the messy bun he had stuffed his braid into hastily almost non-existent now. Dream gave him a small smile as he kicked his boots off and went to sit by the fire.

"Here you go. I woke up about thirty minutes ago. I'm sorry I'm not helping," the blonde apologized, bringing over a warm cup of cocoa.

"No need to apologize, just don't expect too much help when it comes to your car," the pinkette laughed, completely joking as he would more than willingly help Dream with anything he asked.

"That's fair."

Dream did not feel talkative as he had only started to feel better at all. There was also the small fact that he still felt as if he was on thin ice with Techno. Techno didn't want to talk only because he was more focused on warming up. After a long pause, Dream let out a heavy sigh, swallowing hard.

"I'll go get dressed and help."

"What? No, don't do that. We need you to finish getting better. Not get worse," Techno laughed. "Besides, I'm doing just fine and only have one actual snow shovel anyways."

"Well you need to warm up and I'm on the upside of this illness. I'll be fine. I need to help. You've done so much for me recently. Let me do this."

"Dream, seriously, it's fine. The fire is nice and warm and I'm sure you made more than enough cocoa to share, so grab yourself a cup and let's just relax. I'm sore and wet cold and right now, I do not want either of us out there."

Technoblade had to do his best to not beg Dream, the blonde considering what he said for several minutes. As if some switch inside of him had flipped, he gave a sudden nod, retrieving a mug of cocoa as well. He flopped onto the couch next to Techno, a sigh escaping.

"Sorry I've been useless. I hate being sick like this," he said quietly.

"Goddamn it Dream," Techno said, a laugh escaping, "if you apologize for any more than you have already have, a non-existent god is going to forgive a non-existent devil. You are fine. You were sick! You wouldn't expect me to be at hundred percent power if I was sick would you?"

Dream shook his head in response. "No, but-"

"But nothing. We all have our bad days. Sometimes those bad days line up on days that are everyone's bad days. But it's okay. Really."

Dream nodded once more, sipping his drink. "If you say so Techno."

"I do. Now, if I can bother you, would you tell me what you think of this essay? I haven't heard back from my professor on what he wants me to change if anything, so I figured if I can get at least someone's opinion, it'll be better than nothing."

"Sure, I can do that. What is it about?" Dream placed down his mug to free his hands for the laptop that Techno was currently unlocking.

"It's a book report that I've been putting off. I had to analyze why the main character did what he did and how that affected the minor character's actions. It was a very slow and boring book. I read it when we had no power," he explained.

Dream gave a small nod, setting his mind to reading and going through details. It wasn't very long and while Dream knew nothing of the book's topic, he felt as if he knew the plotline completely by the end of the essay. He gave the laptop back to Techno nodding.

"Well, I don't exactly know what the book is about, but it seems like you did a fabulous job. I'm sure you're looking for more constructive criticism than that, but that's about all I can give you," he laughed softly, causing a coughing fit.

Technoblade patted him on the back softly, before getting up to get him a bottle of water. "That's about all I can ask of you," he shrugged.

Dream guzzled the water, a full-body shiver running through him. "Thank you for being stubborn and not letting me go work outside. I think I would have died."

"Of course you greenie. I'm not about to let an already sick person get sicker just cause they think it's a good idea to shovel snow," he laughed softly.

"Look, I haven't worn green for several days," he muttered, trying to hide his grin.

Dream and Technoblade looked at each other, faces serious for a moment before bursting into laughter. Techno's deep laugh paired well with Dream's lighter, whimsical laugh. The two relaxed into the couch, Techno handing Dream an Xbox controller, knowing that they were both starved from playing together. It was one of their biggest bonding moments. Some of their best moments together had been in Minecraft and it was actually how Technoblade had realized Dream was homeless all those months ago.

While Techno would never hurt someone without reason, they had an inside joke going about a village that they had completed a raid in a while ago. They had attempted to lock all the villagers they could inside their homes, however, they had unknowingly locked in only baby villagers. So when all of the adults died to the raiders, Techno had decided to kill all of the orphans. Dream had been more than a little annoyed, as this meant they wouldn't be able to get the trade benefits, but from that moment on, he made sure to hide orphaned animals and villagers from Techno. It annoyed the other man, but it was worth it.

They were currently trying to find more ancient debris and it was a struggle. Yet the both of them grinded for hours, Dream pulling off impressive stunts across the nether to get away from Techno when he 'accidentally' blew up a bed too close to him and nearly killed the pig skinned man.

"I'm going to go back to the overworld and destroy the portal!" he threatened.

"Go ahead, I have obsidian and flint and steel," Dream laughed, opening his inventory to show Techno.

The man's character crouched, approaching Dream slowly. The two stared at each other, before Techno pulled up his axe and hit him, and started to run off. Dream elbowed Techno in the side from where he sat on the couch.

"Not fair dude. Not fair at all."

"I mean, that seems more than fair after what you did to me! I was down to one heart!"

"Well, that's your fault for not eating. I only have iron armor on right now. You know this," Dream sighed, following Techno's character back to the portal.

As they both entered the overworld again, Techno paused, saved, and quit the game. "I need to go shovel some more. Sorry dude. My professor just expects back in class on Monday."

"No, I get it. I also need to get better and shovel. We pushed my first day back to next week for obvious reasons, but I know that if I'm not better by then I will probably lose this opportunity."

Technoblade nodded, braiding his hair up with little effort and then wrapping it around itself to form a bun that was easier to put under a hat. "I understand. If I get to it, I will work on your car today. I was joking about that earlier."

"Alright, I appreciate it. But you don't have to. I don't want you to overwork yourself," Dream gave a soft smile.

"Eh, it's fine, I promise."

With little effort, Techno pulled on his hat, gloves, and boots, heading back out to shovel more. Dream watched him for a few minutes before drifting off to sleep on the couch, his body tired and heavy after what felt like being awake for hours. He hadn't gotten a solid night's sleep in several days and it was finally catching up with him. As he slept, his dreams ran wild, stirring him to consciousness several times. It usually only took a moment to slip back to sleep, but it still bothered him.

At one point, he was awoken due to Techno coming in for another break. The man was stopping off the snow from his boots, not seeming to notice the sleeping Dream. Inside him, a tinge of guilt went through him for sleeping and so he sat up, rubbing his heavy eyes. He tried to get up to stock the fire, yet when he looked back to Techno, the man had disappeared and suddenly, Dream was unable to tell if the man had really been there or if this was simply a dream. He ended up going back to sleep, too tired to care.

When he did finally wake up, he felt much better than he had for days. Technoblade sat on the couch next to him, playing a first-person shooter game, something that wasn't particularly interesting to Dream. He didn't make a sound, however, not wanting to mess up the pinkette's game. When the round ended, he sat up, releasing a huge yawn.

"Well hello, there sleepyhead. How are you feeling?" Techno placed down his controller.

"Surprisingly better. I guess a couch sleep was what I needed. Sorry I didn't keep the fire going," Dream yawned again. "How did the shoveling go?"

"I got most of it done. We have a path to my car and my car is completely uncovered. I also got the sidewalk and the front doors of your car done. Then it got dark and I came in to prepare dinner," he said. "Speaking of…"

Techno jumped up from his seat, darting towards the kitchen eagerly. Following his path, Dream spotted the soup pot on the stove and smiled. The soup was always amazing, but in this cold and sick state, it seemed perfect to him right now.

"I made a soup! It's a simple chicken noodle, but I figured it would work either way!"

Dream smile widened at the sight of Techno's eagerness. It made his heart melt just a little and he found himself falling more and more in love with the man the longer he was with him. The clatter of bowls clinking against each-other and the metallic sound of spoons, was heard as Techno pulled out what he needed to serve both himself and Dream. The braided pink hair swayed gently against his back, flyaway hairs around his ears and shoulders. Dream watched the English major ladle the soup into the bowl, the scent wafting through the air. As a bowl was handed to him, Dream met Techno's eyes, a soft smile from Dream meeting Techno's slightly awkward one.

In that moment, Dream felt at home with Technoblade and wished for nothing more than for this to last forever.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone and if you don't celebrate Thanksgiving, then happy Thursday. Like promised, here's a chapter to help get y'all by for the day. I will say, after some recent discussions with my fiance, I have personally decided that this will be the last Thanksgiving I celebrate. As I've grown and learned more about the US and the country's origins, Thanksgiving does not seem like a good thing to celebrate. Of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinion and if you enjoy the day, then enjoy the day!

Thank you all for reading and please review. I'll see you on Sunday!

Best Regards,

PFT3000