#dsmp imagine

Pairing:Dream / Clay x gn!reader

Summary: [Dream SMP!AU] Talking to animals is easy, especially when you can actually understand them. But talking to Dream? That’s a whole other challenge unto itself.

Word Count: 4.5k

A/N: inspired by dream being a disney princess with like 85 dolphins during the 4v1 manhunt finale :D i hope you all enjoy! i had fun writing this <3

Balancing the bag in your arms carefully, you peeked over the top to see the animal pen drawing nearer and nearer. Your eyes lit up at the sight, and you picked up the pace a fraction or two as you made your way over. Already, you could see the pigs sniffing at the air, their snouts turned toward you expectantly.

“Good morning, guys!” you greeted, coming to a stop just outside the pen. Heaving the bag into one of your arms, you used the other to reach inside. “I brought some snacks for you all.”

The pig closest to you—Darwin, you remembered vaguely—snorted at you. To anyone else, they would have heard just that: a simple snort. But the tone that reached your ears was anything but simple.

“Finally! We’ve been starving!”

Giving him a lopsided smile, you pulled out a carrot from your bag, reaching down to let him bite on. “Don’t you guys have all this grass to eat?”

As Darwin snapped his mouth shut around the carrot, he managed to warble out, “Yes, but quality over quantity, and grass gets boring after eating it for basically ever.”

You gave him a deadpan look, shoving another carrot towards another pig—this one was Rita. “That doesn’t negate the fact that I literally fed you guys yesterday,” you pointed out with a blank stare.

From the back of the pen, you watched as one of the cows rose up to rest its front legs on the side of the wood, grunting out at you. “That was yesterday,” said Pedro, “and this is today.” He let his jaw fall open and waiting. “Now, feed me.”

You giggled, dumping the rest of the carrots in front of the pigs to let them fight amongst themselves. “So demanding,” you joked as you stepped to the side.

Moving over toward the cows, you held out a few carefully tied bundles of wheat, shaking them in front of them. “I hope you guys will settle for wheat.”

Pedro didn’t even look up, his eyes still glued to the wheat you were holding up. “Do you even have to ask?”

With a laugh, you set it on the ground in front of him, watching with amusement as the horde moved in to engulf the pile of wheat entirely. Just a moment later, you felt a nudge at the back of your arm, and you turned to see a pair of horses eyeing you expectantly. You grinned at the sight, turning the bag upside down in your arms.

“And for you two,” you hummed, watching gravity naturally empty the bag onto their feeding tray, “I’ve got some apples.”

The white speckled horse standing to your left—appropriately named Snowflake—let out an appreciative whinny, ducking her head down to devour an apple. “Bless your soul, [Y/N],” she sighed in bliss. “Bless you.”

Smiling, you folded the paper bag onto itself and slipped it back into your pocket, leaning against the wooden fence with a hum. “Just try not to throw me off anytime soon,” you said with a teasing look, “and I’ll bring you as many as you’d like.”

“Are you talking to the horses?”

You jumped at the sound of a new voice—at the sound of hisvoice.Oh my god.

Of all the people you thought would possibly stumble upon you like this, he was definitely the last person who came to mind.

Whirling around, you felt your hands curl up into fists at your side, your heart leaping into your throat as you laid eyes on the man standing before you. His mask had been tucked off to the side of his head, leaving his freckled face free and open to the bright sunshine above.

“O-Oh, I, um, erm…” you stammered, your tongue stumbling all over itself. “Hi, Dream! I-I was just, uh—”

You could hear Snowflake snicker behind you, and your cheeks burned with embarrassment as you finally managed to sputter, “What are you doing here?”

The smile he flashed you was more dazzling than the sun, and you resisted the urge to sigh dreamily. “Oh, just taking a morning stroll.” His emerald eyes flashed. “You didn’t answer my question, though.” He gestured to the animal pen behind you. “Were you really just talking to them, or have I gone crazy?”

You felt your mouth go dry, your mind absolutely scrambling for words to form a coherent sentence. Behind you, you caught a glimpse of Darwin pressing his snout forward between the gaps of the fence.

“Is this the guy you like? What’s so special about him?” He tilted his head, then dug at the ground with a triumphant puff. “He’s got nothing on me.”

Before you could stop yourself, you turned, shooting a glare at him. “Sh-Shut up!”

Just a step ahead of you, Dream gasped, his eyes brightening with fascination. “You are talking to the animals!” He shuffled closer toward you. “Can you really understand them?”

Your breath caught in your lungs at his proximity, and you fidgeted as you spoke. “I, um, yeah.” When there was a beat of silence, you wilted under his gaze. “Sorry, I must sound cuckoo.”

His lips were parted in awe, and he shook his head at you. “No, no, I’m just so intrigued. Why did you never tell me?”

You lowered your gaze to your hands, fiddling with your thumbs. “I guess I… just didn’t want anyone to think I seemed crazy, or something.” Your voice grew quiet. “You probably don’t even believe me.”

Just then, you felt a hand settle on the curve of your shoulder. You nearly jumped right out of your skin, and you looked up to see Dream’s face just a few inches from yours. You wanted to melt into the floor.

He’s so close.

“I believe you,” he said softly, honestly lacing his every syllable. “You wouldn’t lie to me. That’s not like you.” His lips twitched up into a small smile, and you felt him squeeze your shoulder ever so gently. “Am I the only one who knows?”

You swallowed, then nodded your head, half-feeling like it would fall right off if you shook it too hard. “Y-Yeah,” you breathed, unable to tear your eyes away from his. “I didn’t really mean to keep it a secret—I guess it just sort of happened. I don’t really remember how this happened, either. I think I was just born with it? I’ve always been able to understand them.”

A part of you wanted to berate yourself for rambling, but you didn’t get the chance to think about it for a second longer before Dream was suddenly grabbing both of your shoulders, practically pressing himself up to you. Your face was aflame in a burst of dizzying affection and bashful warmth, his hot breath fanning over your cheeks obliviously.

Too close!

“That—that’s so cool!” he said, his eyes scanning your face with wonder. A moment later, he stepped back, releasing your shoulders. You missed his touch immediately, and you wanted to lean back into his warmth.

“We have to talk to every animal, now,” he sighed, almost bouncing up and down where he stood with excitement. You couldn’t stop the smile from stretching across your face at the sight. Suddenly he turned, cocking his head at you with a pensive, almost shy look.

“Well, I mean, you can talk to them all if you want, but is it okay if I tag along? I’m just…” He shook his head to himself again, his smile never once faltering. “You’re just so amazing.”

Your heartbeat was practically rattling your rib cage at this point—who gave him the right to be so… so nice?Sopretty?Soperfect? Fumbling to respond, you sent him the best smile you could muster up.

“S-Sure! I don’t think they’d mind.” You glanced over at the animal pen. “Would you guys?”

Rita cocked her head, then let out a snort of approval. “Sure, he’s okay. Besides, you’ve got the hots for him, right?” Something in her beady little eyes gleamed with mischief. “Show off a little, yeah?”

You gaped at her, your brain short-circuiting on the spot. Rita!you internally chided.

At your side, Dream blinked at you curiously. “Well,” he said, “what’d they say?”

Squeaking, you flipped around to look at him, feeling your insides flutter with butterflies as your heart melted.

“Yes,” you breathed, “you can tag along.”

The sheer brightness of his smile made you wonder if maybe it would be better if you had said no.

“Hey there, little guy.”

The puppy in Dream’s arms—his name was Cole—was panting like he had just run three miles, rolling over into his warm touch. His tongue flicked over his wet, black nose as he barked once, twice at you.

“Oh! He’s so tall! And he’s good at giving ear scratches.” Whimpering, he nuzzled into Dream’s eager touch. “Oooh, yes. That’s the spot.” Lifting his head, he turned to look at you and barked once, his pale, glimmering eyes flickering with joy. “[Y/N], bring him around more often. This guy rocks.”

You giggled, brushing some stray dirt off the front of your pants. “I’ll try my best.”

Dream glanced over at you, his eyes lingering on your mouth before dragging over your face. “What’d he just say?”

Bending down, you reached a hand out to poke at Cole’s cheek, not missing the way he yapped at your touch. “He says that I should bring you around more often because you’re good at giving scratches.”

“Don’t forget about the part where I said he rocks!” Cole suddenly yelped, his tail wagging aggressively against Dream’s thigh. “Because he does.”

Your face flushed at that, and you turned your gaze to the grass beneath your feet. “And also that you, um—you rock.”

A smile tugged at Dream’s lips, and he let out a chuckle that seemed all too boyish for a man of his stature. “Aw, really?” he crooned, scratching the pup a little more. “That’s too kind.”

You snuck a peek at him, feeling your heart sing a sweet melody in your chest. “Well,” you murmured, “it is what he said.”

You watched with awe as his features softened into something so tender, so warm that it made your lungs expand just to make room for the affection blooming in your chest. To think it had been well over a few months since Dream had discovered your little power, and he was still as kind as ever. Every morning, he would join you on your way to feed the animals, and from time to time, he would ask you to accompany him while chatting with them.

You, of course, could never say no to him, so here you were, all this time later and still absolutely head over heels for him.

“Thank you, buddy,” he hummed, giving Cole one last ruffle behind his ears before getting to his feet. “We’re gonna go now, but I’ll come back soon.”

Getting back onto his four paws, Cole shook out his fur once, then barked at him with a wag. “Bye! You’re the best!” He turned to look at you. “And give him a kiss for me, [Y/N].”

Your jaw dropped open, and you almost tripped over your foot as you straightened. “I-I most certainly will not!” you shouted.

Dream blinked at you, confusion furrowing his brow. “Huh?”

You squeaked, turning away from him with a dismissive wave. “He—he just says bye back!” you said, praying he would ignore the crack in your voice.

Instead, he cocked a brow at you, looking all the more intrigued. “And what about the thing you won’t do?”

You tore your gaze away from him, dragging a line in the dirt with the sole of your shoe. “I-It’s nothing,” you fibbed. “Ignore him.”

He gave you an amused look, then chuckled, trailing after you. “Okay, okay,” he relented. “Where to next?”

You paused, tapping at your chin with a thoughtful expression. “Mm, have you ever talked to a fox?” you said after a moment.

He grinned. “I mean, I’ve personally never talked to any animals, but no.”

You laughed at his half-joke, waving over your shoulder for him to follow you. “Well, I know one you might like. C’mon!”

As you began striding forward, making your way down the wood plank path, you paused when you didn’t hear footsteps following you. Turning, you looked behind you only to freeze at the sight of Dream’s eyes glued to you, his gaze gleaming with a mixture of awe and wonder.

“You know,” he said, suddenly sounding breathless, “I really appreciate that you’re doing this for me. You didn’t have to, you know?”

Your heart picked up a beat inside you, and you swallowed the rhythm threatening to burst out of your chest. “I wanted to,” you said honestly. “I’m just glad that…” You smiled. “That you’re having fun.”

You didn’t catch the way his cheeks flushed a royal, rosy hue, his eyes still focused on the tender look on your face. With his lips curling up into a fond smile, he took a step closer toward you.

“See, that’s what I love about you. You’re so genuinely kind, and you never even hesitate about it. It’s almost like second-nature to you.”

Reaching over, he gently bumped his arm into yours, and you felt a spark rush into your skin at the gesture. “Have some more pride in yourself, okay?” he chided, grinning at you. “It’s people like you who make this world a brighter place.”

You opened your mouth, then closed it, not trusting yourself to speak. “I—“

Your tongue felt like jelly in your mouth, and you did your best to say a word coherently.

“I—okay.” You could swear you were trembling from head-to-toe. “I’ll try my best.”

He flashed you another one of those blinding grins of his, then breezed past you, resting his hands on his hips.

“Good. That’s a start. Now,” he said, glancing back at you with the sun framing his face, “where were you taking me, again?”

Pushing down the fizzy feeling rising up in your chest, you rushed after him, pointing at a forest in the distance. Although you had a destination in mind, you knew that deep down, you wouldn’t mind going anywhere, so long as it was with him.

“You know, you should totally just confess to Dream.”

Your breath hitched in your throat, and you shot Pedro a glare from where you were sitting on a wood block next to the pen. Already, you could feel your heart start to run rampant at the mere mention of his name. Setting down your handful of wheat, you scoffed.

“What? Are you kidding me? No way!”

Darwin flopped over onto his stomach, digging his snout against the ground as he let out a long, drawn out snort. “You totally should. Watching this is just painful. We all think so.”

You grumbled, digging your heels into the ground as your lungs squeezed a fraction tighter. “Well, you don’t have to watch if it’s so terrible.”

Snowflake leaned her head down to whinny next to you. “He follows you everywhere. It’s impossible to not watch.”

Huffing, you crossed your arms over your chest and turned away, shifting back on the wooden block. “I’m still not doing it.”

“He’s cute,” Rita said.

Your ears burned. “I know that.”

“You like him,” Pedro added.

You curled your hands into tight fists. “I know that, too.”

Darwin rolled over in the pen. “Dare I say you might even love hi—”

“Iknowthat!”

Immediately, the animal pen fell silent, and you were burying your face in your hands, the crack of your shout still echoing through the air. Your blood was absolutely rushing through your ears now, and all you could focus on was the shaky, uneven breaths escaping your mouth.

“I know, I know, I know,” you choked out, your head spinning with an overwhelming cyclone of emotions. “But even then, I’m not gonna tell Dream!”

“You’re not gonna tell me what?”

Your eyes shot open, and you flung your head up to see Dream standing over you just a step behind your seat, his upside down face greeting you with an inquisitive look. Before you knew it, you were gasping and leaning backwards, losing your balance.

“Oh my g—ahh!”

In a whirl, you toppled backwards, your legs kicking out in front of you, but suddenly, a pair of hands settled on your arms. Gently nudging you forward once more, you inhaled sharply as electricity ran along your body as you came to a steady stop, sitting upright with Dream’s soft touch holding you in place.

“Woah, there,” he breathed over you, his eyes landing on your panicked ones. “You okay?”

Your gaze darted across his face, only briefly landing on his lips for a moment before shooting to the sky above his head. “Yeah, it’s…” You swallowed thickly. “It’s nothing at all!”

He raised a brow, his hands still firm against your arms. “I wouldn’t exactly call that nothing.” Letting go of you for a second, he walked around you until he was at your side, crouching down to be level with your face. “What’s up?” he asked gently.

Being eye-to-eye with him like this was too much for your head, and you could feel your feet jittering in your shoes. “I, uh, I—I just wanted to tell you that… that your hair always looks really soft!” Your voice came out in a hurried, messy rush, but you nodded like you meant it, anyways. “Th-That’s all!”

Just behind the oak fence, Rita bellowed with laughter—or whatever a pig’s laughter sounded like. “You are such a liar!” she snorted, leaning against the wood with gleaming eyes. “The biggest liar!”

At her side, you caught a glimpse of Snowflake’s snicker, and you glowered at them. “Guys! Stop that!”

Dream’s bewilderment only grew. “What’s with that reaction?” he muttered. Then, his eyes widened. “Don’t tell me… are you lying to me?”

You stiffened, refusing to meet his gaze. “N-No.”

He shoved his face closer to you, his nose only a few inches away from your cheek. “No?” he responded cheekily.

You did your best not to squirm. “N—Not at all!”

“Just tell him how you feel!” Darwin whined, acting as loud and abrasive as he was wont to be.

Pedro nodded, chewing on a mouthful of wheat. “Don’t be such a coward!” After a slight pause, he chuckled. “Get it? Cow-ard?”

You groaned again and felt your face practically burst into flames. “Lay off me, guys!”

Beside you, Dream was quiet, an almost solemn look settling on his features. “[Y/N],” he murmured, speaking your name like it was the most precious thing in the world, “you know you can tell me anything, right?”

You peeked over at him, letting your gaze meet for a brief, fleeting moment. His eyes really did look like emeralds. Gulping, you held his stare.

“Yeah,” you whispered.

His mouth twitched the slightest bit at that. Rising to his feet, he stretched his hand out toward you.

“Here,” he said, “come with me.” After a second, he glanced over his shoulder at the pen and added, “And please, can you all just leave us alone for a bit? Pretty please?”

Snowflake blinked at him once, then gave him a disparaging whinny.“Fine.”

His eyes immediately darted to hours, and you translated for him with lightning speed. “They agreed.”

He grinned, gesturing to his hand once more. “Perfect. Let’s go.”

With a timid touch, you let your hand slip into his as he tugged you to his feet, still not used to the soft hold of his fingers around your skin. You expected him to let go of you, but to your surprise, he simply held on as he led you away from the pen and toward a small alcove in the nearby mountain wall. As soon as he stopped walking, he whirled to face you.

“Alright, tell me what’s up. Clearly something’s bothering you, and I want to know what’s going on.” His face flickered with a shadow of a frown, and his hand squeezed yours. “It makes me sad to see you like this.”

You wanted to look away and hide from the intensity of his gaze, but the longer you looked at him, the more you knew you couldn’t bring yourself to do it. Not with the way he was looking at you, at least. Your heart beat like a thousand drums in your chest, and it took everything inside of you to suck in a simple, single breath.

“I… promise you won’t laugh at me?” you asked quietly. “Or run away or something?”

He blinked, then shook his head. “From you? Never.” His lips curled up into a crooked grin. “I guess you could say I wouldn’t dream of it.”

The groan escaped you before you could even think about it. His hand thrummed with life in yours, and you sighed, “That was a terrible pun.”

He laughed, his chuckle rumbling throughout his chest. “You love me for it.”

You soaked in the sound of his laughter, traced your gaze over the soft crescent moons of his eyes when he smiled and the scattered freckles on his cheeks. Not once did you take your eyes off his. After all, you were always looking at him, and this time would be no different.

“I do,” you whispered.

He paused, his laughter coming to a halt. “What?”

You swallowed, letting the words spill from your lips like an unbidden waterfall beating at stone. “I do,” you said, again. “That’s what I wanted to tell you.”

His fingers twitched against yours, and a part of you wondered why he was still holding on—why he hadn’t let go yet. But in that moment, you couldn’t think of anything but the light shining from the very depths of your soul onto his features.

“I love you, Dream.” You paused, then tacked on in a hush of a whisper, “Really.”

You watched with bated breath as his eyes grew wide and his hand squeezed yours even tighter than before. You felt your mouth open, pushing more words to the surface as your brain went into overdrive.

“And I know that’s scary, because the way I feel about you is more than just liking someone, which is crazy, I know, and I totally get if you don’t feel the same wa—”

It happened in an instant.

In one second, you were rambling a flurry of anxiety, thoughts, and fears, all of them bursting forth at once.

In the next, Dream’s lips were pressed to yours, and you felt fireworks.

Sparks burst forth from the pit of your stomach, joy unfurling in your chest as you let your eyelids flutter shut, melding into the softness of his touch. You felt his other hand reach up to cup your cheek, his thumb stroking the curve of your cheekbone. You shivered at the tenderness of it all, and you could have sworn you felt him smile against your mouth. A moment later, you parted, gasping for air as you took in the sight of his pink cheeks and adoring gaze.

“Sorry,” he panted as he shot you a lopsided smile, “was that too forward of me?”

Your tongue swiped over your lips, and you caught the way his eyes followed the movement. More, your heart cried, and so you opened your mouth once more.

“Again?” you whispered. “Please?”

He chuckled, then dove right back toward you, his mouth meeting yours once more. He tasted like sunshine on your tongue, the softness of his lips practically drowning you in him, him, him. He smelled like a deep, woody pine that made you want to stay wrapped up in his arms. Your hand squeezed his again, and you felt your insides expand with a melody sweeter than a skylark’s song.

I love you, I love you.

This time when Dream parted from you, he didn’t move too far, only going so far as to rest his forehead against yours and smile.

“I think that makes it pretty clear how I feel about you,” he breathed.

You couldn’t stop smiling, and you knew you must look like a lovestruck fool right now, but you could hardly bring yourself to care. How could you, when he was here with you?

“Will—will you please say it, anyways?” you asked with a glimmer in your eye. “Just so then I know I’m understanding you correctly?”

He let out a puff laughter, the breath fanning over your face. “You can understand animals just fine but you’re stumped by this?”

You reached a hand, tentatively holding his face in your palm. “Animals are easy to figure out. You?” You smiled. “Not so much.”

He nuzzled his cheek into your palm, letting his lips brush a simple kiss over your fingertips. “Well, alright then. But just for you.”

You both closed your eyes, basking in the quietness for a moment longer until he murmured four little words that lit your whole world up.

“I love you, too.”

Light danced along every vein in your body, seeping into every nook and cranny of your heart as your fingers moved to sink into his soft, golden locks. Nothing could ruin this moment, you thought wistfully. Nothing at all.

Then came a loud, braying bark.

“Finally! You did it! Thank god!”

You whipped around with Dream at your side, eyes wide with shock to see Cole yipping at the two of you. His tail wagged behind him faster than you’d ever seen it before, and in a flash, he was dashing off into the distance. Embarrassment washed over your face, and you let out a whine.

“Oh my god. Dream, he is totally gonna snitch to everyone else.”

He lifted his brows in a look that almost came across as accepting, his thumb brushing over your knuckles where your fingers were still intertwined. “Well,” he hummed with a joking tone, “at least I’m not gonna be the one who’ll get teased about it.”

You gasped in mock offence, playfully whacking his arm. “You’re so mean!”

He chuckled, tapping his foot against the ground. “I’m kidding. We’ll deal with it together.”

Above you, you heard a bird chirp in the distance, no doubt spreading word of the news to every animal you knew. Despite the hordes of questions you knew you were bound to get asked, you let yourself simply lean over to rest your head against his shoulder, your side latching onto his.

“Yeah,” you murmured, “you’re stuck with me now.”

Dream’s face flooded with nothing but warm, wholehearted, and unadulterated affection for you. Turning his head, he let his lips press against the crown of your head, and you sighed, caught in a dreamlike haze.

“I sure am, and I don’t intend on going anywhere.”