#lee!PandasCanPVP

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Similar But Not The Same

Ciao, good evening! This is inspired by @covenofwives, I already was working on a fic involving dream team god counterparts but their fic gave me more inspo! This is the link, go check it out! It’s really cool!! :D

Fandom: DSMP

Summary: XD has made a discovery, only recently learning about his mortal doppelganger named Dream, he finds out that he’s not the only god counterpart.

Warning(s): None

Disclaimer!! This is a SFW tickle fic!

XD didn’t know it all, despite what some may believe.

He was a godly entity who represented himself as human, in other words, an admin of the server with particular attachment to The End and it’s entrance. He forbade others not long ago to stay away from the portal frame, and that was his first ever appearance on the server. He didn’t have much time to think about his representation then, choosing the quickest and easiest thing for the human mind to comprehend before fabricating into existence between the angel of death and a self-proclaimed god of blood.

Afterwards, once he had reassured himself that all other nearby portal entrances were either destroyed or forever sealed, he didn’t think much of it. He never planned on appearing again, until he met George.

George wasn’t interesting, whilst also held potential. XD had seen many things across the server before it became founded, so George’s self-entitled thinking and arrogant desires weren’t much of a surprise. However, XD stuck around because of how peculiar George was due to his egocentric but extraversion qualities. George lacked neuroticism and conscientiousness.

Rewritten, XD wanted to know just what lengths George would go to achieve his goals. Call it an experiment or playing with a chew toy, either way, XD was interested to see how George - if George - would change. As many members of the server would phrase it, how would George’s character grow?

This would be helpful for numerous reasons, not only to learn why humans were so curious about The End but for a psychological future if another godly power came into light. So, XD was prompted to stick around, no matter how many times George tried to shake him off he always found a way to stick out like a cockroach. Minus the helplessness.

XD offered friendship for immortality and riches, exactly what someone as greedy as George would want. He knew it would be tedious, knowing vaguely of George’s background, but he would get results.

He did not expect the results to be so… plagiarized.

George, at first condescending and uncaring, slowly held his hand and shook it. Figuratively. George had nightmares, and XD had nothing to do with it intentionally. Surely, being around an all powerful deity had some side effects, however XD never attempted to scramble the already suffering department that was GeorgeNotFound’s mental state.

XD didn’t know what would happen if he helped (He had never used his abilities on mortal’s before.), but he found that after George came out of whatever shell he was hiding in, he was rather pleasant to be around. The nightmares didn’t stop, the constant questions of day and night and timeline were always scheduled, but they became background noise amongst George’s mindless chatter and XD’s curious hums in some sort of replica of conversation. He found he enjoyed George’s company, and while it was bothersome how much George asked for another mortal’s company - someone who also had the name of Dream - he indulged once in a blue moon.

It was natural within the months for XD to appear by George’s bed, standing in the empty room with little furniture or accessories, hovering near in case of clarity. The silence became words, and the words became gestures, and now it became physical touch. XD reacted harshly in the beginning, holding contact was internally exhausting when he had such little experience, but it became less draining and more of a learning experience. George wasn’t fond of touch either, or maybe it was XD’s touch specifically, which was something they could talk about under the stars when sleep was far behind them.

George tested the waters, as he did every day, with words and sounds and looks. XD found himself reading his language instead of his mind. He never had this kind of pleasure before, and as ironic as it was, he didn’t want it to stop.

Then, and only then, did he believe in George enough to approach the prison.

He wasn’t physically present, but he was still acknowledged.

Dream wasn’t alone, he had company who never seemed to leave. Technoblade, a self-proclaimed but definitely still real god, stood by his side. XD couldn’t forget him or his alliance with the angel of death, not simply because of their earliest interaction, but because of their strong spirits. They were so different but strikingly similar to George in many ways.

He chose to ignore the brute for now, and turned all his attention to Dream.

George wasn’t his first impression of Dream, he had vaguely heard of him throughout the change of time on the server. Dream being locked up gave him more of an advantage to study him.

Dream, in synonym, was a god as well. DreamXD was connected in some way to this mortal, he could always feel a pull to the prison the moment he became physically able. Dream, however, was an admin specifically. He was a founder of the server, perhaps the reason why XD existed merely months before the server became official, but if that’s the case then he didn’t know why Dream had so much power restricted from him. Obviously, he didn’t have the kind of power XD did. The flying, telepathy, and mind control he lacked. But he had power in ways XD didn’t either. It was so strange and foregin to stare at a face that was supposed to, technically, be his own, XD didn’t think to have one under his own mask but he took a mental note. There was no deceiving it, Dream was simply a less powerful human in recreation of XD. He was finally able to recognize the meaning powerless from the other side of the coin.

That was the last and only time XD ever saw Dream.

He limited his responses to George on his unknown visitation, restricting information so his answers were true but incomplete. Yes, Dream was in bad condition. No, he’s not alone. Yes, he’s being fed. No, he wasn’t attempting to escape.

Although, he had questions as well. Why was XD so strikingly similar to Dream? Why exactly did Dream need to be in Pandora’s Vault? Why was Technoblade there?

Lastly, but most importantly, XD wondered if other server members had a doppelganger of their own.

(He had encountered Foolish once, and discovered he too was a god of undying and several other titles. It only made his question flip-flop. Did other divine beings on the server have mortal replicas?)

It troubled him more than he liked to admit. He never did have anyone like him. He was one of a kind. There was no other quote, Protectors, end quote.

Several months later, in the autumn season, XD was finally closer to an answer.

George wasn’t the only one close to Dream, in fact, there were very few others that were even closer than George was. XD couldn’t help but demand more from his temporal friend, and that’s where he found his lead. Not with Punz, who XD was sure to come back to at a future date, but with Sapnap.

Well, not Sapnap he supposed, considering George’s descriptions were different then the splitting image.

XD stared point-blank, around ten steps length, doing little to obscure himself from view. He was using invisibility, another skill he had among his other numerous powers, so he had no consequence of being caught. He eyed them from top to bottom, gazing with uncertainty.

They wore a simple black long-sleeve shirt and dark pants. He could link George’s words to the mixed pattern along the boots, and texture pattern of hair. But instead of black, it was a rich soil brown pulled up into a low-hanging bun. XD would mistake it for a heavy brown if not for the sun, which highlighted the soft material so much that he could imagine in detail the feeling of flower petals along his fingers. The only obscure thing XD could see was the white… thing underlying those curls.

Sapnap - whoever that was - was staring longingly into the distance, allowing XD the perfect opportunity to study his backside. The protector didn’t even have to move an inch as Sapnap’s twin began to slowly turn around to pan at their surroundings. XD’s head subconsciously twitched, his stare directed towards their face instead. He was off put when he found the stare was returned.

He assumed they were staring through him, no human could see past invisibility, but that fact quickly turned into theory as Sapnap’s head tilted up and down - as if judging XD’s figure.

“Oh. Hi!” Sapnap seemingly spoke to thin air, pacing ten steps closer until he stood point-blank in front of him. XD, perhaps foolishly, glanced behind him. He found nothing but the same forest behind him. He saw no creatures either, which only left himself plausible. As if reading his mind, he heard the same voice reassuring - not confirm, the tone was gentle - him. “Yeah, you.”

XD spun his head around, his back impossibly straightening. He had no need to hold his breath, but resisted the urge to anyways. “You can see me?”

The entity - now that XD knew this was no human, which meant this couldn’t have been Sapnap - bounced their head, XD took in grave detail that their curls bounced with them. “Yeah! Yeah, um...” They trailed off, and while that white thing covered their eyes, they lifted their head up minutely to maintain their gaze at XD’s mask.

The question itself was dry, but the voice held curiosity - a knowing tone if XD didn’t know any better. “You’re not Dream, are you?” XD knew better.

“No.”

“Yeah.” They nodded. “I had a feeling.”

XD’s shoulders dropped, realizing the silence was meant for him. “Are you Sapnap?”

“No.” They frowned, yet XD didn’t find any frustration or disorder in it. “No, I’m Pandas.”

XD’s hands clapped. “Pandas?” He gestured towards their - Pandas - figure.

Pandas eyed XD’s hands, their mouth beginning to quirk upwards, speaking without staring. “PandasCanPVP.”

“What are you?” XD urgently pressed, unable to mask the excitement in his tone.

Lamely, in XD’s opinion, Pandas response was bland. “Not human, that’s for sure.”

“Well.” The god started, all attention back onto his mask. “You look like one.”

“So do you!” Pandas counterargued, prompting XD’s stare to downcast. He wore a light blue cloak (He didn’t like hoodies much. They were hard to remove, much too warm.) over a saggy white top, loose fitting pants and tall boots. In short, not too other-worldly like his status implied. He used to wear jewels, even sandals, but after George’s extra complaints he took the time to dress more accustomed to this realm. (He used Dream’s old clothes as reference, and stole a few for good measure. It’s not as if his counterpart was using them.) He flexed his fingers, watching the flesh scrunch into folds before smoothing into clean skin. He used to be completely white, the symbol on his face no longer imprinted into his body. Now it was only a mask, courtesy of Dream, and he was pale but naturally flushed. The white instead traveled to his hair, delicate and short. XD often forgot he had hair sometimes.

He moved on, reversing Pandas past question. “Do you know Sapnap?”

Pandas frowned, and this time, he looked vaguely upset. “No, I’ve never met him. I want to, though.” He brought his hands to fumble with his… his thing over his face. XD noted to ask about it later, as it looked like he was in for another question.

“Who are you?”

Simple, he supposed, he didn’t realize he never introduced himself. “Um…” XD also realized he’s only ever introduced himself properly to George. “ExksDee.” He carefully pronounced, choosing not to share the rest of his name. He didn’t want to be mistaken for Dream again.

Pandas, however, didn’t falter or bother him about his name. “Well, it’s nice to meet you!”

XD’s held tilted, physically asking if that could be a possibility.

Pandas' smile was answer enough.

As the days turned into nights, XD had found yet another reason to stick around. He didn’t meet Sapnap, that meeting was next at the top of his list, but rather another god of some kind. PVP - or Pandas, but XD liked his acronyms - had yet to explain what category he falls in, leaving XD with new questions. Did PVP protect something too? What realm did he origin from? Why was PVP here to begin with?

The only things he could say for sure were about Pandas likes and dislikes, such as his favorite activities and pleasantries. XD found himself returning to PVP whenever he had questions about the mortal aspects of life. (Not that XD didn’t ask George from time to time, it was nice to hear from someone else occasionally. Besides, PVP was shiny and different.) At first, it was nothing more than a goal, the expansion of knowledge would prove to be very useful. What’s beneath the dirt? Where does the sun go? Which direction led where? Every answer seemed to satisfy him, as long as it came from PVP.

“What’s underground? Uh, I guess caves… and monsters. Monsters in caves. We should go mining sometime!” (“I can spawn diamonds right now, what would be the point?” XD argued. Pandas only counterargument was a casual shrug, as if it were so clear in plain daylight to make XD a fool of himself. “Sounds fun.”)

“Dude, I got no idea. It circles around us though, enough time for the moon to have a turn. So it can’t be that bad, right?” (XD took the answer, even if it wasn’t scientifically accurate, it sounded better.)

“Well, there’s a castle over there. I know there’s another kingdom somewhere round here. Oh, there’s a massive ditch too. But my favorite places are farther away, I can show you. Uh, if you have time.” (XD did, in fact, have the time. He explored several forests, walked - didn’t fly a single time - and jumped over boulders, and caught fish with his bare hands in busy rivers. He ate for the first time, much to Pandas surprise.

“How have you not eaten before?” XD, unaware he’s adopted PVP’s body language, lifted his shoulders in mimic of a shrug. “Never thought of it. Never needed to.”

Pandas grin grew big, no hint of mockery in sight. “You’ve got some catching up to do then. I’ve got a head start.”

XD knew the signs of a competition, the ability to have a conversation with George was more of a blessing nowadays, his tone naturally slipped into something lighter. “Not that it matters, I’ll win anyways.”

He grew fonder of that smile every day. “We’ll see about that.”)

Pandas had always kept track of the time for XD, which was quite useful. George often struggled remembering if he was awake or asleep, so XD never put pressure on him to remember what day of the week it was. XD didn’t even know there was such a thing as weeks until Pandas told him.

“It’s our three month anniversary.”

“Anniversary?”

Pandas let a new grin on his face, as if finding it amusing that’s what his friend took out of his sentence, before nodding his head. “Yep, because it’s important. Like, it’s a checkpoint, sorta.”

XD’s hands gestured to the sun, hanging directly upon them. “So… birthday?”

“Pft.” Pandas huff sounded as if he choked down a snicker. “Yeah, I guess. In nine months it’ll be our first year of friendship. So it'll be our friendship’s birthday.”

XD liked that this implied PVP had no intentions of leaving. “Do we need to celebrate?”

“Do you want to?” Pandas inquired back, but his stance showed he already knew the answer.

As correctly assumed, XD learned Pandas was hardly ever wrong, he nodded and their new journey began. XD could recognize landmarks along the way, pointing at every single one as if to wordlessly communicate his thoughts, he wanted to prove that these adventures - more specifically, PVP - meant a great deal to him.

PVP's smile brightened more with every passing place.

XD found they quickly, or slowly considering his lack of time management, were approaching a destination. He was pleasantly surprised to find he recognized this one.

It wasn’t a mountain top, but rather, a hill. This one in particular overviewed a good portion of the server. He liked this one because not only could he see George’s place, but the entire community looked like ants. Call it ego, but he called it liberating freedom.

“Figured we could do something casual.” Pandas hummed, urging XD back to the physical plane. He directed his stare towards his companion, curious to find that PVP’s body was sitting and hunched. He didn’t wait to join by his side, staring back out into the open world.

The clouds barely had time to loll by the time Pandas had scooted over. XD’s attention diverted to the sudden heat through his cloak. (He hated the heat, but when it came from George or Pandas, he didn’t mind as much. PVP could actually control it, he gathered.) He reminisced to the first time Pandas touched him, amusement itching his chest as he remembered the way PVP fretted over his burns. He had healed in mere seconds, he didn’t respond to the pain, but that did not stop his friend from apologizing. Beneath his robe, his skin wasn’t blistered, he was just soothed with a nice warmth.

He felt his opposite side become significantly hotter, allowing Pandas to press his hand underneath his cloak and rub up and down his side. XD’s shoulders released tension he earlier hadn’t noticed, practically sinking into PVP’s side with a faraway sigh.

Just as he was reminding himself to thank George later, for their late night talks about touch and exhaustion, he physically jerked into his body. XD felt his world slow around him, suddenly attentively aware of Pandas movements. His body started twitching, despite his small effort to contain it, XD realized his body was tingling - specifically his sides, particularly the one Pandas kept rubbing.

Seconds, maybe minutes if XD thought hard enough, passed. Pandas had stopped, and the buzzing feelings began to settle. Shockingly, XD found himself missing the sensation.

“You good?” PVP’s voice inquired, but XD could sense the concern behind it.

He attempted to reply, only to find himself with no words. He balled his fists into the ground, playing with threads of grass as he slowly thought what literary to use. “That… was... “ XD grew frustrated, choosing the first word that came to him. “Weird.” He finally identified.

Pandas sounded reserved. “Oh.”

“Not bad weird. My form only started to squirm.” XD clarified, bringing his hand up to press Pandas hand back to his side. The warmth grew hotter, but not unpleasant. “Do it again.” PVP’s fingers twitched. “Please.”

The air was choppy, but Pandas went onwards, XD could feel how much more gentle his friend was now. However, his wonderment was prominent when he realized the tingling didn’t return.

“You’re cold.”

“I’m always cold.” XD idly supplied, staring down distractedly at Pandas hand. The other had interesting skin. At the tips of his fingers, there was black, which faded into plush pale skin down his palm. It was as if his fingers were permanently singed. “You’re always w... warm.” XD’s voice wavered involuntarily, gasping lightly as the buzzing returned once Pandas hand climbed higher.

He mimicked PVP, and hunched his back, fighting his body’s urge to clamp his arms down. Strangely enough, his abdomen kept itching. XD huffed in honest confusion, at alas for why he was reacting so physically.

“You’re ticklish.”

XD’s head shot up, meeting Pandas amused grin with even more uncertainty.

“What?” He dumbly responded.

Pandas forced a casual shrug, and if XD had eyes beneath his mask then he would have squinted. He could feel PVP’s underlying intent beneath this façade, he just didn’t know what. “A while ago, I saw some humans do it, heard they called it tickling. It doesn’t work if you’re too harsh.” Pandas calmly explained, gesturing with his other hand to the civilization beyond the horizon. “Never understood why they laugh, though.”

XD’s nose scrunched, leaning into Pandas side to subtly avoid any further hand contact. “Feels funny.”

The silence that strung over them had XD wiggling in place, he had never felt anything like this. He had grown attached to PVP, sharing words and touches here and there, he wanted to know what the human experience was. He was the protector, surely it wouldn’t hurt to know what he’s protecting.

“I’ve never heard you laugh before.”

XD froze for some reason, the hand on his side slowly curling its fingers deeper into his cloak.

“...Pandas.” He warned, but the urgency in his voice was nonsensical. There was no real danger, yet his body tensed as if defensive.

The way Pandas smiled though, the slow and articulated turn, convinced him that this was a different kind of danger.

In one fell swoop, the silence was shattered. Pandas fingers wiggled, and XD’s yelp replaced it.

He was right, it was weird, his body recoiled and his hands flew to push away the attack. But his power was lacking, even with himself holding back, this tickling seemed to weaken his body. XD sharply inhaled, cheeks puffed with air as he shook his head back and forth. He needed some way to get rid of this quickly growing pent up energy, uncaring towards his wild movement. The pressure, that was once a bit too rough, seemed to lighten in acknowledgement too at this discovery.

“Laugh! Laugh! Laugh! Laugh!!”

XD immediately started to crack, unpracticed and unexpected, which was unfair. PVP was humorous, anything he said made XD feel lighter, and now that he was subdued by tickling every word Pandas said made him even fuzzier.

Much to his embarrassment, XD fell into a fit of a steady stream of giggles. The sound was foreign to his own ears. He attempted to speak - keyword, attempted. “Pahahan-DAHAS!!” He suddenly shrieked, slamming his elbows down to push away the pokes from climbing higher.

Pandas was grinning, practically beaming with mischief as he leaned closer and closer. XD was undoubtedly stuck. He squirmed left and met PVP’s hands, and squirmed right to press against his side. (Truly, he could free himself, but curiosity was prominent even in his embarrassed state.)

XD suddenly yelped, falling down onto the grass to escape his friend. “Gehet awahahay frohom me!!” His tone was meant to be authoritative, but it came out high-pitched and squeaky, simply adding to the silliness of the situation.

The protector started giggling even more as Pandas scrambled after him, wrestling to push XD down and prevent him from sitting up. “Noho!” PVP was laughing too, smile so wide his teeth were gleaming. “I’m nohot done yet!”

“Bahack ohoff!!”

“Make me!”

XD took it literally.

Unpredictably, Pandas hands were grabbed, prompting a surprised gasp.

“WHAT?!” PVP screamed, two different hands had sprouted underneath XD’s cloak, swiftly pushing against Pandas frantic limbs. “WHEN did you have THOSE??”

XD’s response - “LAUGH!” - was straight to the point, he copied exactly what PVP did. He planted two hands onto his sides, pure glee erupting from the full body flinch, and he wiggled. He was unsure if it would work, paying close attention to his pressure.

But it worked, and boy, was it rewarding.

Pandas shrieked with the same amount of delight XD had, and a wave of amusement washed over the protector. XD was only poking and blindly scribbling, but all Pandas did was kick and giggle hysterically. The sight was laughable, now he understood, his friend looked utterly ridiculous. XD couldn’t help but coo.

That brought a lovely shade of red across the bottom of Pandas face. XD immediately pounced on the chance, he knew exactly what it was. “Are you blushing?!”

“Noho!! Shut uhup! Shuhut up!” Pandas whipped his head back and forth so hard that his bandana began to slip, curls messy and wild. In a sudden burst of strength, Pandas sat up, overpowering XD with actual effort - electrifying an exuberant yelp.

“CHEATER!!” XD roared as he shoved back with both hands, using the force of his own powers. He only used strength however, not knowing the extent of Pandas power.

It didn’t seem to bother the other, considering they were now caught in a wrestling match.

“GIVE UP!” Pandas swatted at XD’s legs.

XD kicked PVP’s hip in return. “NO!” He just as stubbornly kept fighting.

They could have continued on seemingly forever, until they began to roll too close to the edge of the hill. Pandas was the first to notice, all movement stopping and shoulders going rigid. XD stopped soon after, his thoughts incoherent and buzzing. He could only focus on one thing, Pandas urgent call.

“WATCH OUT!!”

A breeze of wind passed, and snap, they were both rumbling down the hill - clinging to each other’s embrace. Pandas was screaming, and while XD wasn’t sure why, he mimicked and screamed right back. But it wasn’t out of fear, it was out of joy. Laughter freely heaved out of their chests, even as they slowly came to a stop at the bottom of the hill - where their journey started.

For a moment, they simply breathed, catching their breath as they stared at the sky. Then, Pandas snickered. XD huffed after with a breathy giggle, and suddenly they were right back at square one, laughing even if nothing was funny. It was so goofy, and endearing. The way Pandas head tilted back with the biggest smile XD had ever seen, dirt and grass lost within his mess of hair. He must have looked - or rather, sounded - equally as silly, because every time PVP started to calm down he just had to look at him once and then the giggles started right back up again.

Time didn’t seem to exist anymore, not when they finally settled into content silence or when they cuddled deeper into each other's arms. The warmth inside XD’s chest had blossomed, so sickening and so deep that he couldn’t shake it.

“That…” PVP spoke first, voice slow and grizzly. “That was…”

“Fun.” XD finished for him, Pandas burrowing himself into his chest in agreement. Their bodies were loose, guards down and trusting.

“...We should do that again sometime.”

“...Why wait?”

They stared at each other, and round two began.