Chapter Text
There was her little duckling. He paced around his cell across the sinking lava pool. He paced around anxiously, not seeming to hear the clicking of the numerous Redstone systems around him.
Sam stood at one of the Redstone levers, his hands working away at an array of buttons and intricate wires. He would occasionally glance at Dream before looking back at his work. Puffy struggles the understand the Prison. It seems to have multiple systems working simultaneously, and yet, Sam controls it with the ease of controlling a lever. It calms Puffy's nerves to know that the Prison is secure, but just staring at Dream's figure sends chills down her spine. She hadn't seen him in years, yet only a few months after moving in, Dream spirals. It's unnerving to say the least.
Puffy stands on a platform, watching as the lava sinks to the floor; the only sound is the quiet popping of lava bubbles as it rose to the surface and Sam's hands typing onto some keyboard attached to the wall.
Finally, Sam turned to Puffy, giving a swift nod. "You'll need to move with the platform as it moves towards the cell. Once it makes it there, it will retract." Puffy paused to glance at Dream before nodding, preparing herself to confront the man who'd she considered a friend. The platform slowly clicked towards the cell (room?), and a Netherite gate blocked Puffy from Dream. Or Dream from Puffy?
She stepped off the platform as it met the cell, and it started retracting as soon as her boots left the Redstone contraption.
The blonde didn't look up, continually pacing. Puffy clenched her fist until her knuckles went white as the gate fell. The only feeling Puffy felt was anger, or at least the only strong feeling. It felt it was a burning flame that refused to be put out, no matter how many people she talked to about her feelings, or the number of times she would convince herself to forget him. Maybe this one confrontation would extinguish her anger.
And yet, Puffy couldn't bring herself to do anything. She couldn't do anything to her friend, her duckling, her Dream. Dream didn't look too rough, to Puffy's mild relief. He wore a bright orange prison jumpsuit with torn shoes. He still wore his mask, yet there was one long crack down the middle from Tommy's last visit. He had burn scars on his hands, although Puffy tried not to look at them. She didn't want to look at him either.
"Why did you do it, Dream?" Puffy managed to spit out, the bitter words making her eyes water. At the sound of her voice, his face was ripped from the ground, and his mask met her gaze.
"Puffy? No..No! A-anyone but you...please..no..." Dream whispered his hands curling against his ears. She backed up until the heat of the lava licked her coat. He dropped to his knees, his hands tight against his ears. He seemed jittery, scared of every single movement, whether it be her hands or her feet. She couldn't help but feel guilt stab at her stomach, but she quickly reminded herself of his atrocities. She was here to confront him, not to defend him.
"You aren't supposed to be here...no.." Dream's nonsensical words turned into quiet mumblings as he resumed pacing, no longer worried about Puffy's presence.
Puffy stepped forward, her eyebrows bent together. He'd only been here for two weeks, with the occasional visit. Yet he looked ten years older, with deep scars that ran down his hands like veins. "Dream..." Her hands softly clasped his shoulder. He glanced up at her before standing up, his hands curling around himself, like a shield. Like protection. It caused a shift in Puffy like the Redstone contraptions around her.
"You're not supposed to be here, Puffy." Dream said, his voice like rock grinding on a rock. Puffy blinked, feeling the guilt pop in her. All the hope she had held for him suddenly vanished; a magician’s trick. An illusion. He hadn't changed one bit. And that was what hurt the most.
"Why not? Dream, why not? What makes you think you can order me around?" Puffy snapped, no longer feeling any sympathy for him. He seemed surprised, but he quickly covered it up by turning his head away from the hybrid. Puffy sighed, her fist lowering slightly as she also turned away, unable to look at his porcelain mask. "What happened to you, Dream?" Her words were almost silent, but in the silence, they seemed to shake the floor with its volume.
"Nothing happened, Puffy. I've always been this way." And there it was: The lie. Tommy had told Puffy about his deception, the way he'd spin lies like a thread to entangle you, leaving you trapped and confused.
"No, No, stop. Don't even start! " Puffy turned to him, finally releasing the anger that'd been building in her since he blew up L'manberg. This was the final straw, the match that lit the flame that seemed to burn her up from the inside. He hadn't changed. She had just convinced herself that he did. "Don't try and lie, Dream, because I'm sick of it. I'm so fucking sick of what you try and say to-to convince me that you're not a horrible person!" She whipped her head around, her fists tightening up as he glowered at him. He retreated up against the wall, looking around in a slight panic. "I'm sick of your behavior, towards Tommy, towards me, towards Sapnap, TOWARDS GEORGE." And there it was: his weak point. Puffy bit the inside of her mouth as his shoulder gathered around his neck as if the words slowly registered in his brain.
He whipped his head around, hurt etched on every line on his thin frame. Oh, Puffy wished she could see under that stupid mask of his, be able to see even an ounce of sympathy or regret on his face. "You- you should go, Puffy." His voice was slightly shaky, and he brushed past her, coming close to the hot liquid surrounding them. He gathered his shoulders closer to himself, an attempt at protecting him from the hurtful words he knew would soon follow.
"Tell me, was it worth it?" Captain Puffy asked, following Dream as he walked frantically around the room. His face was bent towards the ground slightly, and his hands trembled. It didn't matter how many times she followed him; he never once looked at her. And that hurt more than any wound anyone could inflict on her.
"Guard! GUARD!" Dream yelled, his back turned to Puffy. Puffy walked past the gate as it came up behind her. He turned his head towards his clock; his head craned slightly away from her furious glare. She was angry, a burning flame. She was tired of being shut up, shut out from everything, everyone. She wasn't going to let him get away again without a sentence to think about, without consequences to dwell on.
"You know, I really thought you could get better. But maybe I was...maybe I was too enthusiastic. Maybe you'll never change." Puffy spat out as she stepped onto the platform. It retracted, leaving Dream with only a wall of hot lava as his company.
_ _ _ _
"How was he?" George asked quietly, his expression now concerned. Puffy sighed, setting down her mug on the wooden table. Sapnap scowled slightly, clenching his fists, the skin around it turning pale. He stood up suddenly, the chair being pushed far away.
"It doesn't matter, George! He-He betrayed us and he-he..." Sapnap let his shoulders fall as tears collected at the corners of his bronze eyes. "He doesn't care about us. He...he hates us." And it stung to hear Sapnap say it. It was a silent agreement between George and Sapnap, too painful to bring up. Puffy walked swiftly towards Sapnap, pulling him in a tight hug. There they stayed, time stalling for just a moment.
George stood up, catching Puffy's attention as she slowly pulled away. "How-how was he, Puffy?" Puffy could hear the hesitation in his voice as he glanced at Sapnap quickly. And she now wanted to hug both of them. But it wasn't the time. Not yet.
"Unstable. I mean...Dream acted...crazy." Puffy struggled to explain her thoughts, as they still swirled around in her head like a whirlpool. Her mind replayed the interaction a million times, like a broken record player. She had replayed every possible scenario, every explanation for his unexplainable actions. And yet she still couldn't find the closure she sought.
"Crazy? Wha-what do you mean?" George asked, slightly hesitant to learn more.
"He kept...mumbling. Talking to air. Kept repeating that I wasn't supposed to be there. I mean, he sounded...distant." The room was silent as Sapnap and George started to process the information that Puffy'd just shared. She sighed, taking off her hat as she pulled up a chair. She covered her face, closing her eyes as she too began to realize what just happened 30 minutes before.
"What do you mean 'distant'?"
"I mean...it was like...he was behind a wall, only coming out when I physically touched him. " Puff's face changed as if she was struggling to understand the visit.
"I think I should visit him," George said quietly, his eyes hidden under the glasses he wore on his face. Sapnap wiped the remnants of his tears away, turning to look at George as if he'd just grown horns. George closed his eyes, preparing for the argument he knew would soon follow.
"What?" Sapnap asked in pure disbelief. He brushed past Puffy, who seemed frozen in place. The two friends stared at each other, one whose eyes never left the floor and the other trying to hold back the anger that was bubbling to the surface. Puffy finally snapped out of her trance as she pulled on Sapnap's arm, whispering someone in his ear before he left, fuming. She pulled George down, sighing as he avoided her worried gaze.
"George...why do you want to visit him?" Puffy asked, holding his cold hands with motherly affection. He looked up, taking off his glasses and wiping away a couple of tears that made their way down his cheek.
"H-He's my friend. I can't...just...leave him out there. Alone." George's voice warbled as he bent his head down. He sobbed, pulling his hand away from her grip and covering his face. His sobs were of a man, conflicted with the choice to visit his friend, his enemy, his...what?
Puffy pulled him closer as she began to cry as well, her motherly persona breaking. "Why do I keep wanting to-to protect him, Puffy? I shouldn't...he's..." George trailed off. Puffy raised his chin slightly to meet her eyes, and he smiled. And it was so, so sad. Puffy shook her head, helping him up with strong arms. Puffy felt her anger towards Dream rise as she saw George, the strong warrior she met months ago, turn into a scared boy. She didn't realize how deep and powerful Dream's tendrils of lies and deceit spread, only now recognizing it in his closest friends.
"Listen, don't listen to Sapnap. He's healing too, but...tell me when you're gonna visit him, okay?" She smiled at him, pulling him in a quick hug as she walked out of his repaired house, trying to look for Sapnap.
And George was all alone. Again.
Dream hated silence. And yet, it was the only thing that filled his room. It allowed him to be alone with his thoughts. That was the worst part. The silence after the storm; the calm after an argument. He liked to pace around the room; it gave him something to do. He'd often write messy scribblings that were sometimes words, sometimes drawings.
He'd curse at his friends or write about how much he missed them. He'd draw George's eyes, Sapnap's smile. He'd sketch Bad's laugh and Puffy's smirk.
Of course, there were bad days; there had to be. Dream would just lie on his jacket, staring at the clock as the hours went by like days. Sometimes he'd burn it. Or burn himself. Sam wasn't as much of a presence as Dream would like, but he'd come every day at precisely 2:15 PM to deliver two raw potatoes. Sometimes they had salt on them; those were the exciting days.
And there were those one days, those few hours of excitement when Sam would announce a visitor. Sometimes Bad would visit. Sometimes Tommy. But Dream couldn't predict Puffy would come and see him. He was having a bad day that day. The voices, the memories all came flooding back at the sound of her name. Guilt crawled up his throat, and tears flooded his eyes as he continually tried to turn away from her. She wasn't supposed to be there. She wasn't. Why was she there? Why was she there??
"Tell me, was it worth it?" stop. "Tell me, was it worth it?" Tell me, was it worth it?" "Tell me, was it worth it?" STOP.
"Tell me, was it worth it?" STOP! STOP. " Tell me, was it worth it?" " Tell me, was it worth it?" Tell me, was it worth it?" STOP!
Stop. stop. "Tell me, was it worth it?" stop.
"Tell me, was it worth it?" Stop. "Tell me, was it worth it?" Tell me, was it worth it?" STOP! STOP. "Tell me, was it worth it?" "Tell me, was it worth it?"
"Tell me, was it worth it?" "Tell me, was it worth it?" STOP. "Tell me, was it worth it?" Stop. "Tell me, was it worth it?" STOP. "Tell me, was it worth it?"
Dream cracked open his eyes. She was gone. He released a trembling breath, loosening the iron grip on his arm. He clenched his fist, his nails digging into his skin until he felt hot blood run out of his enclosed fist. He closed his eyes harder, tears managing to squeeze through the cracks in his eyelids. Dream sucked in a shaky breath, trying to inhale more air. But he couldn't. It was as if he were sinking slowly to the ocean; his chest felt heavy, and he couldn't breathe.
He couldn't breathe. He couldn't breathe!
He couldn't breathe. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't breathe! He couldn't breathe. He couldn't breathe!
He couldn't breathe. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't breathe.
He couldn't breathe! He couldn't breathe! He couldn't breathe! He couldn't breathe! He couldn't breathe!
He couldn't breathe! He couldn't breathe! He couldn't breathe! He couldn't breathe.
"Hey. Dream." The sound of Sam's voice broke through the wall that had formed around his brain. He looked up, picturing the engineer's slight scowl. Somehow, it helped. "...You....good?" He asked hesitantly, unsure of whether to aid the prisoner or let him be. The prisoner stood still for a moment, their hands still bloody. And something in him changed.
"...No. I'm not." Sam stood still, trying to process the words he just heard. Was this a trick? Another plan? Maybe Dream was trying to manipulate him again. This was just another- "I don't want them to visit me anymore." Sam blinked. What?
"...What?" Dream could hear the disbelief in his voice, one that asked and begged for some explanation.
"I don't want them to visit me, Guard. George, Sapnap, Puffy...I don't want Bad to visit me either." Sam cocked his head to the side, trying to see what Dream was planning. He was so happy to see Bad. And George and Sapnap were his closest friends; why wouldn't he want them to see him? "And don't visit me, either. Just dispense the food." The prisoner- Dream's voice was quiet. So quiet. And it was shaky. Yet it held so much power that Sam felt himself shake. He leaned closer to the screen, where he spotted Dream curled in a ball against the wall.
"I don't...I don't understand." Dream scoffed slightly, anger seething under his seemingly calm outside.
"I said, I don't want ANYONE TO COME AND FUCKING VISIT ME!" He screamed, his throat sounding raw and full of pure emotion. He stood up suddenly, turning to one of the walls and punching it with a snap. There was the sound of a small crack, and his knuckles were split and bleeding. Sam backed, slightly horrified. But Dream merely slid down the wall again, sobbing silently, his head bent towards the ground. "You understand?" Sam gulped, remembering to put on his cold facade.
"I...I understand."
" Good. "