Dreaming of Demons (Dream x oc)

[7] Fun

After I had basically become a guard of the prison—as easy as it was—Sam and I gathered the red vines littered on the prison grounds to pile them up in one large mound on the sand. We had to go looking for soul sand to create soul fire. The blue flames were the only thing that could really get rid of the vines. Surprisingly, it didn't take us long to find some because it seemed to be strewn about in random places in the Dream SMP. 

The bonfire turned out to be pretty spectacular if I didn't say so myself.

After watching the bright blue soul-fire rage for a few minutes, I put it out and traipsed back to Sam sitting in the shade of the prison entrance building. He hadn't looked so good after picking up the vines to discard them. The constant exposure to the red tendrils must have been taking some sort of toll on him, even if the Egg itself was far away. Anything associated with the Egg was really just bad news.

Sam pushed himself up off the ground as I approached him. "I've been meaning to make sure nothing happened to the inside of the prison as well." He said.

I raised a brow. "Do you really think they could have gotten in? I thought you were the only one who could let anyone else in."

A conflicted look flashed over his face. "I am, but...I have to be sure. I can't dismiss any possible faults." He glanced at his watch, sighing. "And Dream hasn't been getting food for the past couple days, so I'll have to do that too." His face scrunched up briefly as he winced.

I leveled him with a concerned gaze, "Are you okay? Maybe we should take a longer break."

He shook his head, his legs moving to travel to the front of the entrance building. "I'm fine, I'm fine."

I strode after him, my brows knitting. "Wouldn't it be dangerous to enter Dream's cell right now if you're still sick?"

He stopped and turned to face me, looking me up and down. "Would you want to then?"

I opened my mouth, no sound coming out for a second. I hadn't expected him to turn it on me. "I—um..."

I wasn't too keen on the idea of entering Dreams cell again—especially after learning of what he had done. But...Sam could be in danger if he did so himself. Besides, I had just agreed with him that I would help at the prison. The least I could do was help now.

"Yeah...I could do that." I finished, my slow words no doubt showing my hesitancy.

Sam's brow raised. "You sound about as sure as last time—which wasn't much."

"No—I'll do it. I'm fine with it." My voice was stronger this time.

I didn't know what exactly I was worried about. Nothing had happened last time other than some short conversation. I had been fine. I guess the problem was just the idea of entering the cell of someone who had wanted to kill another—particularly a kid—that kept coming to my mind.

Sam's eyes narrowed, as if not entirely believing of my words. He finally started to turn to resume his path back to the entrance. "Okay...but if you're still not sure, you can tell me."

I followed after him again. "I'm sure."

He only hummed as an answer. Once we stepped up to the portal, he pushed the button on the side and disappeared in a purple haze. 

This time, we passed through the security checkpoints much faster. Now that I knew what to expect, and stepping through lava wasn't such a crazy idea any more, I didn't hesitate like I did my first time. We arrived at the main cell entry in no time.

Sam handed me the tray with—surprise, surprise—another baked potato. 

When the lava lowered, I spotted Dream laying on his cot. The white mask covered his face once again, staring up at the ceiling. Did he somehow know when people were coming, or did he wear the mask all the time?

Even as I travelled to his cell across the sizzling lava, he didn't move. One of his legs was bent up and his hands rested behind his head casually.

I stood at the entrance to the cell, turning briefly to watch as the lava descended once more, closing my path from the other side and sealing me in. Despite the soft popping of the lava, the room was quiet.

I stood, waiting for Dream to say something. He didn't, and neither did he move. Was he asleep? I couldn't imagine the mask was comfortable to sleep with. But was it really that necessary to wear?

Kneeling down, I slowly set the tray on the ground and glanced up once more at Dream. If he was asleep then there would be no reason to stay any longer. My hand moved to pull the communicator from my back pocket.

"What happened to the 'one time thing'?" 

Dream's words nearly startled me. He sat up and lifted a hand to adjust the strap of his mask, his movements relaxed.

My eyes narrowed slightly as he used the words I had said last time. "Plans change."

He didn't offer any acknowledgement, and my gaze flicked down to the tray of food from where I was crouched. 

"Are you hungry at all?"

"No."

We lapsed into yet another silence. The smile on his mask only stared as I remained on one knee on the ground. The hollow ticking of a clock hanging on one of the black walls seemed to become louder, the noise filling the emptiness of the room.

After a moment, I stood up and folded my arms. The lava was hot behind me, and I took a small step away from it.

My expression turned solemn. "I heard what you did—to end up here." I said, staring at the black eyes on his mask as if I could see through to the real ones.

His form stilled for a second before he tilted his head almost imperceptibly. "What exactly did you hear?"

My brows ticked in. What kind of question was that? "Would I have heard wrong?" There was a small, accusing note in my voice.

He only shrugged, tilting his head in a way that invited me to guess.

I stared at him, my eyes narrowing again as I contemplated his mask. The same innocent smile he wore made him difficult to read. I felt like there was some underlying reason that he acted like this—so casual and offhand with these topics—but I couldn't quite pin down what it was.

I glanced away and took a breath before speaking. "I heard you tried to murder someone." My voice was quieter, tentative.

Dream shifted to lay back on the cot again, making it creak. "Ah, you heard that one."

I bit my tongue as I watched him resume a comfortable position with seemingly no care in the world. His response was not what I had been expecting, and he didn't seem like he was going to clarify it any further.

"So why did you do it then?" I asked next.

His mask angled up to look at the chiseled, obsidian ceiling. He was silent as he seemed to inspect the ridges in the sleek rock for a moment before he finally answered. "It's fun." He said, as if it was the most simple thing in the world. "Chaos is fun."

I couldn't contain my scoff. He had to be joking. 

He let his words hang in the air yet again, and the disbelieving look on my face slowly melted. "That's it?" I asked. "It's just...fun to you?"

"That is what I said."

My mouth set in a hard line and I nodded slowly. So he thought manipulating, blowing up a country, and attempting to kill people was fun. Great. Not that I was standing in this guy's cell with a wall of lava and obsidian surrounding us and only one way to communicate to the outside. Nothing dangerous in that.

But I was a guard for the prison now, and I had a feeling my visits with Dream were only going to become more frequent—and possibly more interesting too.

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A/N

I probably rewrote this chapter five times before I just decided it was good enough, haha. I wanted to say thank you guys for the support, though! I hope you are liking this so far and I hope y'all have a good day/night! See you next Friday! <3