[Discontinued] The Things Left

21. Let's Begin

» Word count: 1,250 «

“You’ve been busy,” Dream hummed, gently tracing the outlines of the dusty chests. He hadn’t intended to return, not with all the baggage that came with just being there. Yet there he was, creating more scenarios than there were stages.

“So have you, I’m assuming?” He replied with a genuine smile, offering a mere glance before returning to his doings. As he rummaged through the messy chests, filled with unneeded items and the rare, possibly, useful items -under very specific scenarios that is-, he couldn’t help but wonder to what did he owe the visit. There were other things to worry about, he was sure, there always were. “It’s a shame this place was left to gather dust. Especially because it carries with it so many memories and it evokes so many emotions. Don’t you think so?”

Dream thoughts of those words over and over, stalling the answer he already knew. Though, it never hurt to go over his thoughts once in a while. With the moon peeking through the caved-in roof, and watchful lines of trees beyond the water as witnesses of their interactions, he let himself wander off in his mind. He could still George, Sapnap, Callahan and Alyssa roaming around, talking about whatever. Their laughs so pure and their smiles matching their eyes. That was sincere happiness. This communal area was once home, it was once all they had; all they needed, because at the end of the day as long as they had each other they had it all. But that was back before the wooden floor was replaced by crafting tables and the doors replaced by fence-doors. Before the roof had caved-in and before all the glass rested in clutters of shards on the worn out crafting tables. It was a long time ago.

“Things are the way they are for a reason,” Dream replied, gesturing around and beyond with his sight. “We control our decisions and suffer the consequences, whereas good or bad. But we cannot control the decisions made in retaliation to our own.”

“Poetic,” he said with a grin. “Then I’ll make the decision to leave first.”

He offered another smile as he stepped around the fallen pieces of the roof, his graceful walk lifting barely any dust. Almost like no one had been there at all. Except of course, there was someone who knew he had been there. As he reached the closest exit, he gave another glance to see him looking around with a nostalgic feel. Not like he could see in his face anyways. That inexpressive mask would be the end of someone one day, he could certainly bet on that. With no other words to exchange, nor interaction to farm, he took his leave without looking back. Being followed was the least of his worries.

“Unreasonable and unnecessary,” he purred to himself as he became one with the shadows and the night.

Sam’s head slid off his hand, driving him off his stasis state. He shook his head, rubbing his face in tiredness. It had been a couple of hours running tests on the server, trying to figure out what was that glitch or how it came to be. He got up, stretching his sore legs. He turned to his right, seeing Bad still going through the tests. He closed his own tabs, dimming the white empty place they were in. He made his way to him, looking over his shoulder to see if anything came up.

“Are you tired?” Bad asked, looking away from his tabs and noticing Sam’s ones were closed.

“Yeah.” He sighed, massaging the back of his neck. “I got nothing on my end. Server’s stable and nothing seems to be out of place. I think I will hop off and get some rest.”

“Hm, yeah, then I will too. I will leave some tests running in the background but there shouldn’t be anything wrong. Maybe the server did update and fixed itself.”

They said their goodbyes before dimming the place in a soft pastel green and hopping back to reality.

Sam got up from his seat, stretching his sore body before looking out the window to see it was still night time. He glanced at the clock, just a couple of more hours before sunrise. Which meant he should be making the most of it, since they would have to report their nonexistent findings back to Dream. They should make some more physical tests at the lake, maybe closeness to it was the key they were missing.

Knocks on the door threw him off his thought train, bringing it to a halt. He made his way to the door, opening without a second thought. There, to his surprise, was Dream.

“Am I disturbing?” Dream asked, tilting his head at the shocked expression.

Sam shook his head. “No, not really. Bad and I just finished the main tests, and there’s nothing wrong; nothing that we didn’t see at least.”

“May I come in?”

“Oh, yeah, come in.”

Dream closed the door behind him, glancing at their surroundings just in case. He followed Sam into the living room, where a lantern was turned on for light. He paid no attention to the decoration, not like he ever cared for those details. He sat across from him.

“I won’t bore you with details, so I will go straight to the point. Remember that thing we talked about?” He spoke, instantly ringing a bell. He pulled something from his inventory, opening the neatly folded piece of paper in the table between them. He let him see the contents before continuing. “I want some of those aspects added there for extra security. Do you think you can make it work?”

“It’s a smaller and tighter space.” Sam looked at the design over, a rookie design but understandable. That’s all he needed, really. “It might disrupt the view,” he said jokingly.

“That’s not an issue,” Dream joked in return. His lighthearted tone dissipated. “Can you make it work?”

“It might not be as neat as you want it to be, or small as estimated. But I don’t see why it won’t work.”

“Again, not an issue for me.”

“As soon as Bad and I figure out what happened at the lake, I can start with this. Though it does mean I won’t be working on the other thing until I finish this new project.”

“I sound like a broken disc,” he joked. “It’s not an issue.”

Sam chuckled.

“I will be letting you rest now, then.”

As Dream made his way back to his own house, he couldn’t help but pay extra attention to his surroundings. Not so much looking behind his shoulders, but the feeling of being watched was always present. And it was most notorious at night. That feeling has always been present, ever since he could remember. Yet he never grew accustomed to it. He blamed it on the paranoia.

He looked back as he stopped his steps on the path, his silence mimicking the night. Almost like no one had been there at all. Only Sam knew he had been there to return home. A few blocks away from camp, he allowed another glance for ease of mind. He frowned under his mask, certain his feeling was beyond paranoia. With no sound, nor movement to follow, he continued his path without looking back. Being followed was top of his priorities.

He muttered some choice words before exiting the shadows and exposing himself to the night.

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