The King's Obligation

Twilight Theif

Dream walks down one of the many long halls of the castle. This is the only time in the day where the knight doesn't need to be glued to the king's hip. He makes his way to the knight's common room. It's simply a room in the castle that all the knights go to when they're on break. It's a cozy room, benches and high windows. Dream steps through the archway leading to the common room. A smile is brought to his face upon seeing those inside.

Sapnap, Ant, Skeppy, and a man named Ponk sit inside. They chatter among themselves, sitting on the wooden benches. Sapnap raises his head, a smile brought to his face upon seeing his friend. He waves, inviting him in. "Hey Dream, on break?"

Dream grins from underneath his helmet, making his way over to the raven-haired man. "Yep, thought I'd chill with you guys for a minute."

Dream sits down beside his friend. Sapnap sits to Dream's right and to his left is Ponk. Ponk in some ways is like Dream, he rarely shows his face. He wears a cloth, red and orange, camouflage mask that covers all but his eyes. His skin is dark in tone quite like his eyes. He hasn't been a knight for too long, however, his sense of humour and desire to protect the kingdom makes him a lovely addition to the knights in George's court.

Across from Dream, on the bench opposite of the room is both Ant and Skeppy. Sapnap playfully bumps Dream's shoulder with his elbow. "You know, it's funny that you just showed up. We were talking about our significant others before you showed up."

Dream raises an eyebrow. "Oh really, like who?"

"Well, me and Karl. Ant and his boyfriend, Red. Skeppy and Bad,"

Skeppy groans deeply which only causes Sapnap to chuckle. "And now that you're here, we can talk about you and King George."

Dream rolls his eyes and "tsks" under his breath. "You know, I find it kind of funny that everyone other than me seems only fancy men. This room is just a committee for people who like dick." Ponk adds.

To this comment, Ant rolls his eyes, unamused. Skeppy shoots a hand up to cover his face and sinks further into the floor. "I don't like Bad! He's just my friend!"

"Yeah, ok. Whatever helps you sleep at night." Sapnap pipes up.

He then turns to look at Ponk. "Also, dude. I don't just like guys. I like anyone who'll tolerate me for more than five minutes."

"Seems like slim pickings." Dream jokes.

Sapnap laughs, hitting his friend playfully in the arm. "Oh fuck you!"

Bits and bursts of laughter ring throughout the room for a bit until Ant speaks up. "Look, as much as I'd love to sit here and talk about men. I think we'd outta change the subject."

"Whatcha wanna talk about then?" Dream asks.

A small yet slightly condescending smile meets the cat boy's lips. He leans back against the wall and crosses his arms. "So, I've been thinking a lot about that guy who robbed the castle awhile back. You know who he reminds me of?"

Dream's voice dips into that of annoyance. "Yeah, the Twilight Thief, you've said that before."

"Well gee, no need to be rude about it." Ant fires back.

"What about Twilight Thief?" Ponk asks.

"Well, I'm sure you've heard of him, right?" Ant asks.

Ponk looks up in ponder, tapping a finger to his chin. "I mean, I've heard about him and stuff. He stole shit, right?"

"Yeah, well that's typically the job of a thief." Dream replies dryly.

"Hey Dream," Ant says.

Dream lifts his head to look at the man. Ant continues. "How about you explain the story?"

Dream feels his throat tighten. He seriously doesn't like the look Ant is giving him. It's cold and stares into the pit of his soul like he knows something the rest don't. He swallows hard, preparing to speak. "Well, he was a notorious thief about four years back, stole weapons, gold, food, everything, but he left as soon as his life was threatened and no one's seen him since."

Ant nods, humming satisfactorily. "Correct, seems like this new guy is mimicking him quite close. Keeping a low profile, faceless, stealing from the castle. Seems like an admirer."

Dream lets out a silent chuckle to himself. "Not really a guy worth admiring."

"I'd agree," Ant says while leaning forward.

"You know what's also quite interesting, Dream?"

Ant's eyes burn through his suit of armour, making him feel exposed, naked. Dream's palms begin to clam as he replies. "What?"

Ant takes a self-indulgent laugh before continuing. "About a year or so after that guy left, you showed up. Faceless, low profile, and not even a real name to call yourself by."

Dream's heart skips a beat, his eyes shoot wide as he tries to conjure up a response. Thankfully, Sapnap comes to his aid. "Hey, are you accusing Dream of being a criminal?"

"I'm not accusing anyone, I'm just pointing out things as I see them." Ant snaps back.

Skeppy lifts his head, looking at the feline man. "Ant, I'm not gonna lie. That sounded pretty accusatory."

"Ok, maybe it was, but all I'm saying is it's slightly fishy."

"Ant...Come on, you know that's quite the reach. Do you seriously think they'd let a criminal into the royal court? Let alone let one of them become King George's appointed knight?" Ponk chimes in.

Ant leans back a bit, angered lines wrinkle his forehead. "Can't be sure of anything these days."

Sapnap bolts up, putting a hand to Dream's chest plate as if to try and protect him from danger. "Dream is not a fucking criminal! What the hell has your boyfriend been putting in your food? It's causing you to go stupid in the head."

There's fiery anger laced into every word spat out of Sapnap's mouth. Dream looks up at him. He's a dog, unwillingly loyal to those he cares about. No matter who they may be or what they've done. Dream turns his eyes to look at Ant. He leans against the stone wall of the common room, he looks irked with how the conversation has been panning out. "Look, I never said he was a criminal-"

"Sounds like you're implying it though."

Ant rolls his bright blue eyes. "Look, Sapnap. As admirable as it is to watch you defend your friend. I don't think he needs you speaking on behalf of him, he's more than capable of defending himself."

Ant leans to the right, looking past Sapnap. "That is unless you've got something you wanna admit to the rest of us."

All eyes turn to Dream. His throat tightens and grows dry. However, he can show no fear. He braces himself, preparing to speak, sitting tall. "Listen, I don't know what your deal is with blaming me for stuff I didn't do as of late. Mark my words though,"

Dream moves to stand up. "I'm not a criminal. I would never turn on the king or his country, you misjudge my character entirely,"

He takes a step towards the feline. "It's quite the stretch to say that I and that,"

His teeth nash. "Barbarian have any sort of correlation. You're grasping at straws Ant."

After finishing speaking, Dream pulls out to check his pocket watch. The time reads ten minutes till three. "Now, if you will excuse me, gentlemen, I need to get back to doing my job. It was fun chatting with you all."

With that, Dream takes his leave, walking out of the common room and back down the hall he came. He looks over his shoulder every couple minutes until he's sure nobody is staring at him anymore. He takes a big sigh of relief, letting his shoulders drop. His beats at a million miles per second, he feels like he's just run a marathon.

The way Ant stares at him, looks at him, with that accusation in his eyes, like he knows something throws Dream off. He isn't sure why the man is so insistent on him being a thief who disappeared years ago but he tries to not let the thoughts plague his mind too much. He just hopes that nobody else starts to get suspicious.

A/N: God, imagine forgetting you already wrote Ponk into your book but as Eret's knight and not George's so now you have to go back and change it to someone else because you're a nimrod. Couldn't be me.