Switcheroo, Who? - A Dream SMP Fanfiction

Ch. 4: Come Exchange Your Prison Cell For Another

Manhunt!Dream's POV:

It was an understatement to say that Dream was feeling hopeless.

He was experiencing so much more than that at the moment.

The male, mistaken for a powerful prisoner of an entirely different server, was trapped by his other half's previous deeds in this place. Sam and Puffy were trying to work something out with him, but nothing seemed to have any effect. No matter how anyone looked at it, the predicament was unforeseen and presently unfixable. The sheep-hybrid and the jail warden were attempting to comfort Dream, becoming aware of his shell-shocked state, but Dream's disturbing revelation at the bizarre swap of his personas had finally broken through.

He could barely understand a word they were saying, his mind fogging over with numb worry and cold dread.

"-been like that for the past few minutes now," Puffy said worriedly, her hand soothingly on the other Dream's shoulder.

"Shock, or panic attack?" Sam was crouched in front of Dream's turned chair, studying him with concerned eyes.

"Both, probably," the female bit her lip. "He's not hyperventilating, though, and his pulse seems decent. He's probably just out of it right now.....disassociating with the world around him. It's the safest form of shock we could want for him until he calms down."

"You're going to just wait until he relaxes?" Sam's brow furrowed.

"I'm not familiar with how he responds to his environment in certain situations," Puffy seemed exasperated, making motions with her hands tentatively on the male's backside. "Touch doesn't seem to freak him out, so I'm just hoping it's slowly working. Our Dream was relied on the people around him to shape his reactions, but was still, like, extremely composed and stuff. This Dream was doing his best to stay calm and rational, but I think the idea that the other version of himself switched places did him in."

"Obviously," Sam sighed in response.

"It's only natural," Puffy frowned. "He's going to be the most affected by this change."

"I highly doubt that," Sam shook his head. "If anything, this whole situation is going to affect most people equally."

"You're planning on telling others?" Puffy glanced warily at Sam, stopping the circles she had been rubbing into Dream's back. "You're going to tell them all about this??"

"You were planning on keeping it a secret?" Sam raised an eyebrow.

"You advocated for how stupid all of this was and what a dumb explanation it had. Wasn't it going to be too difficult to elucidate, Sam?"

"I didn't say it would STOP sounding like it made no sense. That doesn't mean we can tell it any nicer way. It's crazy, I know, but we can't just keep this to ourselves. It's all we have to go off of, and the people need to know. Everyone deserves to hear the truth. I can't lie."

"No one asked you to lie - just don't tell them."

"That's a lie of omission."

"Not if no one knows."

"We're lying to ourselves."

"That sounds like a 'you' problem."

"Great choice of words, coming from the server's designated therapist."

"It's not official yet."

"And it sure as hell won't be when anyone comes to get treatment for trauma from you. You're like one of those malpractice doctors-"