Dahlia - The Flower Of Betrayal. || SBI Hero AU

-CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE-

"Just wait it out, man. They’ll have to appear sometime."

"That’s not how it works, Sap," Dream answers, shaking his head. There’s an irritation and impatience  in his voice that was abnormal for a composed man like Dream. It’s not like Sapnap hadn’t heard it, though. He’d been there for every breakdown. From the moment they met, to Jubilee’s disappearance, Jubilee’s reappearance, and now to Theseus and all of his new problems.

"They can’t stay in hiding forever," he sighs. "Send everyone a message to tell them to look out for them, and be patient." Sapnap circles around the man, seemingly careless. One glance back at Dream, and he knows this won’t end well. "Don’t freak out about this. They’ve run before."

"They stay together for long enough and I won’t be able to do anything to them," Dream answers, putting a hand up to his face to squeeze the bridge of his nose, curing a headache that hadn’t actually formed yet. He doesn’t have his mask, and the expression on his face is the antithesis of that smile he wears all of the time. "And you shouldn’t be the one talking right now–"

"Calm down," Sapnap interrupts quickly.

Dream throws his hand down, whipping around and pointing a finger at his friend's chest. Sapnap  takes a calm step back. "You’re the one who got us in this mess, letting them go," Dream continues. His face contorts in anger, something that Sapnap had become accustomed to. "I have killed people for less than that."

"Dream, calm down."

"Don’t tell me to—"

Sapnap reaches out and puts his hands on the man’s shoulders, squeezing tight enough that it stops Dream, even without the use of his power. It took a long time to gain that kind of control, and it took Dream a long time to not immediately snap during a conversation like this.

After a moment of angry glaring meeting strict but caring eyes, Dream does what Sapnap wants him to. He calms down, untensing his muscles and relaxing.

"I need them, Sap," his voice lowers slightly, "I have to find them."

"Then we will find them," Sapnap answers. "But you know what we won’t do? Panic. We won’t let them see any weakness. Let them be the weak ones. And when we find them, take all of this emotion and take it out on them. Not me." Dream pulls away aggressively, turning and walking a few steps from the man. He stays mostly quiet, but it’s not as tense as it was before. "Or do I need George to remind you what happens when you get carried away?"

Dream becomes motionless, still. The only thing that moves is the rising and falling of his chest with every breath.
"Don’t bring him into this."

"I just think it’s more effective if he shows you rather than me telling you," Sapnap says with a shrug, his voice holding no care like it did before. He was still a villain, after all. A manipulator, just as Dream was. Sometimes both of them could forget that.

Dream is quick to teleport behind the man, and Sapnap is even quicker to turn around and meet him.

"Don’t you dare say a word," Dream forces out, his voice less intimidating than he wishes. "I could wring your neck right here, right now, and not break a sweat."

"Don’t threaten me."

"Don't bring up irrelevant shit," he snaps back. When Sapnap gains that stupid, shit-eating grin on his face, Dream's pent-up anger bubbles to the surface.

They were pure opposites in every aspect; Dream's frustration turned into major anger issues, but Sapnap's just changed into a sick amusement. Even their powers were incompatible. Dream could move anywhere and everywhere he wanted with a small tap, and Sapnap could stop anyone in place for an infinite amount of time with just a touch. If they could be any more different, they would have chosen to. It was a miracle they lasted this long, alive and together. But despite everything, all the fights and constant bickering, they stayed friends and partners. Because one of them, despite never admitting it, couldn't survive like this without another equally bad person by his side, and the other enjoyed the entertainment of watching people fail — whether that was his friends or his enemies.