Messengers of Mankind

Distrust and Conflict (2)

Sapnap quietly lowered himself down from the broken window frame of which he used as a viewing point, jumping down the windowsill with ease. Picking up his trusty flamethrower which was propped against the wall, Sapnap readied his weapon. His mind was reeling - Dream had never brought back a stranger. So what's this? A scrawny kid with just a bow? He thought skeptically. Never thought of Dream as the type to be a babysitter.

No matter. Despite his distrustful thoughts nagging at the back of his head, Sapnap stalked to the entrance of their base and prepared for Dream's arrival. The strange lunatic always had a reason, crazed and illogical as they may be. He had initially decided to trust Dream to make the decisions when the world fell apart, and it did get them so far in this post-apocalyptic world. His instincts were worth the trouble. Thus, this man Dream had brought must hold some sort of value.

Still, that doesn't mean that I'll approve of him nor make stuff easy for this guy. Sapnap thought sulkily.

Footsteps were heard echoing in the almost broken-down staircases. Sapnap had created some sort of a sturdy path with Dream when they initially made their base here, knowing that the creaky and old staircase would be the death of them one day. Certainly nobody wants their cause of death to be broken staircases in a post apocalyptic world, so they had made sure that they patched up the stairs well. Even so, the stairs always felt dangerous to take. Sapnap often had preferred to just scale the building.

Sapnap crossed his arms, eyeing the pair that had just emerged from the mouth of the staircase. An unsatisfied scowl emerged from his features as he surveyed the shorter of the pair with distaste. Pale complexions. Brown hair. Goggles for some reason. A bow and a windbreaker. And he's shorter than ever, much more so while being close upfront. Paired with what seemed to be a soft spoken exterior, this man's appearance ticked Sapnap off.

Dream, swiftly sensing Sapnap's detestation towards his partner, cleared his throat pointedly. It conveyed the message well enough for Sapnap - Don't disrespect our new comrade.

Giving his eyeballs a hearty roll, Sapnap spoke in a mockingly polite tone. "Welcome to our humble abode, good sir." He was testing this short man, seeing how he'd react.

Dream's companion merely nodded, silently accepting Sapnap's obvious mocking tone. It seemed as if he did not want to make a scene here. His rather delicate shoulders tensed slightly as he shifted his balance, his hands absent-mindedly fidgeting with the hem of his blue shirt - he must have found this situation awkward as hell as silence settled between the three. Good, Sapnap intended to keep things that way.

"Well, I thank you for your hospitality." The brunet finally muttered after a lengthy pause, his british accent prominent under his rather quiet and soft voice. "Is this your base?"

"What else could it be?" Sapnap sneered, presenting his hostility with zero empathy for the newcomer. "I'm telling you right now, don't try anything stupid here. We're not holding you hostage or anything, but we don't appre-"

A sharp bang was heard as Sapnap did not get to finish his sentence. The brunet recoiled, blinking in surprise which rapidly evolved into horrified shock as he stared at the scene before him. He was staring at his partner - he'd have pinned Sapnap to the wall behind him, with the handle of his war axe against his chin. His partner's hand shook slightly in uncontained anger. Sapnap's eyes flew open in shock as he half slumped, half stood against the wall in paralyzed fear, having expected anything but being pinned to a wall like this by his good friend.

"I told you, be respectful to him." The low hiss that emerged from the tall, masked man was ominous and promised nothing but pain and harm. That single sentence alone had chilled the short brunet to the core. It was as if a viper had successfully snatched its prey, and was sadistically tearing the unfortunate victim to pieces. God, I'm right - he's a fucking psychopath.

Sapnap let out a small, choked noise and noiselessly slid down against the wall, terrified of his friend. He had seen this kind of anger from Dream before, but never had he thought that it was this horrifying when it was directed at him. It was so utterly unnerving and petrifying. His smiling mask was a bonus to the experience - Sapnap felt like he was being cornered by a cruel murderer. 

Seeing his frightened expression, Dream slowly distanced the handle of his war axe away from Sapnap. The handle had been pressing so tightly against his throat that it left a red mark behind. He was almost certain that it'd bruise later. Dream shook his head tiredly, backing off of Sapnap and offered his hand to the still frozen man on the ground. Regret and shame coursed through him - why had he let his anger get the better of him? Why was he this overprotective of the short brunet he'd rescued?

"Sorry. I shouldn't have done that." Dream mumbled under his breath, apology and exhaustion adorning the coarseness of his voice. "Come on, Sapnap, let's go inside. I'll do something about the bruise." He enclosed his hand around Sapnap's, gently pulling him to his feet. Dream grabbed his war axe, gesturing for the both of them to come in the abandoned office floor.

Sapnap, having recovered slightly from the ordeal, scurried inside without a word - but not before tossing a withering look at the short man.

The short brunet sighed inwardly. This is not going to work out, isn't it? Already someone hates me. He thought wryly.

Mustering up all the confidence he had, he took his first step into the two's base. 

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Thanks for reading the second chapter! We have sappy nappy here now, eh? Not a friendly encounter, for sure :>>

(ROUGHLY REVISED)

Published Aug 4th.