Ch. 5 New Friends?

Dream wasn't sure how it happened but the room only turned into chaos after that. First, Puffy had burst into tears. He staggered back in shock, not expecting the sudden mood change. Nikki went to calm her down as Dream pulled the golden clock from his pocket, feeling much calmer with it in his hands. George had woken up to the noise and sat back trying to gather his thoughts as he absorbed the chaos around him. Tommy, on the other hand, was arguing with Sam, yelling at him for letting Dream out despite the fact he was dead.

"What the duck Sam?! He literally tried to murder me! He tried to murder multiple people! He wrongly imprisoned, and tortured me! Why would you fall for his manipulative charm!?" Tommy screamed, jumping around like the little gremlin he was.

"Tommy, look at him. He's harmless. He's dead. He couldn't manipulate us even if he wanted to! From what I've seen, he doesn't even remember us" Sam retaliated in a calmer manner.

"Well no duck! He's pretending that's what he does. First he's all 'la-de-da i'm a good man that does good things and I wear smiles for hours at a time, pog' and then next thing you know, he's trying to MURDER you and manipulate everyone you know into HATING you!" Tommy mocked as his hands flew around to make clear his point.

"Please, he didn't have to convince us not to like you. You literally started all of the wars we've had," George piped up and sparked a separate argument with the blonde. "Oh, like you would know! You've been asleep longer than I've been alive!" Tommy shouted back, clearly offended. Dream saw Tommy grab his shirt, clutching something over his chest but under his shirt as he spoke, clutching something that was attached to a chain around his neck. He frowned at the thought of someone being sad.

George growled at the comment, taking equal offense to the statement. "Probably because when I'm awake, the whole server's been turned to shit! Who do you think caused that, huh? If you hadn't come here, maybe Dream would still be alive!" George said impertinently (rude, insolent), while poking a finger into Tommy's chest. Sapnap pulled George back immediately reprimanding him for going too far on the teenager while Sam stepped between the two in an effort to break things up.

Tommy, while he never alluded to it, really wanted to cry. Unfortunately, trauma turns his tears into anger, and anger into impulsive behavior. George yanked back from Sapnaps grip, too blind with the rage Tommy had lit once he slandered George's name. "Who's side are you on?! I thought we were supposed to stick together? What happened to 'fixing the Dream Team'?" He shouted, losing whatever forbearance (toleration) he had left. Sapnap knew George was grieving; he knew that this was just the build up of all that George had lost, but that didn't make his behavior okay.

He took a step back, knowing that if he were to say anything George would only get hurt worse than he'd already had. Instead of arguing, he simply stepped back to the wall and let George be, ultimately deciding to get his own emotions in check before trying to resolve someone else's first. George seemed like he had enough and finally started to let what just happened sink in. Then the teenager spoke again, and just like that, civil war part two started.

Dream sunk back into the room as it only continued to become increasingly chaotic. Tears bubbled down his face as he clutched his ticking clock, quickly flipping his hood over his head. In his haste, his mask fell from his head but he couldn't find the will to grab it back, he felt frozen with anxiety.

It was too overwhelming- Between Puffy's sobbing and George's screaming match with Tommy, it was clear to see that everyone was fervid (Intensely emotional).

The only person not talking was Sapnap. He, being Sapnap, looked around in contemplation as everyone else got increasingly esoteric. He suddenly became aware of the despondent ghost when he heard a faint sob. This one was distinctly male and child-like. His cry seemed to cut through all the noise and finally, everyone stopped to peer at the lachrymose ghost.

(Esoteric: understood by only a select few.Despondent: feeling depressed/ hopeless)

Even though the noise stopped, Dream did not. He began rocking back and forth in the fetal position, clearly in a way to comfort himself, as he covered his ears with his hands, his precious clock in his lap. Everyone immediately felt bad, even Tommy, though he'd never admit it. Dream just had that effect, as weird as it seems; or perhaps it's children in general that are the culprits of gaining sympathy while in tears? Nobody dwelled on the thought.

He seemed so small. Like he was just a 10-year-old boy crying over his parents fighting. It broke their hearts- even if only a bit. George was the first to try to reach him but hesitated before going back. It wasn't his place to mess with the child, regardless of how close he may be to the older version of the ghost. He also had to admit, he was horrible with children.

Puffy didn't have the same reaction, going straight to the younger than normal ghost and hugging him, crying with him. He immediately hugged her back as he sobbed on his adoptive mother's shoulder. "My baby duckling..." she said heartbroken as she pulled back and looked at him, hands on both of his shoulders. She gently cupped his face trying not to cry even more as she pressed her forehead against his. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you my duckling..." she said as he stopped crying.

Sniffling, he reached up to her hand and held it in his own, bringing it down between them as he wiped his tears, trying his best to look happy for her. "It's ok. Please don't be sad. I just want everyone to smile..." He wiped away a few stray tears with his other hand and looked down, sadly smiling.

Puffy's lip started to quiver as she held back tears. She smiled and huged him again, telling him random things ranging from how amazing he is (or rather was) to how sorry she is. Anything to make him stop crying.

No one else knew what to do. How could they disturb this special moment between mother and son by doing something as simple as moving? Heck, even Tommy was quiet as he awkwardly watched Puffy hug Dream. He'd never tell anyone, but he felt a pang of jealousy. Little by little, everyone drifted to their own things, baking, texting, or awkwardly shuffling around. Either way, no one spoke other than the mother and son that sat in the corner, as they continued to cry despite their best efforts.

After a few hours, Puffy had fallen asleep. As she was slumped against the wall, the now quiet ghost held on to her gently, as if afraid to let her go. Sapnap guided George back to the makeshift bed, they had spent their time quietly processing what was going on, some tears and apologies shared between them but nothing more. Eventually, George grew tired, which slightly irritated Sapnap as this had been one of the longest times he'd been able to see George awake since Dream's betrayal. Of course, he missed his friend, so he was understandably upset and disappointed, but he also knew he had to understand that this was very traumatic for both parties, so George was very, if not more overwhelmed than him. Now, Sapnap sat him on the sheets he'd been on hours ago, and George curled into a ball.

"Go to sleep for now and we can talk more in detail later," He said with a gentle smile. No matter how he felt, he couldn't change his past actions, so he'd make sure his future ones put those he cared for first. So as George and Puffy slept, the rest of the group talked about what to do now.

"I think it's better to just lock him back up and forget about him!" Tommy said begrudgingly quietly; yet still somehow deathly loud. "That could never work. Obsidian to him is like water to Ghostbur. If anything, we should block off certain structures- ones that contain obsidian- for Dream. At least until he's old enough to know what he can and can't touch, right Sapnap?" Nikki inquired.

"That's to say he'll grow up at all. We've never had someone come back as a different age from when they died, so we don't know what's going on. Aren't ghosts supposed to be afraid of salt or some shit? Why don't we just pour salt around the SMP so he stays put in one spot?" Sapnap replied, too tired to actually think of solutions.

"That's only a myth, you idiot. When I was living with Ghostbur, Phil, and Techno, I remember they did a lot of tests to see what they'd have to avoid. I don't know the exact results but I don't think it harmed him." Tommy said casually before bursting up suddenly, making a loud slamming noise with his hands as they collided with the wooden counter they were crowded around.

"Ghostbur! He can solve this problem! He's a ghost, right? So he can just talk to Dream and- BAM we have all of our answers! And, and he can help Dream with ghosty stuff!" Tommy said brightly as he sat down with a pleased look on his face. He didn't trust Dream in the slightest, but he trusted Ghostbur, his deceased older brother.

All this talk about ghost's reminded him of the bombing of L'manburg, a country his brother, Wilbur, built and then destroyed. The history was complicated and messy, something Tommy never wanted to think about. The wars, battles, conflicts, it all collided into a disaster known as "the TNT plot" as Wilbur called it. Tommy was brought back to what caused it- Wilbur's death that is. Jshlatt, a competitor for the position of president won the elections and banned both Wilbur and him. They took refuge in a ravine where they built the rebellion. Things went south, and by the time the rebellion won, Wilbur had gone crazy and planted bombs under the country, effectively blowing up L'manburg and helping in the creation of the L'mancrater, a now popular tourist attraction.

Tommy, himself, had watched his brother beg their father to kill him, to which his father painstakingly agreed to in the end. A tear slipped down Tommy's face at the thought, but he quickly wiped it away and coughed to cover it up. He began to tune back into the conversation, shaking of his bad feeling.

Sam and Sapnap both sighed as they had started a separate conversation in discussing ideas while Nikki thought over it for a moment. "Actually... that isn't the worst idea! Ghostbur, being a fellow ghost and all could help Dream remember about his past. We still need to figure out why he died right?" Nikki said looking at the two older men as Tommy suddenly jumped up again.

"Dream! Dream, I have a question." Tommy whisper yelled before anyone could react. Dream looked up at him and tilted his head. "Would you like, listen here Dream. Would you like to meet my other ghost friend Ghostbur? He's a- he's a really nice ghost and I think the two of you could have a lot in common," he said in a rush, exited to be able to see his brother once more.

Tommy could barely finish his sentence as the more he talked, the happier Dream seemed to be. Dream excitedly nodded his head as he teleported both Puffy and himself to the makeshift bed near George and then back to Tommy who was now stuttering over words as to what the hell just happened. Dream simply bounced around in the air, happy to meet a new friend, or at least another friendly person. XD knows he needs as many of those as he can get.

"What did you expect? He is an admin, bound to have some type of power." Sapnap said casually.

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