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Techno didn’t expect visitors today. Phil wasn’t visiting, and Tommy was hiding in the box. Did Tommy see someone coming? They didn’t know. And whoever was out there wasn’t able to be seen through the trapdoors he’d placed, so they had no choice but to let them in. Dream entered, the stupid mask hiding his face.
“Techno, how’s it been?” Dream gleefully asked, pushing past Techno and sitting on top of the box and Tommy felt the trapdoor pushing into his back and it hurt and Dream suddenly got off, allowing Tommy a moment to breathe, not like he could do a big one because Dream was near and he didn’t want to go back to there, because Dream would hurt him, he’d probably kill him and no one would know and he tried to focus back in on their conversation.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Dream. Yeah, Tommy passed by here, but he panicked and ran when I appeared.” Oh god, Techno, don’t mess this up with your terrible lying.. “I found his tracks pointing west, so he went west I’d assume.” Tommy didn’t know what direction west was, but who cared.
“No, I have reasons to suspect that Tommy is here. Or maybe nearby, but still in this vicinity.” He heard a slam, and a yell of pain. “And I’m gonna find out exactly where, and pay him a little visit.” Tommy felt tears start to pile up in his eyes, but he quickly pinched the flap of the skin in between his thumb and his index to prevent himself from crying.
“Dream..?” Techno whispered, holding their head from the pain. Dream had a gleeful posture, which was slowly approaching them. “D-Dream, I’m not lying...” they felt a hand grasp around their neck.
“You’re lying, Techno. Tell me where Tommy is.” Dream said, frowning under the mask. Why wouldn’t they tell them where Tommy was? They were being stubborn again, and it pushed his buttons. That all melted away when Techno started crying, their words being scattered and muttered by the sobbing. “Oh, oh no.. I-I’m so sorry Techno- I-I didn’t see..” Dream felt tears building in his eyes, but he held them back. They had to, or else they couldn’t contact Karl. “I-I-I...”
Karl burst through the door to find Techno and Dream, on the ground, sobbing and stuttering out words. Techno was stuttering that they “didn’t know, weren’t lying”, and Dream was stuttering that he “was sorry, so sorry”. Karl quickly contacted Sam and Phil, to help calm them down from their meltdowns. Karl didn’t know how to calm them down, so they tried what they knew. He gave them hugs, running his hands through their hair, and did the same for Dream.
Phil and Sam entered the cottage to see Techno and Dream sobbing on the floor, and Karl crying.
“Karl? What’s happening?”
“I can’t calm them down! I don’t know what’s happening, Techno’s stuttering that they ‘didn’t know, weren’t lying’ and Dream’s stuttering that they ‘were sorry, so sorry’ and I don’t know what to do!” Phil pulled Karl into his embrace, keeping a soft grip.
“It’s okay Karl, you tried your best, and that’s what matters. You don’t need to do everything on your own, alright?” Phil quietly said, hearing Karl calm down with big breaths.
Sam sat next to Techno, and calmly tapped their shoulder. “Techno, can you pinpoint what triggered this?” Techno seemed to think about it before they nodded.
“Dream w-was accusing me o-of lying, when I-I wasn’t.. and h-he hurt m-me..” Sam sighed, putting his hand on his shoulder.
“Dream cares about you, so I can’t imagine that they would hurt you unless they were angry before and not in the right mindset. Dream would never intentionally hurt you.” Techno nodded, drying his tears. “And Dream is also in a meltdown, so he at least regrets it.” Techno nodded. It was a couple of minutes before Techno moved closer to Dream, Sam saw they were going to comfort him.
“Dream?” Techno asked, putting their hand on Dream’s shoulder. They wanted to be the one to calm them down, since they did partially cause it. “Dream, what caused this?” Techno repeated what Sam had said to them.
“T-Techno... I-I’m s-so s-sorry..” Techno pulled him into a hug.
“Dream, please don’t blame yourself.. I understand that you probably weren’t thinking logically, and I know you regret it, so I forgive you.” Dream nodded. Karl then took the opportunity to bear hug the both of them. “Karl I swear on the Blood God, I will kill you.”