Chapter Text
"No, yeah. I know Dream, it’s fine. Just do what you’ve got to do," Sapnap said, ending the call before letting out a sigh as the disappointment set in. This is the fourth time this week that Dream and George have canceled on him because of 'hero business'. He hasn't even seen them in probably two months!
Sapnap rolled his eyes at himself. He should be proud of his friends! They’re the best crime fighting duo in the city! They keep the citizens safe without even breaking a sweat, they practically stop crimes before they even happen! And they’re busy… always.
Always chasing down the next big bad, always dropping everything at a moment's notice to save people for the greater good… they're busy because they're good people, and Sapnap shouldn’t fault them for that. Except… he can’t help it.
As he said, he should be proud of his friends. The issue was that the constant cancelling on Sapnap for hero duties was starting to feel purposeful. It seemed like every time they planned to hang out something would pop up. Bowling? Nope, George and Dream have to stake out a suspicious hotel. Lunch? Sorry, Sapnap, some idiot is raging around the industrial area, we have to go help. Movie night? Oops, no. Emergency ‘Council of Supers’ meeting tonight, can’t make it anymore, sorry Sapnap.
If it wasn’t for the ‘Council of Supers’ Sapnap probably wouldn’t have read so much into them constantly cancelling on him. But there were so many other superheroes in the city. Dream and George didn’t need to take every case. Other superheroes could take them. They took cases when Dream and George had date nights, so why couldn’t they do it when Dream and George wanted to hang out with Sapnap every once in a while?
So yeah… it was starting to feel like an excuse. Like they didn't even want to be friends with him anymore. Like they were doing everything in their powers to stay away from Sapnap. At this point, with the amount of times they cancelled on him, there was no reason to pretend that wasn’t the case anymore.
Besides, it's not like the heartbreak of losing his best friends could be that much worse than when he realized they were in love with each other while he pined from afar. He’d gone through that heartbreak already, surely this one wouldn’t be as bad. He had already accepted his place when they started dating, this is just another step down. He would be fine… probably.
Sapnap paused outside of his office building to shake these thoughts from his head so that he wouldn’t walk past his colleagues with tears in his eyes. He could think about this later… when he didn’t need to be professional. Sapnap took a deep breath and plastered a smile onto his face before pushing the glass doors open to enter the building.
He waved at Linda from accounting and stopped for some quick small talk with Anne from communications, trying to pretend like everything was normal before he finally made his way to his cubicle, closing the door and sitting at his desk.
Sapnap silently thanked the corporate gods that had blessed him with a door, allowing him some semblance of privacy as he laid his head down on his desk and swallowed back the tears that were still threatening to fall. The train of thought that he had so abruptly stopped outside the building quickly resurfaced, crashing through his mind at full speed and bringing back his self-deprecating thoughts. He thought he had left that mentality behind in middle school, but maybe he hadn't. The feeling of never being good enough, of not being wanted. He thought he had built a good enough friendship with Dream and George for this to not happen. But evidently that was not the case (if the silent tears streaming down his cheeks had anything to say about it).
Then again, maybe he should have expected this. What else did he think would happen when his best friends were the top crime fighting duo in the city and he didn’t even have powers? When he was the perpetual third wheel to two people who were so madly in love that random people on the street could see it. Why wouldn’t he get left behind? He wasn’t important , he didn’t have powers , he didn’t even really have a family outside of the two people that he loved most in the world… the two people that would never love him back.
After allowing himself an appropriate amount of time to grieve the loss of his longest friendships, Sapnap took in a shaky breath and booted up his computer. He had projects to work on and clients that didn’t care about the fact that he had just lost his best friends. Taking one last deep breath to center himself, Sapnap buckled down and focused on his work, trying to lose himself in the distraction.
Somehow it worked and, when a knock on his cubicle door snapped him out of his focus, he realized that he hadn’t looked at the clock once in the past three hours.
“Yeah?” he called distractedly through the door.
“Sapnap, dude, it’s lunch time,” Karl said, opening the door and peaking in.
Karl was Sapnap’s best work friend. Or more accurately, his best friend that he had met at work. Sure, they had started out as work colleagues, but Sapnap felt closer to Karl than anyone in the world, except for Dream and George of course. Or, well... anyways. Even though they worked in completely separate departments, Sapnap and Karl forged a friendship based on a mutual love of video games, Pokémon, anime, and creepy pasta. Karl worked in the marketing department, often filming, and sometimes starring in, the commercials. He was a multi-talented dude. Sure, he could be pretty scatterbrained at times, and he did have a weird habit of going missing for a couple hours a few times a week, but that didn’t matter, he was Karl! Karl was scatterbrained, easily distractible, and a wanderer. How could anyone be surprised if he disappeared for a bit every once in a while. Besides, their boss didn’t care, so why should Sapnap?
Sapnap looked up at Karl, squinting blearily at him after staring at the computer screen for so long, “Oh, shit dude, really? I totally lost track of time,” Sapnap said, rubbing absentmindedly at his face, thankful that he had actually been able to distract himself from his thoughts for a few hours.
Karl's face twitched, mouth briefly turning downwards, “Sap, are you doing okay?” he asked, a concerned look taking over his features.
Sapnap briefly debated lying to Karl, but decided against it. Not only was Karl probably the only person Sapnap could talk to about this, he also had this weird ability to always know when Sapnap was lying to him, “Let’s go somewhere else to eat lunch, okay? Somewhere private?” Sapnap asked, resolving himself to his fate.
Karl nodded and Sapnap grabbed his lunch before standing up. How was he supposed to explain this situation to Karl? A worried look flashed over Karl’s face before he grabbed Sapnap’s hand, leading him out of the building and to a nearby park that they often visited during their lunch breaks. Karl led them to their usual bench, sitting down and turning to look at the pond as Sapnap followed suit. The only sounds that could be heard were the quacking of the ducks and the occasional splash in the water as they dived down for food.
“So… tell me what’s up Sap?” Karl asked once again, leaning against Sapnap’s shoulder but keeping his eyes focused on the ducks in the pond.
Sapnap took a deep breath and unwrapped his sandwich to take a bite of it, trying to figure out how to explain the whole situation to Karl without telling him that Dream and George were superheroes. No one was supposed to know that the heroes known as Dreamland and 404 were Dream and George, and no one was supposed to know that Sapnap knew that his best friends were superheroes. Basically, no one is supposed to know anything to ensure everyone’s safety.
Finally, Sapnap decided to just start and hope for the best, “I think that Dream and George don’t want to be friends with me anymore. They keep ducking out of plans with me, claiming that they have to… work. But there are so many other people that could take over some of that extra work, and it always happens when we are supposed to hang out, so I think they just don’t want to spend time with me anymore. They’ve cancelled every plan we’ve made over the past month . I don’t think I’ve even seen them in the past two months,” Sapnap said quietly, trying to stop himself from starting to cry again.
“Oh, Sap…” Karl said sorrowfully, wrapping his arm around Sapnap’s shoulder and pulling him into his chest. Sapnap went willingly, finding comfort in Karl’s embrace. Karl was a physically affectionate person, and Sapnap could really use a hug, “Sap, I’m so sorry. Are you sure they’re trying to push you away like this? It just really doesn’t seem like them. Maybe they haven’t realized that they’re doing it!” Karl tried, looking for the silver lining like always.
Sapnap stifled a quiet sob in Karl’s chest, clinging to his shirt, “Karl, I’m serious. I think that they’ve realized that it’s not worth spending time with me anymore. Like, they’ve been dating for a while now, and they’ve just realized that all I do is get in the way. If they are as busy with work as they say they are, then why should they keep me around to take even more time from them that they could be spending to-together?” Sapnap finished, his voice cracking on the last word.
“Oh, Sapnap,” Karl started, sounding like his heart was breaking alongside Sapnap’s, “You’re in love with them, aren’t you?” he asked.
Sapnap took in a shaky breath, nodding his head against Karl’s neck, “Yeah,” he mumbled out before burying his face further into Karl’s shoulder.
“I am so sorry that you feel like this,” Karl said, tucking his chin over Sapnap’s head, “So sorry,” he muttered, gently rubbing circles on Sapnap’s back.
Sapnap cried softly into Karl’s shoulder for a bit longer before taking in a shaky breath and sitting up, running his hands over his face to wipe up his tears, “I’m sorry about your shirt,” Sapnap said, staring at the wet patch on Karl’s shoulder.
“Don’t even worry about it,” Karl said, quickly pulling his phone out and checking the time, “Though we really should head back now, or we’re going to be late,” he said, sending a quick text (probably to their boss about being late) before standing up and holding his hand out to Sapnap.
Sapnap graciously accepted Karl’s hand and let Karl pull him up from the bench, leaving their hands clasped as they started walking. They walked in silence for a while, and Sapnap appreciated the time to collect himself with Karl’s hand keeping him grounded in the moment, “Thanks, Karl,” Sapnap said as they started walking up the steps to their office building, “I guess I did need to talk that out,” he finished quietly as they walked through the doors.
“Of course! Anything for you, nimrod,” Karl said fondly, bumping his shoulder against Sapnap’s as they walked, “Seriously though, Sapnap? I think you should talk to them about how you’re feeling. I really don’t think that they’re trying to cut you out,” Karl said sincerely, giving Sapnap’s hand a gentle squeeze before letting go.
Sapnap ran a frustrated hand through his hair, “Sure. I’ll think about it,” he quietly before parting ways with Karl, each heading to their own departments. Sapnap shivered as Karl walked away typing on his phone. The second that Karl left it felt like everyone was watching him. Then again, his face was probably bright red and covered in dried tear tracks so it wouldn’t be surprising if everyone was looking at him. He kept his head down as he made his way to his cubicle, waving briefly at Linda, just hoping that he was doing a good enough job of hiding his tear-stained face from his colleagues.
After reaching his cubicle, Sapnap still couldn’t shake the feeling of eyes on him. Just as the file he was working on before lunch loaded, his phone started buzzing on his desk.
Sapnap furrowed his eyebrows, trying to figure out who would be calling him at this time of day before he decided to just check the caller ID, seeing that it was George. Sapnap’s eyebrows furrowed even further at this realization; it made no sense for George to call him right now. Sapnap briefly thought about ignoring the call and letting it go to voicemail, letting George see what it felt like to be ignored for once. But Sapnap cared too much about George to let him worry if he didn’t answer. God, he was so whipped. He couldn’t even let one call go to voicemail because all he wanted was for them to be happy.
“What?” Sapnap asked, picking up the phone, trying not to let any emotions through the line.
“Sapnap, are you okay?” George asked, his voice slightly muffled by the sound of wind and sporadic crashes in the background.
“Yes, I’m okay. I’m at work. Not wherever you are. I’m safe,” Sapnap said, his voice monotone, trying to hide his confusion. Why would George even care? He knows that Sapnap’s at work right now. Working at the one office building that was always as far away from the ‘action’ as possible (partly because of actual geography, partly because it seemed like Dream and George never let any fights head that way).
“That’s not what I meant,” George said, huffing out an annoyed breath. Great. Now George was annoyed with Sapnap, and Sapnap didn’t even know what he did , “SHIT,” George yelled. Sapnap heard the sound of something crashing and George sliding somewhere away from whatever it was that had fallen (or been thrown).
“404! Where are you?” Sapnap heard an unknown, angry voice, muffled through the phone.
“George what the fuck? Go back to fighting!” Sapnap hissed, hoping that none of his coworkers were eavesdropping on their conversation. He still couldn’t shake the feeling that people were watching him.
“I’m fine, Sapnap,” George hissed back, “I meant are you doing okay with us rescheduling again? We really are sorry. I know that it’s been a long time since we’ve gotten to- WOAH!” George interrupted himself, the sounds coming through the phone once again filled with a crash and then wind and sliding, “Since we’ve gotten to hang out,” George finished, sounding slightly out of breath.
Sapnap took a deep breath, “Look, let’s just… not reschedule this time, okay? It’s obviously a busy time for you guys. Just, uh… let me know if you want to hang out or something. Text me or something but uh… obviously planning isn’t working,” Sapnap said, giving Dream and George an easy out while trying not to sound too resigned.
“Sap, no. Please, we really, we’re so - FUCK - so sorry,” George said somewhat desperately, once again Sapnap heard a loud smash. Why is George even still on the phone with him? It’s obvious that he should be paying attention to the fight. That tone of desperation does not fall out of George’s mouth often.
“George, please. Go fight whatever it is you’re fighting right now. Your life is much more important than spending time with me,” Sapnap said, ending the call to force George to pay attention to the fight. Sapnap took a deep breath, placing his head back in his hands. Why would George put his own life at stake just to call Sapnap? George shouldn’t feel guilty about this, it’s not his fault that they don’t want to spend time with Sapnap. Sapnap’s the one that is, well, just Sapnap! Sapnap’s phone buzzed a couple more times as Sapnap’s thoughts raced in his head. Eventually, he just couldn’t take it anymore. He texted Karl, letting him know that he was turning off his phone for a while, and then powered it down, ignoring the rest of the notifications before returning his focus to his work. After all, that’s what he’s here for, not to feel sorry for himself.
Perception
Sapnap thinks that you guys don’t want to be friends with him anymore
Dreamland
FUCK
404
Dreamie’s a little busy fighting right now
We’ve been trying so hard to get out of work to see him but the agency is overbooking us
Perception
Well he just cried to me about it over lunch, so you guys better do something to make it work
404
I’ll give him a call
He hung up on me
He’s not answering me
Is he okay?
Perception
He shut off his phone
I’ll take your shift tonight, you guys just head to his apartment after you’re finished with your current fight
Sapnap almost didn’t notice when the sound of people shuffling around their offices filled the air, but finally it registered in his consciousness and he realized that it was time to head home. He quickly saved his work and packed up his things before heading out of his cubicle, head swivelling around to see that nearly all of his coworkers had already left. Despite the emptiness of the building, Sapnap still couldn’t shake the feeling that people were watching him. He shrugged to himself, glancing around once more before shaking his head. He’s had a long, emotionally taxing day, of course he feels a little off. He rolled his eyes at his foolishness and walked out of the building, still unable to shake the feeling of eyes on him as he started walking home.
Sapnap liked walking to and from work, it was like a nice way to clear his mind. It also gave him a chance to walk past a local coffee shop that always smelled amazing. He liked to stop by every once in a while when he didn’t have anything too pressing to deal with.
Since his plans for the night were already cancelled, Sapnap decided that he was going to buy himself a treat today. Maybe that would finally calm the feeling of eyes on him that he just couldn’t shake.
Sapnap hummed to himself as he walked, finally deciding on getting a cinnamon bun as he approached the last alleyway before the coffee shop. He had walked past it hundreds of times, but today, with his mind's belief that people were watching him, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he walked in front of it, causing him to falter in his steps. He paused, about to turn and check that the alley was actually empty, when suddenly everything went dark.
Sapnap struggled, feeling arms wrap around him to hold him still as a gag was stuffed into his mouth. He tried to yell for help as he struggled against the strangers hold, but the sound was muffled by the gag and whatever fabric the bag covering his head was made of. All Sapnap could do was struggle and try to break free. He fought as hard as he could against the arms, hoping that someone would see and come help or that maybe he could break free. One of the people holding him back broke away, and Sapnap thought he was getting somewhere, but a sudden sharp pain around his left eye and the world fading to black told him just how wrong he was.
Dreamland
Sapnap left work right?
Perception
He should have?
404
It’s been an hour
Why isn’t he home yet
He’s still not answering me
Perception
Sometimes he goes to that little coffee shop, maybe he’s there?
Dreamland
Found his blood in the alley
We need to find him