Chapter Text
Dream was always very observant, but after being in the prison with a lack of stimulation, hes become incredibly observant. He swears that his hearing has actually improved, despite the physical stress and strain. He can hear everything that goes on as it echoes through the prison, noticing every little thing. So of course he notices that occasionally someone will enter the prison, speak to Sam, and then they both leave together. It was odd. The first couple of times, he didnt immediately realized what had happened, not thinking anything of someone coming into the prison, not realizing until after they had both left. The third time this happened, he felt like he had been tricked one too many times, and made sure to pay attention to every single noise.
4 days later is the next occurrence. (Well, 4 days, 2 hours and 18 minutes, not like he was counting or anything.) Dream hears the door open and immediately kicks his hearing into high gear, hyperfocusing on any little sound.
He hears someone yell out "Sam!", he cant quite identify who it is, but they sound excited. Sam responds, and Dream cant make out any specific words that are said, but he speaks with the tone someone speaking to an excited toddler, or maybe a dog. He swears he even hears Sam call them "little one", which definitely strikes him as odd. Some more pleasant sounding conversation occurs, and then they both leave. Dream is only more confused about what must be happening.
Sam returns alone at 10:37 pm, 6 hours and 14 minutes later. Dream counts his steps until he's sure he is in front of the monitor before voicing his question, looking into the security camera for good measure.
"Hey Sam, I got a question"
Dream waits a moment before hearing Sam's voice crack through the speaker of the camera.
"...what is it?"
He sounds annoyed, but Dream is still pleasantly surprised. Sam usually doesn't answer him at all, so Dream assumes he was able to hear that he was actually confused and not just trying to piss him off.
"So uh... what was that? Why'd you leave?"
Dream hears him sigh once more and can almost see Sam running his hands down his face.
"I have no reason to tell you, though i suppose it cant do any harm as long as youre in here" Sam responds. Dream can tell he tries to be intimidating at the end of that sentence, and doesnt feel intimidated at all.
"That is something called age regression. Its a coping mechanism in which the individuals mind reverts back to the state of child as a way to cope with stress. I take care of people when theyre in this state, and i watch over them very carefully."
Sam emphasizes his last few words as a way to tell Dream not to try anything, but Dream wasnt thinking about that sort of thing anyway. He never really planned to do horribly malicious things anymore. He still thought about horribly malicious things, but with no hope of getting out, he felt no need to plan those types of things anymore. Though he did take note of Sam saying "people", meaning multiple people did this... age regression thing.
A coping mechanism? What, do they just act like a child until they magically feel better? Thats doesnt...
Dream ponders this for a moment. He does suppose that children are generally happier and less stressed, at least when theyre not being tormented by some maniac. He is intrigued at this concept, and felt that he absolutely needed to know more.
"So what do you do during... all that?"
Dream heard the speaker click off and nearly felt the harshness in the action.
Ah, guess the Warden clocked back in.
Dream sighed and laid on his back. He started thinking about other questions to ask, and the time window he's have to ask them the next time this happens. (What? He still had to plan some things.)
Its 6 days, 13 hours, 26 minutes, and one traumatic torture session later when another "age regression" event happens. When they enter the prison, they scream out "SAM" in an excited voice, and Dream immediately recognizes that voice, even through walls and walls of obsidian.
Quackity
This was an unexpected visit, it not being 1 pm on a Tuesday, which only panics Dream more. He immediately tries to dig a hole into his mattress, hoping to somehow hide inside of the mattress, when he hears joyful giggling instead of the usual activation of locks and doors. He starts trying to listen closely again (while under the mattress) and hears Sam chuckle, and both of them exit. Dream tries to compute what just happened, slowly putting the pieces together from the comfort of his shitty bedframe.
Its 9:12 pm when Sam returns alone, but Dream nearly throws himself under his bed anyway. When he finally collects himself, he speaks up.
"So... what do you do?"
"I watch you, Dream"
"No i mean like, what do you do during this age regression thing, do you just like... play pretend baby style?"
Dream knew that what he just said made no fucking sense and hoped that it would work to his advantage. He knew people would be more likely to explain something if they were correcting someone else.
"No- uh, not exactly" Sam's voice echoes through the cell, sounding genuinely confused. "I take care of them the same way i would take care of an actual child. Which... I guess does involve playing pretend sometimes, but theres more to it than just that."
"So do you like, play with dolls?" Dream hopes that his question didnt come off as sarcastic as he was genuinely curious and wanted to know more. It was at least something interesting to think about, instead of just counting hours.
Sam chuckles and, thankfully, responds. "Sometimes, yeah"
Dream looks around absentmindedly, wondering.
"Where do they even get those toys?"
"Well uh, i usually get them for them" Sam replied, sounding sheepish.
"Woah ho, mr moneybags over here, they pay you the big bucks to do this?"
"They pay me the big bucks to watch you, actually" Sam replies, though lacking the usual bite that Dream expected from a response like that. Its was said in a kind of joking manner, with a tone of something he had never heard from Sam, at least never directed towards him. He takes note of this and lies down, satisfied with the information he gained, and having more to think about.