Sixteenth Day Event Prompt:
Dream and Ponk discuss their experiences with Sam
@sixteenth-day-event
"What happened to your arm?"
The question came out of nowhere. It was an impulse. A stupid one. Dream wasn't really expecting a response.
Surprisingly, Ponk's eyes blinked open. They weren't red anymore (thank god), but they were fuzzy and unfocused still. Several seconds ticked by before Ponk managed to rasp out a response.
"Sam."
It was just one word, but it was the most that Dream had gotten out of him so far. He would dismiss it as a quirk of timing, but from Punz's recounting, talking about shit had helped ground him and pull him back from the Egg. Alright. So Dream just needed to keep this going.
"Weren't you two dating?" He could swear he remembered that. Ponk huffed a dry laugh.
"Were. Broke up af'er he cut m' fuckin' arm 'ff."
"That uh- makes sense." Great. A+ conversation. God fucking dammit. Okay, refocus here.
"Was there like, a reason? Or did he just get bored?" That sounded harsher than he meant for it to, but too late now.
Ponk's gaze went hazy for a moment, too far maybe? Before he managed to shake his head, bringing himself back down.
"Stole the prison keys. Wasn't eve' tryin' to do much. He'd been ignorin' me. Thought it was funny. Thought I might go visit you or somethin'. He freaked out. Never thought- Never thought he'd do something like this." As he finished speaking, Ponk managed to lift his good hand just barely and gesture at his stump.
Ah. Dream wasn't sure how he felt about that. Was it better? That it hadn't been just him. Who thought Sam could be trusted and was wrong? Or was it worse? That it all came back to Dream himself in the end. Something corrupting, corroding, ruining everything he came into contact with?
A question for another time maybe.
"That sucks." Okay, he winced at that one. "Sorry- uh, I didn't. I didn't think he'd do something like that either. Before."
It said a little more than he wanted to say. Ponk, of course, had recovered enough to catch on. Eyes now focusing in on him. Taking him in and judging. Dream clenched his jaw and tried to ignore the weight of an old friend's gaze. Tried to change the subject.
"You feel up for some water?"
Thankfully, Ponk let the topic drop in favor of nodding. Probably parched by now. Dream pushed himself to his feet and grabbed the spill proof bottle that Punz had left. They were ready for this.
He held it out carefully, trying his best to control the shaking in his own hands. From how Ponk's eyes narrowed, he didn't quite manage it.
The light in here was soft, and Dream had been hoping that would hide his scarred hands. Not from Ponk's eyes though, as the other carefully took the water bottle, drinking from it in long gulps.
By the time it was finished, Dream had returned to his spot on the far side of the room, right by the door so he could get out if he needed to. Not that he would need to. Ponk wasn't infected anymore, the guy could hardly lift a bottle.
The silence stretched out between them, until finally, Ponk spoke again, eyes watching Dream's hands far too closely.
"Is it fucked up if I'm glad it wasn't just me? That he- It was him. I mean, I knew he was the one that fucked up. He cut my fucking arm off over some fucking keycards. But- I mean- He kept trying to act like it wasn't a big deal. Like I should just ignore what he did to me. Like it was all my fault. I didn't buy it- but- I mean- God, I'm not sure what I mean."
Something inside Dream wanted to break. Wanted to shatter apart. Wanted to scream and cry and-
"It's okay." Dream replied, his voice far more shaky than he would've liked. "I get it." That might be a lie. Both statements might be lies.
"I'm glad it wasn't just me either." Dream said, because it was what he needed to say.
Maybe one day he'd be able to figure out if he meant it.
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Bonus:
[Start Text ID: White background captioned in a cursive font with shadowed text, quote: “HELP GIRL, THE NARRATIVE CORRUPTED ME.” Included in the picture are the Dream SMP characters, Wilbur Soot, Tommy Innit, Niki Nihachu, Tubbo_ Quackity, Slimecicle, Ranboo, Fundy, and Awesamedude. Ranboo, Fundy, and Sam do not have a second skin included in the image as they did not have one they came with their lore. The bonus image includes the same image with the word “narrative” being replaced by “egg” in big bold red letters and the previous characters are replaced by Punz, Hannah X X Rose, Ant-frost, Skeppy, Bad Boy Halo, both before his corruption and after, and Ponk. /End Text ID]
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