Playing the Game (DNF)

37

TW// mentions of injury/violence

"That's pandering!" Dream shouts through the mic.

"I'm not pandering!" Tommy shouts back. His shouting sounds more like a shriek.

"That's like the exact definition of pandering," Tubbo adds. Tommy makes a few random noises.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

The votes come in. Tommy wins everyone's votes, along with the audience votes.

"See! I don't care if it was pandering because I still got a quiplash!" Tommy celebrates.

The round ends shortly after. Tommy is the winner, followed by Quackity, Dream, Jack, Tubbo, then Wilbur. They all get a new set of prompts to fill in.

Dream sits impatiently after he finishes filling out his prompts. He spins around in his chair, only stopping when his phone aggressively vibrates against his desk. He scoots over to his computer and mutes himself. He reads the caller ID "Karl." He smiles slightly reading the name.

He accepts the call, but is met with silence. He's expected to be met with a cheerful "hello," but he hears nothing. In defeat, he decides to talk first.

"Hey, Karl. I'm in the middle of a-"

"Dream," Sapnap trembles as he breaks Dreams cheerful tone. The seriousness in his tone is clearly evident to Dream, but it can't mask the pure fear in his voice. Dream feels his heart skip a beat as his fears from earlier in the night seem to be coming true.

"Sapnap? Is everything alright? What's going on?" He immediately stammers.

Sapnap takes in a shaky breath. His breath jumps in his throat as he fights back the urge to break down. His lip quivers. His head shakes back and forth lightly. He knows what he is about to say will absolutely crush him, it would crush anyone. His whole world, his favorite person, was about to come crashing down. Dream feels his throat start to close upon hearing the sound of his friend crying.

"There's uh, no easy way to say this," Sapnap cracks. Dream listens intensely on the other side. Oh god. "But you need to meet us at the hospital."

Dream feels his heart drop to his stomach. He feels sick.

The other end goes completely silent. Sapnap can't even hear Dreams breathing anymore. His eyes dart back and forth as the silence eats them up.

"There's been an accident."

Dream gasps. A hand immediately covers his mouth. Please don't let it be real. Please don't let it be real. His head shakes in attempt to shoo away the possible answer. This can't be happening.

"It's George."

His hand falls limp. The phone drops and clatters onto his desk. His jaw hangs slack as it begins to tremble. His vision blurs as tears sting at his eyes. They refuse to spill over just yet.

Sapnap doesn't say anything from the other end. He buries his face into his free hand, covering his mouth to stop himself from making any noise. His eyes shut tightly to fight away the image of George lying in a pool of blood. A headache creeps onto him from the tension he's creating

The silence on both ends is deafening.

Dream picks his phone back up. He clears his throat.

"Let me call you back," he mumbles. His hand shakes as he removes the phone from his hand. The numbers on the call time rise as he struggles to end the call. He eventually manages to end it. The familiar low beeping fills his ears.