Entanglement

52 - The Commission II

Present Day

Dream's POV 

"...The Commission?" 

Y/N's trying her best to explain what Dream was getting to earlier to Techno now. They're all sat around the coffee table of Kilo's L couch, Dream sitting on the floor facing the front door with Y/N cross-legged on the couch to his right and Techno also on the floor across from him. Kilo's sitting up at the counter, slightly removed from the conversation. Dream's realizing Y/N knows a lot less about The Commission than he'd assumed. He has to remind himself how much she was kept in the dark for all those years. 

He can't interrupt her to explain it better, though. As Ben would say, he's on thin ice. 

She takes another bite of the noodles she's expertly getting into her mouth with chopsticks; a random skill he wouldn't have thought she had. "It's this group of old white men that... control..." She finally looks over at Dream.

"It's the organization your and her families are a part of. They have this... makeshift headquarters where the selected heads of the family meet and discuss god knows what," Dream's finally able to explain.

"Right, and that's the group of old white men." Her little bit of humor doesn't hit Techno at all. He just sits there more confused, his eyes now darting between hers and Dream's.

He has to start at the beginning, doesn't he? "Back in the '90s, this tension started rising between the Blade's and the Romano's that eventually turned into an all-out war, this constant battle that's still going on. The Commission knows about it but because Ben's been so adamant about keeping the casualties among the two families they don't care, but... we could change that."

"How?" Techno got on board a lot faster than Y/N did.

"The collective heads of the rest of the families have the power to change who they accept as representatives," Dream pauses, hoping the three people in front of him could catch on. "...That could be you two," he looks pointedly between them. "You could put an end to the rivalry."

Y/N obviously still has her reserves, but she keeps her mouth shut as Techno tries to piece together what he wants to say. "...What do we know about bein' representatives?"

"You don't have to know anything yet, we just... we need to get Ben out of The Commission. Out him for faking his death and strip his power somehow."

"How long have you had this plan?" Y/N interjects again.

"I've known this is something that needs to happen since..." Oh, he shouldn't have- he can't finish that sentence. Techno's eyes dropping to the floor shows he knows what Dream was about to say. "It doesn't matter. You guys being here and being on the run from both families is the perfect time to go to The Commission."

The silence that follows Dream's explanation is heavy. Not as tense as before but somehow filled with more confusion. Bites of food are taken and sets of eyes dart around the room. Eventually, Kilo pipes up.

"While they mull that over... hey hoser, you think I could beat you in a fuckin' manhunt?"

Dream's brain doesn't connect the words to their meanings at first. "What?"

"Y'know, like your YouTube stuff," they stand up. "I have two computers in the bedroom, I bet I could beat your ass."

He doesn't want to say 'what?' out loud again. Y/N chuckles as she quirks an eyebrow to Dream. "Remember how to play after a week of real-life Grand Theft Auto?" 

"Uh..."

"C'mon, champ," Kilo's essentially ushering him.

"O-okay, yeah. I think."