Forever

Chapter 2

Sapnap leaned forward onto his forearms, and Dream kept his attention focused forward, chin balancing against George's shoulder and arms looped around George's waist as he waited for Sapnap to speak.

"Okay," Sapnap's voice finally filled the tense air around them, "here's the deal. The biggest mafia name around here is this guy Philza. He controls just about everything that happens in this area. Which means that if we ever want to expand into doing international business, we need him and his team on our good side."

The name didn't strike any chord of familiarity in Dream's mind, but he had dealt with hundreds of leaders back home. He had hardly had time for leaders operating in other countries, so he wasn't too surprised to have never heard the name before.

But when he tilted his face up towards George, he saw his brow furrowed in concentration, a low hum buzzing past his lips as he quietly repeated the name to himself.

"George?" Dream touched his fingers to George's hand, drawing his attention down towards the blonde.

"Philza," George repeated the name again, "it sounds so familiar, but I can't think of why."

Dream watched him closely, but George's face remained drawn in concentration as he racked his brain for an answer. Coming up with nothing, Sapnap supplied an explanation of his own, "well, your father originally operated in England before moving over to the states, right?"

George nodded, and Sapnap continued, "he probably knew Philza then, I'm almost sure of it. He would have at least known who he was even if he didn't personally know him. Philza comes from a long line of mafia leaders, so it's likely your dad would have known at least one of them."

George nodded slowly, but Dream knew that he wasn't fully convinced. He could still practically see the gears turning in George's mind, bottom lip caught between his teeth and brow drawn the same way it always was when he was thinking something over.

He ran a soothing hand over George's thigh, eyes flicking back up towards Sapnap as he asked, "why is it such a big deal for us to have this guy on our side? I mean, we do well enough with our business back home. Why the sudden need to expand into new areas?"

Sapnap shrugged one shoulder, fingers fidgeting with the fork that lay before him as he answered, "it's about more than just expanding our business into new areas. Philza has an exclusive monopoly on all the weapon trading that happens here. Not a single shipment comes in or out of this country without Philza approving it first. And the groups who work with him receive better pricing, better weapons, faster and safer shipments, you name it."

Dream raised an eyebrow, studying Sapnap carefully as he asked, "there's plenty of leaders who deal in weapons. You couldn't find someone back home?"

Sapnap's eyes dropped down for a moment, and he cleared his throat before looking back up and meeting Dream's waiting gaze. But George supplied the answer for him, "we killed Technoblade, one of the biggest leaders in the country. He had countless alliances all over the country. Do you really think they want to work with us after what we did?"

George's eyes tipped down towards Dream, and Dream felt himself tense as their eyes met. Over the past year, it was the one thing they hadn't really brought up, and the name still sent an unwelcome chill down his spine.

"We didn't do anything," Sapnap muttered in a voice that almost sounded displeased, "Dream's the one who got to kill him."

Now it was George's turn to tense, Dream could feel it as he quickly looked back up at the brunette. But George had already pulled his eyes away, a familiar coldness settling behind his darkened eyes as the words hung in the air around them.