The Apocalypse [Dreamnotfound AU]

The Muffinhead

Tw: swearing, weapons

Sapnap stares after Karl for a full minute after he's left, still wondering what the fuck had happened.

He knows Karl can be reckless but it's himself he's mad at. He should have told Karl what he felt, should have stayed with him. The guilt surfaces again and he tries to push it down. After all, they both apologized and forgave each other, and they both made stupid mistakes.

And he has a meeting to get to.

Sap shoulders his rifle and starts back down the hall, heading to the classroom Bad said they were meeting in. He doesn't meet any zombies on the way, and part of him is glad for it. He doesn't trust himself to fight zombies right now, not with the memory of Karl's lips on his still fresh in his mind.

Another memory, one involving a particularly annoying dude wearing a beanie, distracts him for a moment. He folds his fist over his rifle. He wants to rush back upstairs and punch Quackity in the face, even if he was technically helping Karl. The only thing holding him back is the stupid pinkie promise he made. He'll honor it, only for Karl's sake.

"Sapnap!" a voice says from a classroom.

Sap's gaze focuses on a familiar face. "Bad? What are you doing here?"

Bad grins and opens the classroom door wider to let him in. "Techno asked for me, too."

Sapnap frowns. "I wonder what he wants." He looks around the empty classroom. "He's not even here yet."

Bad shuts the door behind them. Sap notices he's got his shotgun slung over his shoulder. "He said he's going to get George. Apparently, he wants to meet with all of us."

Sapnap remembers Techno's tall, imposing form and wonders again what he could possibly want from them. Another smaller part of him also wonders if he could take him in a fight, but he knows there's no chance.

"Hey, Sap?"

"Yeah?"

"You're zoning out a lot today." There's concern in Bad's eyes. "Are you alright?"

Sapnap starts to shrug. He hasn't even told George and Dream about the whole Karl situation and he's not sure he wants them to know. But Bad's known Karl for longer. He might be able to help him.

"I think I messed up," Sapnap admits. "With Karl."

He waits for Bad to laugh or lecture him, but he only raises his eyebrows. Sapnap squeezes his hands into fists and barrels on. "I left him last night, without saying anything. I was... scared. I didn't want him to distract me or I wouldn't be able to fight. I wouldn't be able to protect all of you. So I left."

Sapnap scrubs a hand over his face. "Then, Karl pulled a really stupid prank. Him and Quackity were in it together and I think it was some sort of revenge on me. But he could have died, and that scared me too. We apologized but... I don't know. I don't know if we're good or not."

Bad lets out a long-suffering sigh. "I knew he would do something like this."

"You knew?"

Bad nods. "I've known Karl for a long time. He got mixed up with some bad people a while ago and he did a lot of bad things. Sometimes, when he's sad or upset, he turns back to that. He puts himself in danger." Bad sighs again. "The muffinhead."

Sapnap bites his lip, but the question comes out anyway. "What kind of people?"

Bad levels him with a look. "He'll tell you when he's ready. Even I don't know the whole story. But I do know he has his own fears. He's scared of being abandoned and that's what it must have felt like when you left."