Rivalry or? [dreamnoblade]

Chapter 4: The Morning After

     The perks of being the boss is that you can come into work whenever you want. Dream had an excuse though, he had a hangover. George might get mad, but not for long, he thought. But when he turned the corner, he saw the man from last night. Just chilling in front of George's house. What was he doing there? What business did he have with George. But these are questions he couldn't just ask. At this point, George was very connected to the Dream Team, the man might find out who he was if he approached, and that was a whole can of worms. Instead, Dream merely observed. The man was looking wistfully, or perhaps absentmindedly, in the other direction, casually holding a bag of what seemed to be meat. It must weigh a ton, but he wasn't even setting it down. Then, Dream noticed something else. There was someone else in George's house. There were definitely three pairs of footsteps, and if he listened carefully, he could identify Sapnap's low voice, George's relatively high pitched one, and one other, in between the two. Dream racked his brain for answers, but couldn't figure it out, he'd just have to wait.
     After a little bit, the front door rattled open. Dream ducked behind cover. When he peeked his head out again, they were both gone. Dream guessed he had to go to work.
     "DREAM!" Sapnap and George shouted simultaneously.
     "What happened?" He said, closing the door behind him.
     "We just got the best deal!" Sapnap exclaimed.
     "Wait, start from the beginning, did you heard what Technoblade did yesterday?" George interrupted.
     "Yeah. Why?"
     "Well, someone came from the coliseum on his behalf."
     "Wilbur, I think."
     "Yeah, and he offered a contact. We just have to keep the rivalry going."
     "Techno will show up at our events, you'll show up at some of his, it'll be a big boost of sales for everyone."
     "Oh, that sounds awesome." Dream replied. "Can I see the contract?"
     "Um." The two looked at each other.
     "You didn't ask for a contract?" Dream admonished.
     "Well we were caught up in the moment."
     "And he gave us his word."
     Dream sighed. "Guys, this is someone who works at the coliseum, the big leagues. I can promise you he didn't get his position by being nice and keeping his word." The two looked sheepish. "That being said, this is still really good news. I just need to meet with him to sign an official contract." They sighed in relief.
     "He mentioned his office was open afternoons." Sapnap added.
     "Great, I'll visit later today then. In the meantime, why don't we make lunch."

     Techno's training was going great today. He was much more agile and felt like he had more stamina. Maybe he should go on runs every morning, he thought. He didn't do anything fancy today, just tested out the feel of the new sword. He had used it yesterday, but that wasn't proper training for it. Wilbur had reiterated the fact that he could have seriously injured himself without the half hour sword practice before the match, and Techno listened. It wasn't too different from his last one, but small differences can be what separates life and death. He'd never seen Dream use a sword, now that he thought about it. He wondered for a while what kind he would use, what techniques. As Techno continued thinking, he noticed the time. Wilbur was probably waiting for him.
     As he approached the office, however, he heard voices. Wilbur was talking to someone. He peaked in through the door and saw the violently freckled face of none other than the guy from last night. What was he doing here? What business did he have with Wilbur? Did they know each other? Of course, Techno couldn't just barge in there. Not only was it likely important, but he was still wearing his crown, and he was training in the coliseum. This guy would easily figure out who he was, and that was a whole can of worms. But just as he was thinking that, Wilbur said goodbye to them and Techno heard the door shut. "What was that all about?" He said, opening the door.
     Wilbur looked up, "Oh, nothing important. Done with training?" He switched topics so quickly, there was no way out.
     "Yeah, it's a good sword."
     "Perfect, you can go home if you'd like, I have a bit more business to do."
     "Okay." Techno said, heading to the changing room, still suspicious, but not clever enough to call it out.

     "One last thing," this manager, Wilbur, said, "I can't sign a contract with a man whose face I don't know."
     Dream studied him, trying to figure out a way around this. Wilbur left no openings. He picked up the pen and said, "Fine, but I'm adding to the contract that you won't reveal my face or expose my identity."
     Wilbur took the paper when he finished writing. "Looks good. You sign, then take off your mask, then I'll sign."
     Dream obeyed. Wilbur had no reaction to what he looked like, no visible one at least. Both copies of the contracts were signed, Dream took one and Wilbur took the other, smiling to himself. Dream was pretty sure he left no openings for exploitation, but he had to admit that this wasn't his area of expertise. It should, at least, be a lot harder than the verbal contract Wilbur had forced his friends to have. Dream had noticed that Wilbur had no problem with signing a written contract, perhaps he only did the verbal one so he could talk to him.
     Whatever, his brain hurt and he was ready to be done with this. After a few pleasantries, he left the office and walked back out of the coliseum, a little more content that Saturday would be a success.