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There had been jokes about George controlling the weather since before Tubbo had joined the SMP. Any time he wanted to do something outside, it was bright and warm and sunny. Any time he was feeling lazy and tired the skys went overcast and softened the sunlight. And any time someone got struck by lightning there was a good chance they had managed to royally tick George off. But those were jokes. Coincidence after coincidence that George brushed off with a condescending snort and an eyeroll. Even so, Tubbo was starting to wonder if maybe there was a bit of truth to the stories.
Because it was still raining.
It had been over a month since they had locked Dream up, since George had found out what he'd done, and it had rained every day since. Most days it was just a drizzle that didn't actually keep people from doing their work but made them miserable all the same, but often it would kick up into a proper downpour that had everyone ducking for cover. A few times, that first day included, it wasn't so much rain as it was a storm. Pitch black skies and sheets of rain too heavy to see through and winds that seemed to howl their own grief and rage. Those days were always followed by a day of the lightest rain, as if the sky had managed to exhaust itself with the display.
George… wasn't much better. George had always kept mostly to himself even before his stint as a king, but after his dethroning he basically vanished off the map. As soon as the rain had let up enough to make travel safe, Sapnap had spent two days hunting George down and coaxing him out of his little hideaway in the woods. Tubbo wasn't sure whose comfort that was for, but George had been strangely docile about the whole thing, and Sapnap let some of the tension out of his shoulders every time he met his friend's gaze, so Tubbo figured they both needed it. At least a little. But even though he was physically surrounded almost all the time, it was like he was still alone in his head. He didn't seem sad exactly. But he didn't really seem anything else either, and that's what put people on edge.
"Look, I'm not changing my fucking mind on this," Tommy said fiercely. "He can't go."
Tubbo watched quietly as Sapnap gritted his teeth from across the table. It was one of the quiet days after a storm where the air was dense and everything was tinged gray from the clouds that hung low and heavy in the sky, and Sapnap had finally called Tommy for a meeting at the make-shift community house. If Tubbo were being perfectly honest, his presence wasn't needed, but he found himself at Tommy's side more often than not these days, and when he wasn't, he was usually told that Tommy had spent that time looking for him. He tried very hard to not think that Tommy just wanted him around because he didn't trust him. That's what Dream would want him to think, but he couldn't help but wonder what Tommy and Dream talked about during Tommy's obsessive visits that no one was allowed to join.
"Tommy, listen to me," Sapnap insisted. "You've got to let him go. This is killing him."
"What good would that do anyone, huh?" Tommy asked. "What fucking good? You haven't seen him. He's no good for anyone in this state."
"None of us have seen him!" Sapnap snapped, and Tubbo could almost imagine the fire sparking and dancing around his fingers. "Because you won't let us near him!"
"What, you think he should get to just have a stream of visitors day in and day out?" Tommy barked back. "You think he fucking deserves that after all the shit he's pulled? Fuck off!"
"This isn't about Dream, it's about George!" Sapnap's chest was heaving with emotion, and Tubbo finally noticed that he looked like he wanted to cry. He kind of wondered how long Sapnap had wanted to cry. "I don't- I don't give a shit about Dream," Sapnap said, his voice raw and sharp like broken glass. "He can just rot in that stupid box for all I care. He deserves it. But-" he paused and clenched his fists on the table, glaring down at them like all this was somehow their fault, "but George doesn't. He didn't even know what Dream had done before this, Tommy. Dream had him separated from everyone, feeding him whatever he needed to to keep George hidden. George just lost the only person he's had for who knows how long and at the same time he found out that that person wasn't even who he said he was."
Tommy faltered and gave Tubbo a wide-eyed glance like he was looking for an answer, but before he could get one, he turned back to Sapnap. "Sapnap, I-"
"You didn't hear him," Sapnap said softly, still looking down at his hands. "You didn't hear the way he talked about Dream. He refused to believe me when I told him about everything Dream did. All the way up until he saw L'Manburg. He just couldn't imagine the Dream he knew would ever do anything like that." He finally looked up and there was a determined glint in his eye. "George needs to see Dream one last time, and I'll make sure that happens. I'll break him in myself if you force me to. Please don't force me to."
Tubbo cleared his throat. "Tommy…"
"I know,Tubbo." Tommy looked almost sick to his stomach as he gritted out the words. "I fucking know. But-" He cut himself off with a furious noise and slammed his fist on the table. When he spoke again his voice was thin and strained. "But Dream shouldn't get that! He ruined everything! Fucking everything! He should just die in that cell alone and forgotten! It's what he deserves."
"George isn't going to forget him, Tommy," Tubbo pointed out carefully. "And even if he does, what good does that do anyone? It's not going to fix everything that Dream broke. But letting George see him, see him like we've all been seeing him instead of whatever made up version Dream showed him, may fix something."
"I won't actually go against what you decide, Tommy," Sapnap admitted. "There's- There's been too much double crossing and betrayals, and I don't want to add to it. But, dude. Please . That's all I can say. Please let George see him."
Tommy pursed his lips. "Does George even want to see him?" he asked, and Tubbo kind of felt like he was grasping at straws. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing. "We're all standing here talking about this shit and we don't even know if George actually fucking wants to see the bastard."
"We could ask him," Tubbo suggested helpfully.
"Yeah? And how are we gonna find him? He's always off doing fuck knows what."
"Well, I'm standing right here, if that helps." Sapnap and Tubbo whipped around to see George standing with his shoulder propped up against the doorway. They both made various startled noises like they wanted to apologize and Tubbo saw the ghost of a smile on Geprge's face. "So, you're talking about me going to visit Dream?" he asked with very obviously forced casualness as he joined them at the table. He scratched his cheek awkwardly. "Didn't realize I had come off as that pathetic."
"You're not pathetic, George," Sapnap argued.
"Yeah, George," Tommy agreed. "We don't like, think poorly of you, or anything."
George raised an eyebrow. "I dunno. Seemed like it would take a force of nature to get you to change your mind on anything regarding Dream." His face shuttered and he seemed to curl in on himself at the thought of the other man. "Not that I can really blame you."
"Well, do you want to see him or not. That's the real question here," Tommy said, pushing through the subject.
George was quiet in thought for a moment as traced his finger across the top of the table in what Tubbo thought looked a bit like a smiley face. "I- I dunno," he said eventually. "I mean, I know I want to see him, but I'm not sure if I should or not."
"Why's that, George?" Sapnap asked, placing a hand on George's shoulder.
George took a deep, shuddering breath. "Because- Because I don't know what to say to him. Because I don't know what he'll say to me ." He looked up at them, and Tubbo had never seen someone look so terrified and hopeful at the same time. "But I really want to. I don't know what I'm going to say to him, but I feel like I have to say something. "
"I don't know what you could possibly say to him that would mean fuck all," Tommy said darkly, and Tubbo wanted to scold him for the way George flinched, but Sapnap covered it with a cold glare. "He's- Man, he's lost it. I don't know when exactly he lost it, but I don't think we're ever getting him back. If we ever had him at all."
George sighed deeply. "I don't think I'm going to, like, change his mind or anything." He let out a short, fond laugh, that seemed almost out of place in the tension of the room. "I don't think anyone's ever been able to change his mind on anything. He's always been a stubborn bastard."
Sapnap snorted with a similar smile on his face, and Tubbo was suddenly reminded that he was also Dream's best friend. "Yeah. Bit of a dickhead about it sometimes, if I'm being honest."
George shouldered him with an eyeroll. He turned back to Tommy, his face serious again. "I'm not- I don't have any delusions about changing his mind or his ways or whatever. I've learned better than that." Tubbo turned away, unable to look at the sorrow on George's face. "But I think I might be able to make him sorry. Just a bit."
Tommy scowled. "Yeah? And what good does him being 'sorry' do?"
George scowled back and for the first time in a while he looked a bit like his old self. "It's not going to do anything for you ," he said sharply. "It's not going to do anything for him, either. It's not going to do anything for anyone. This is for me , and that's it." There was a tense silence at George's sudden tone, until the man just deflated. He slumped over the table a d rested his forehead on the backs of his hands and when he spoke his voice was soft and thin. "Look, I just- I just need to see him. One more time. That's it. I'll- I'll get better or help out around here more or whatever you want. I won't mention him or ask about him or anything again. Just let me see him. Please. "
Tubbo looked at Tommy, wide-eyed. George and Sapnap had definitely won his vote, but his vote wasn't really what mattered. If Tommy said no, he'd support that with his dying breath. "Tommy?"
Tommy bit his lips and looked between the three of them for several moments before he finally rested on George, still bowed over the table. "Fine," he gritted out. "But just this once. I don't want Dream thinking he's going to get a fucking party every week or something."
George looked up, looking so happy he could cry. "Thank you, Tommy," he said emphatically. "Thank you."
Tommy shook his head like he was getting water out of his ears. "Don't mention it. Seriously, don't tell anyone else you're going. Now, what did you come in here for."
"I don't really know," George said with a kind of helpless shrug. "I just thought I was needed here."
"You were definitely needed here, dude," Sapnap chuckled, clapping him on the back. "Tommy definitely wasn't going to listen to me."
Tubbo pinched his brow in confusion when George's face flashed with frustration before melting back into sheepishness. "Yeah, it's a bit harder to say no to the local sad sack," he joked, and Tommy and Sapnap laughed, but neither of them argued.
"All right then. Tubbo, would you show Geprge out?" Tommy asked. "Sapnap, we need to talk about construction in your area."
"Can do!" Tubbo chirped. He gave George a wide smile. "C'mon, George."
"Coming."
Tubbo led George out of the make-shift meeting hall, a comfortable silence between them until Tubbo decided to break it. "You happy to go see Dream again?"
George huffed a little laugh. "You could say something like that."
"This means a lot to you? Seeing him one last time?"
George stepped out onto the wet grass outside, face tilted up towards the sky, which was miraculously holding back for this one moment. "More than you know. Bye, Tubbo."
"Bye, George."
Tubbo watched him leave, noticing the way his back was a little straighter and his steps were a little lighter. He took a deep breath and thought that maybe the sun would shine again.