Tubbo walks calmly and stiffly to his house. He checks that all the doors are closed, and that nobody's close enough to hear him, before he lets himself cry.

He doesn't sleep much. (At least he'll get to see Tommy tomorrow.)

And the next morning Dream is in L'Manberg. He has his armor on and he's swinging an axe around casually.

Okay. He's got this.

(Fuck.)

"Dream, hello!"

...Why is Dream here. What is he doing.

Tubbo is going to need back up for this, and while he may not be a big fan of Tubbo's choices right now, he is very capable of standing behind him for the good of L'Manberg.

"Hello! Tubbo, Jingyan, it's good you're here, I actually just came to talk with you."

"What about?" His laugh is a tell, he knows his laugh is a tell, but he can't quite keep it down. At least he has good reason for it, even if he was genuinely confused he'd be nervous right now.

"Hmmmmmmm. So, I talked to Tommy, and he seemed to have some--strange ideas, about what your plans are. So I thought I'd come here and clear it up."

"Has Tommy ever had accurate ideas about anyone's plans?" (He aims for a tone of flat, boring 'why would you think something so stupid' while of course, not daring to imply that he would think someone as mighty as Dream might ever think something stupid.)

"Mm, on occasion. And it never hurts to talk things out."

"What do you want?" ('What can I say to get you to leave efficiently?')

"Well. After your visit yesterday, he seemed to think that L'Manberg was going to take him back soon. I'm sure this is a miscommunication, I have faith in Tubbo's judgement as a leader, but I, mm, I think it would be better for everyone if Tommy doesn't have... false hopes."

"It is a miscommunication."

And if Tubbo would like to justify his policy decisions, he can do that if he wants.

"Great, yeah! If you and Tubbo can just--make that clear to everyone. I tried telling Tommy but, well, you know how he is."

This is fine. This is a best-case scenario. Dream's not putting the walls back up. He's not declaring war. They still have more time to prepare. Tubbo doesn't let his face change. His scars probably work in his favor, though not as well as Dream's mask. "Sure, yeah, I can stop by, clear things up. If you want me to, of course."

Tubbo can certainly do that if he thinks it is the best strategic decision.

(He was aware that Tommy was not good at keeping his mouth shut, but he thought considering recent experience, he would last more than 6 hours.)

"That'd be great! Thanks, it's nice to have a good relationship with L'Manberg, that we can, y'know, talk things out like this."

"Mhm."

"Well, I actually should probably go now, but it was great seeing you guys!"

"You too."

He waits until Dream is out of render distance to lean his head back against the nearest wooden pole. "Fuck."

"--I did expect he would manage to keep his mouth shut around Dream."

"Right. And I didn't, and you decided to dismiss me, even though I've known him my whole life and you met him two weeks ago, even though you were in the room when my one request of him was to keep his mouth shut around Dream and he failed. You cannot make plans assuming Tommy will cooperate with them in any way, no matter how easy they are to follow, because he will not listen to you. I tried to tell you that."

"It was a calculated risk."

"I had more information than you, and I told you not to take it, and you disobeyed me, and now I am going to have to visit Tommy to tell him that you lied to him. I am going to have to tell Tommy that I am not going to rescue him. And this is a good outcome! Dream isn't putting the walls back up or killing anyone!"

"If you think that is the best decision, you can do that."

....

"Thank you," he says very calmly, "for not undermining me in front of Dream. I appreciate that."