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"Dream, you know this is dangerous," George said, less of a question and more of a warning. Dream hardly heard him, or maybe he chose to ignore him, as he tightened the grip on his wrist and pulled him deeper into the woods. He didn't really know where they were going, in fact he was still half asleep. It wasn't uncommon for Dream to wake up during ungodly hours of the night and take him on spontaneous adventures, but that was usually when they were children. Now, being a full grown adult and fearing assassins tracking the masked man in front of him, George was a little more worried about whether or not they'd die in the hands of their enemies rather than if their parents would walk in their rooms to find them empty.
"Dream!"
"Sh!" Dream hushed him as they neared a source of light. "We really can't be caught right now, George." He seemed more excited than worried. It wasn't really helping ease George's anxiety.
"Caught by what?" He made his voice quieter now.
Before Dream could answer, he pulled George through a thicket bush that led to a great plains. The light source had finally been revealed to him. In the distance was Tommy's old campsite where he had been originally exiled to. It was desolate, campfires burning out with a thin trail of smoke and the ground devastated with TNT holes and charred material.
"Dream. Why are we here." George was stern and steady. He felt queasy, like something was going to happen. He didn't entirely trust Dream, he was still recovering from the team's breakup and their fight a couple weeks back.
"We don't actually have to worry about anything, I just wanted to freak you out," Dream said, a shit eating grin plastered on his face. Sometimes George wished his mask went down to his chin. He let out a few giggles and began to walk across the field of grass and flowers, not caring to look back to check if George was following him. George scowled, sleep deprived and already grumpy due to be woken up from a perfectly good sleep, but staggered slowly behind Dream.
He didn't agree with what Dream was doing, he had caught wind of what was happening during Tommy's exile by conversations with Sapnap and Quackity and what they had witnessed during Tommy's time out here. He didn't like the way Dream was manipulating the poor kid, acting like a puppeteer in a sadistic talent show. Tommy had gone through enough, and as much as George didn't totally like him, he knew how horrible it was to be manipulated, especially by a man like Dream.
George was, unfortunately, a victim of Dream's mind-games, and in the worst of ways. A mind-game of some excuse for a romantic relationship. At least, that was what he had thought. It broke his heart, really, and he couldn't even bring himself to speak to the man after Tommy had been exiled, after he had been dethroned. After he had married Fundy. George had to let go of Dream, he gravitated toward Sapnap and Quackity. They were the only people he trusted right now, which was why he made sure to send them both a quick message that Dream had woken him to hang out. Even if it was late at night, he knew at least one of them would see it.
"You never answered my question," George spoke up as they entered the campsite. Somehow, it looked cozier up close than far away. The lanterns scattered around, the makeshift Christmas tree, the tent and the spot where Tommy had had his failed party attempt. But once again, Dream ignored him and started making something on a nearby crafting table.
"I wanted to show you something."
"Very specific," George rolled his eyes.
"Follow me to the shore, we can't see it when we're up here on this hill," Dream pushed himself away from the crafting table and walked down to the beach. George followed him suspiciously, waiting for something to happen. Even though he wasn't feeling in immediate danger, he didn't want to let his guard down. Especially in front of Dream.
"Dream." Oh God, what am I doing? "Tell me what's happening. I-" Don't stutter now! What's wrong with you? "I don't trust you."
Dream faltered for a moment. He stood still in the sand, unmoving and void of emotion. His mask may have covered his face, but George could tell he caught him off guard. He didn't even flinch when the wind picked up speed and flung his hood off his head. A mess of dirty blonde locks of hair were revealed, shining a tinted blue under the moonlight. He looked up slowly at George who looked down at him from the hill, standing his ground firmly with his body but his face said otherwise.
"I know. I wouldn't trust me too," Dream looked down, facing his body toward George. "But please," he brought his gloved hand up to tug away the mask, uncovering a face George hadn't seen in probably months. "I want to show you something, George, I'll explain once we're there."
George debated on whether or not to agree. If he did so, he was allowing Dream to bring him into whatever scheme he had plotted up his sleeve. He didn't even know why they were out here, alone and without a clear reason to be in a place of exile so late at night. But in a way, he wanted to be with Dream. He could never get a chance to himself during his waking hours, everyone flocked around him and he was brought into stupid pranks and conversations all the time. Whenever he found himself with Dream, it was always with other people and he couldn't help but be cold to him. But they were totally alone now. Just the two of them.
He took a breath. And in an uncertain voice, "Fine."
Dream dropped his mask in the sand, a sign of trust he had shown George a long time ago. George entirely stopped in his tracks as he watched the smiley face be buried under the grains of the shore. He knew how big of a deal this was, that Dream didn't put the mask back on or in the pocket of his sweater. He dropped it at his feet and partially buried it just far enough so the water wouldn't touch it. George breathed in slowly, his lungs stuttering and his brain going blank. He reached up to grab the glasses atop his head, detangled them from his mop of brunette hair and tossed them to his feet. Dream watched with an unreadable expression as their form of alliance was executed.
George walked down from the hill and met Dream at the beach. They made intense eye contact and stayed quiet for a moment. George had just consented to whatever it was Dream wanted to do, and Dream had promised to make sure they were safe and secluded from others knowing. He felt better about what Dream had dragged him out here for but he still felt like his nerves were acting up.
"Do you trust me?" Dream asked, throwing a boat to the water with one hand and holding his hand out to George. They didn't break eye contact as George nodded and placed his palm on top of Dream's. They got into the boat together, making sure to balance their weight on either side before Dream began to row them out to sea. Slowly but surely, they boated away from land and the campfires became less than a spec of light in the distance.
The trip wasn't long, but it wasn't quick either. It was silent apart from dolphins circling around them and the gurgling of Drowns coming up from the depths of the sea floor. The stars of the night shimmered on the waves like a glittery canvas. Mist from the water that they traversed over on the boat hit their faces as they continued on the water, rocking with the current and avoiding particularly large waves. Eventually they made it to a spot in the ocean where no land in any direction was visible and the galaxies and stars above made a perfect mirror on the ocean.
"Why are we out here Dream?" George finally asked, shifting in his seat to look over the water where they had stopped. He could see a few schools of fish swimming beneath them, along with coral and dolphins. Other than those creatures, the rest of the ocean was dark and desolate. It was almost scary just how far it seemed to go.
"Just wait for it," Dream said looking over at the water on his side of the boat. George eyed him weirdly, but looked back anyway.
Just then, from the dark depths, pools of light began to surface. They circled and gyrated, pulsing like tentacles on a jellyfish. The closer they got to the surface, they released particles from their glowing limbs that bubbled up until they floated into the air. They were in the heart of this light show from these mysterious creatures that soon revealed themselves to be glowsquids. They reached from miles in each direction, bright particles floating up into the night sky and making the horizon glow in their florescent lights.
"Dream, what..? How… did you find this? What's happening? I-" Needless to say, George was in awe of the sight before him. He reached down to touch the water that swept up the particles in the direction of the squid, his fingers getting coated in the substance that they secreted off of their tentacles.
Dream just giggled at his amazement and didn't answer. George looked over at the other man who was also watching the water. The lights beautifully illuminated his face, giving his eyes and hair a new color that he wished he could see the full gorgeousness of. The glowing particles danced around them like fireflies that lifted high in the sky. George found himself in a trance, staring and admiring Dream in all his glory, perfectly highlighted by the glowsquids' performance. He knew why he favored Dream so much, why he found so much comfort in him. He knew why he fell so hard in love with him.
But he just couldn't forgive him. And he couldn't forget what he had done.
"George. You're staring."
George shook his head, blushing, as he looked back down at the water as if he hadn't just been caught. Dream giggled and shifted in his seat so he was facing George. They remained silent, allowing the rocking of waves and distant cries of unknown sea creatures to fill their ears.
Dream brought both of his hands out in front of him, allowing his elbows to rest on his knees. George scooted upward and placed his hands on top of Dream's. They stayed there for a moment, unmoving, fearing that they may be too disruptive to themselves and to the squid below them. Dream traced George's skin with his thumb, George unable to do the same with the gloves blocking Dream's freckled hands.
"The glowsquid do this a few times a week. I've been tracking their behavior for a couple months now which is why I brought Tommy out here. I finally had a reason to be all the way out here," Dream began. George scowled at the reminder of what he was capable of. "The reason the squid glow is because they get their energy from the earth's core, that's why they live so far down in the ocean. I like to say they give back to the universe. They release the bacteria that makes them glow and it goes into the stars, galaxies, planets and moon. In return, they get a safe space to swim away from the depths and be closer to the universe."
George looked down over the water again and followed the particles to where they were going. He watched as they floated so far into the sky he couldn't see them anymore, until they blended with the stars and made the moon glow. Dream's right.
"I brought you out here because I wanted to share this with you." George looked back at Dream, a somber expression on his face. "I thought about keeping this to myself, but… I knew you'd want to see this at least. I wanted this to be… our thing and then…" he trailed off, but George knew what he was talking about.
"And then the war.." George turned bitter, "you dethroned me, as if you had any jurisdiction over me. You married Fundy! And you said you didn't care about me or Sapnap or Karl or anyone! You said you cared about nothing. Not even about me. After everything we-"
"George! Please! Let me explain!" Dream interrupted him. George hadn't even realized he began rambling, and that his eyes were stinging. His lips began to quiver, tears dared to fall from his eyes. He still wanted to stand his ground. He hated seeming vulnerable or even remotely upset, especially in front of Dream. Especially after what he had done.
"What is there for you to explain?" George retracted his hands and folded his arms across his chest. He didn't want to even look at Dream.
"A lot. I need to explain a lot."
George sneered and looked down. He nodded, turning his head to the squid in the water.
"I really need to know you're listening, George."
"I am. I am."
"You're not."
George scoffed. "Yes, I am! I'm listening!"
"Then look at me."
"I can listen to you without looking at you." George let a small smirk slip on his lips.
"Sure, George. Sure," Dream shook his head and smiled as well. This time, George looked at him but he still had his arms crossed.
"When I started this server, I wanted it to be for you and me only. It could be our little place, no one else could join other than us. I would've made a server for everyone else, but I wanted a place where I could have you all to myself and you could have me," Dream let his eyes drop to the floor and sighed heavily. George could tell a lot was going through his head, he had learned how to read his face awhile ago.
"Then, all these wars began to happen, new people were joining and just.. a bunch of problems started to rise. Nothing felt like it mattered anymore, I just couldn't keep track of anything and it got so hard to control… I thought if I made it seem like I didn't care about anything, everything would get resolved but that just made everything so much worse… I made everything worse," Dream studied the floor of the boat intently, twiddling his thumbs and bouncing his knee.
George wasn't sure how to respond or if it was even appropriate to speak. He watched as the blonde unraveled in front of him, letting go of what he had been holding onto for so long. It almost felt illegal to even be listening to what he was saying, like it was some encrypted file he had stumbled across.
"George, I love you so much. I wanted to protect you, I wanted to be with you every moment of the day, every time we were on this server together. When I saw how dangerous it was for you to be king, I couldn't just stand by and do nothing about it. You'd lose your last life, I couldn't bear it, I couldn't bear the idea of having you as a ghost. You've seen Ghostbur and Schlatt, you know how their memories got jumbled and they couldn't remember too many things. I didn't want that to happen to you, I couldn't let it happen, I was terrified that maybe… maybe you'd forget me.. us, everything we've done…"
Dream didn't bother hiding his tears any longer, he let them drop as much as they pleased. He convulsed and heaved, trying his best not to be too loud so he wouldn't disturb the squid below them. There were so many more things he wanted to say, wished he could find the voice to speak for George, but he couldn't bring himself to continue.
"It's okay, Dream… please don't cry… I understand that you wanted to protect me and everything. And yeah, it still hurt and I may have overreacted to it but…" He bit his own tongue, debating on whether or not to bring up his real concern. They were already revealing things about themselves that they had been holding in since the very first war. What could do more harm now? "But it wasn't as bad as you marrying Fundy. Do you understand that's what I'm upset about? That… that's what hurt me the most?" George said but he wasn't harsh. His voice was gentle and bittersweet, he tried his hardest to contain his anger. It wouldn't be right to get upset right now. They were both in vulnerable situations, literally and figuratively.
Dream nodded but didn't dare to look up at him. He wiped his face from the tears that had already fallen and only hoped he wouldn't shed any more. George waited slightly impatiently for Dream to give him an explanation. If there was one thing he wanted to know more than anything, it would definitely be why he married Fundy so quickly when he was still terrified of having a public relationship with him.
"I-I didn't really want to marry Fundy. I thought that it might settle some disputes, maybe even strike fear in people trying to plot anything against Pogtopia or L'manberg. I thought that if I married Fundy, maybe just a few things would stop happening. But… that clearly didn't work out and you didn't deserve to just be left in the dust like that. Fundy basically used me as a weapon or as a pass to get into things he couldn't get his hands on before. We're hardly even together, but this stupid fucking ring says otherwise…" Dream scowled as he balled his hand into a fist and watched the indent of his ring under his gloves shine in the moonlight. There was a glint of resentment in his eyes that George had only seen once or twice before.
"But… you didn't think about us. About me. Dream we had a plan! We'd leave this place! We'd leave everything! The day before you fucking dethroned me, remember our talk? How you said we should leave in the next few days, pack our things and disappear without anyone noticing?! You stripped that fantasy away from both of us! Now we're both targets! Maybe you more than me now but still! I can't just… I can't just forgive you. You broke my heart, you shattered my dreams! Our dreams!" George began to cry now but he didn't care. He needed Dream to hear what he had to say, raw and unbridled emotion. "I loved you more than anything Dream. I was so ready to drop everything. I would've stepped on my crown and left it in pieces on the throne for you."
Dream said nothing he spoke, silently wallowing in his own guilt and regret. He was all ears for George as much as he didn't want to hear about everything he had done to hurt him. George continued regardless.
"Dream, I-" he nearly choked on his own sobs of anguish, "I was going to propose to you. I had a hidden book in my cottage about the way I'd do it, if it wasn't there I wouldn't have been as mad that Tommy burnt it down. When you came to me that day before you dethroned me, I was so happy that we were on the same page and I felt so confident about it. And then everything happened afterwards, I lost my power, a war began and everything was spiraling out of control. I trusted you to at least keep your promise of running away together, but you couldn't even do that for me."
George's words stung like poisonous venom in his blood. They were both losing steam but George couldn't stop himself. He had hidden so much about his feelings from everyone including Dream. Even during their secret meetings away from the commotion of the SMP, he never told Dream everything he was feeling. He was terrified of rejection, terrified of scaring his only source of affection and comfort away. But he knew now that didn't exist anymore. He never existed in the first place.
Because Dream didn't care about anything on this server.
When a thick blanket of silence settled between them, the only sounds being the gentle collision of water against the boat and the angelic hymn of glowing particles being emitted from the creatures below them, they wordlessly decided that they were done talking. Neither of them could bring themselves to speak or even fathom the fact that this may be the last conversation they have for a while. George was scared of going back to the mainland. They were already so far out, so far away from everyone else. But he so desperately wanted to be away from Dream, he wanted to be with Sapnap and Quackity and Karl. Anyone else but Dream.
"George… I'm sorry. I never wanted any of this to happen…"
"Just take me back home, Dream."
Dream finally picked his head up and met George's stern gaze. His facial expression gave him all the answers he needed.
"I want to go back home. And I don't want to hear from you for a really long time."
A pause.
And then the boat started moving again. Dream was taking them away from this place of wonder, this phenomenal show of lights and mystery. George never wanted to come back here, he never wanted to be with Dream alone in the night like this for whatever reason for however long it took him to forgive what he had done and made him feel.
And George didn't care if it took him the rest of his life.