Chapter Text
"genuinely, let me- i need to go piss!"
george doesn't lift himself. he lays on top of dream, ankle intertwined with his, chest to chest. "but im comfy!"
dream pushes slightly again, "and im not. let me go." he tries to sound stern, but he whines the last words.
"what if i didn't let you?"
dream stops. "george, you're one freaky guy, but even i know you're not into that."
"rude," george mumbles. "wait, wouldn't that like... go with your... instinct stuff, or..?"
"im human enough," his eye twitches, "to use the bathroom, idiot." he weakly pushes at george still.
"we get you a litter box."
"im not a cat, george. im a dog. different animals."
george finally sits up, now straddling dream's thighs. "one of those... puppy pads."
"nooo," dream whines, "no, george!"
"aw, it's okay pup." george gives him a brief kiss, barely even touching his lips. "i wouldn't."
the moment he climbs off dream, the man is rushing to the bathroom. he laughs at his partner.
//
dream perches on the backrest of the couch. he watches georges screen while he edits on his laptop.
"you're gonna fall off, pup." george lifts a hand to dream's hair when he feels him sway slightly.
dream hums, but then growls. "no, none of that pup. i don't want you getting hurt."
dream stares at him. his face is blank. then he snarls.
george sighs. "down."
dream's eyes, somewhat blown out, go even less aware, but he does climb down and sit on the floor instead. he's crouching on his heels, both hands supporting him on the floor. he readjusts his foot to sit closer to himself, then stills, staring up at him.
george pats the couch a few times, and dream scrambles on, curling up so his hands sit on georges lap, upon which he also rests his head once george moves the laptop. he closes his eyes when george ruffles his hair, scratching behind his ear, then moves to just petting him. dream hums passively, foot twitching.
he tries to continue the work, turning down the brightness when dream's eyes scrunch up, but finds he's too distracted by his pup to do anything. he sets the laptop aside, continuing to pet dream.
"good puppy, cute puppy," george mumbles absently. his fingers catch on dream's curls. "i bet you can't even understand me right now."
dream makes no sign he does. george bets he's about as deep as he could be in his headspace. "very nice puppy." he plays with the hair just where dream had told him his phantom ears were. "just a little puppy."
dream's hums start to quiet as his breathing does. george keeps talking. "how'd i end up with someone as good as you?" dream's foot stops moving, and his hums stop fully. he's asleep. "love you, pup. sleep well."
he lifts his hand away, takes his laptop again and continues working. he takes a photo when dream smiles in his sleep, sends it to sapnap and receives a heart in response. george is happy.
//
dream and sapnap are laying on the couch, dream curled up on sap and both sleepy. a nature documentary plays on the tv, sap almost paying attention to the facts on the animals and dream watching the movements with a keen eye. sap is drifting off, eyes closed and sounds echo-y around him – and he thinks he's fallen asleep, even – but a sudden sound draws him out, making him jump.
"what the..." he mumbles, looking around, squinting. nothing has changed.
until he realises dream is gone. sap sits up and sees george coming down the stairs. "what was that sound?"
"i don't know... where's dream?"
george pauses. he looks at the tv, paused on a still of the documentary. "sap, did you forget dream can't watch these?"
"huh?" he looks to the tv, then back to george. "why?"
george comes to pull him up and to the kitchen. through the glass doors, they see dream, running around chasing birds that fly in the sky.
george groans. "at least he closed the door this time." he turns to sap, but walks outside onto the patio. he follows him. "dream needs to be watched when he watches stuff like that to make sure he isn't going dog-brained."
"because..?"
another loud sound. they look to dream, hunched on all fours and staring at the passing flock of birds.
"oh."
"yeah, oh," george mocks. he cups his hands around his mouth, and yells, "dream! come here!"
dream turns, then runs over. he sits in front of george.
george crouches to be level with him, then swats him lightly on the head. "no barking, dream. no."
dream stares for a second, then shakes his head. he whines quietly.
"it's okay, just don't do it again, okay pup?"
dream's eyes clear slightly. he lowers his head and blinks a few times, then sits down properly, not crouching. he still doesn't speak.
"are you back with us?" sap asks, also on the ground now. dream shakes his head softly. "do you want to stay?" another shake.
"get him some water, okay?" george asks, and sap does so. when he returns with a bottle of cold water, george is talking to dream, who responds with small words. he hands him the water, and he drinks it slowly.
he pulls the bottle away. "sorry 'bout... 'hat."
"i shouldn't have forgotten, pup. it's fine." sap pats his hand.
"s'ill, fuckin'... lock the door, man."
dream steps into georges room.
he knows he's alone here; george ran off to the bathroom before. he's allowed in georges room when there's no one else inside.
he closes the door, before seeing discord is open on one of the monitors. he softens his steps until you can barely hear them. he just wants to search for his necklace that he took off here.
he's startled by the voice of bad, singing idly. dream stubs his toe on the bed, and curses.
"language," bad says, automatically, "wait, who's there?"
dream stays quiet, hopes bad drops it.
"hello?"
he frowns with sudden guilt. "hi, bad!"
he says it quietly, but it's still heard. "oh, hi dream! haven't heard from you for a while!"
dream chuckles, moves again and continues on his search. "they logged me out of discord, i just-" he finds the necklace on georges nightstand. "i just forget to add anyone else. sorry."
"oh, no problem. i get that it's..." bad trails off.
"a quiet time?"
"yeah, that! for you! and... i want you to rest, you know?"
"awh." dream moves to the desk, sits down and fiddles with the necklace. he hasn't put it on, just spinning it around his fingers. "you're too nice, bad."
"shush, muffin." there's some clicking as the call fades to silence. it's interrupted again by bad speaking. "where's george?"
"he went to the bathroom, maybe he's looking for, like, snacks?"
"i dunno," bad says, voice lifting in a way that shows he's just filling silence at this point. "maybe he's stealing patches!"
"oh no!" dream gasps. "that's exactly what he would do, bad!"
at that moment, he hears a door open. he turns around to see george, carrying a plate with a sandwich on it. "hey, dream."
"hey, george." he turns back to the monitor. "george is back!"
"yay!" bad cheers. "where were you?"
"food," george says. he holds up the plate, even though the camera is off. he puts it down on the desk. "can i sit here?"
dream glances at the monitor. "yeah, sure i guess."
"that's... thank you, uhm." dream furrows his eyebrows. george watches as he thinks. "how do i put this?"
"dream goes a bit..."
"dog. sometimes."
george waits a second. "it's not like... a sex thing or- it's-"
"it's like a coping mechanism! but i just..."
"he's just done it for basically as long as he can remember."
they both sit in somewhat tense silence. they glance at eachother, george tugging lightly on his collar. dream kisses his hair briefly.
bad speaks up. "that... makes sense, actually. yeah, that's fair!"
"what-" dream's straining to keep down a smile, george guesses both at the acceptance and at the fact that bad saw him for the dog he really is. "i just- wasn't expecting you to be, like, so... so okay with it."
"if it makes you happy what should i care?"
george looks to dream again. "aw, don't cry pup," he says, wiping the tears gathering at just the corners away, "it's okay."
bad shouts, "oh no, did i make you cry?"
"no, no, im-" dream breathes. "im happy. happy tears."
"well," bad starts, "thank you for trusting me. uhm, i understand nobody else knows?"
"me, sap, and now you." george takes the necklace from dream's hands, spinning it around instead. he hits dream's shoulder, but he doesn't mind.
there's some shuffling. "so i shouldn't... bring it up."
"don't, please."
"okay, i won't!" bad is silent for a bit. dream taps songs onto georges hips. "anyways, what were we talking about before?"
"oh, the video, right?"
dream tunes them out after that, happy to doze and hold his favourite person. later, george wakes him out of it, he says his goodbyes to bad, and they go on with their day.
//
dream hears laughter downstairs. he's in bed, barely awake, just on the edge of falling back asleep.
he isn't in his own room, and he's not under the covers. he guesses he was laying with someone – someone who has since left – and fell asleep.
all he knows is that his brain is fuzzy, and he can't quite see right.
he slowly gets out of bed, it's cold being here alone after all, and stops just before the door.
he remembers why he's here.
karl was supposed to visit today; dream had met up with george by now so he was fine with meeting others, but he'd worked himself up a little from the anticipation and had gone to calm down with sapnap.
karl was downstairs. dream couldn't think right.
he opens the door, sneaking downstairs and staring into the living room. he walks softly, still rubbing at his eyes.
it's sapnap who notices him first. "hey, slept well?"
dream thinks he nods. he doesn't pay much attention as he lays down next to him, curling up and setting his head in sap's lap. when he feels a hand in his hair, he relaxes.
"are you feeling..?"
dream nods. he opens his eyes, looking at karl. he thinks he's missing something about the situation.
"is that what you were talking about?"
"yeah, he's..." dream takes his eyes off karl as he's addressed, "can you understand me, dreamie?"
dream nods. he thinks talking would be much too hard right now.
"he went to bed not feeling well, so... expected him to wake up like this."
sap takes his hand off dream's hair and earns a whine. "oh, sorry." it's placed back.
"can i..?" karl has now sat on the floor in front of him, and dream follows the hand he raises with his eyes.
sap drags his own hand to his shoulder. he pushes down slightly, just enough pressure to feel nice. "oh, yeah, he won't mind."
the moment dream feels karl's hand on his hair, he hums. it's different from both george's and sap's, but it still feels nice. he thinks sap guides karls hand to the base of his ear, and dream closes his eyes and presses himself into the touch.
"his hair's really soft..." karl mumbles. dream smiles something small at the compliment.
sap doesn't seem to notice. "i thought he would bite you."
karl gasps. "you set me up! what the-" he giggles. "dream just loves me too much."
"okay," sap scoffs. he's not actually upset. "ill get him to bite you."
"does he bite?"
"if he wants to, so... often."
dream huffs. sap leans down slightly. "what's so funny?"
dream clears his throat. "'nly bi'e y'."
"that's mean."
"l."
"hey dream," karl says, and it brings dreams attention to him, "nice meeting you."
dream hums, this time just because he doesn't have much to say. "i 'ink 'm s'posed t'reac' m're."
karl giggles again. dream likes the sound. "maybe."
dream doesn't answer. sap pats him. "come on, you need to eat. up."
dream sits up. he yawns, watches as sap stands up and helps him up as well. karl follows them to the kitchen.
he sits down on the counter, leaning forward. he scratches at his neck.
sap notices. "where's your collar?"
"d'nno."
karl, rifling through cupboards, looks to them. his gaze lingers for just a second. "uh?..."
"oh, don't worry 'bout it, he loses it constantly."
"'sn'..." dream clears his throat. "s'rry. 'm no'..." he leans forward more. "sa'? c'me..." he makes grabby hands, and sap walks to hug him.
"it's okay karl, just go on. he needs a bit." sap says, still holdin dream, now completely curled into him.
karl hesitates, but does continue. there's more rustling, but he does place stuff on the counters. "is this just- something that happens?"
"usually he's not this... fuzzy. he was, like, really anxious before you arrived. so i think he dropped hard in his sleep."
"oh." karl stops gathering snacks. sap sees a bag of candy, some chips and two bottles of water. sap picks up dream, who's blinking slowly but definitely at least a little aware, leading them back to the living room.
he sets dream down on the couch. "be right back," sap mumbles before leaving.
karl takes a sip of the water. "heyyy, dream," he says awkwardly. dream's brow twitches. "are you like, awake?"
"just talk to him!" sap calls from somewhere far away.
karl takes the advice. he sits down on the ground in front of the couch, then starts speaking.
he talks about anything, honestly. he talks about the new project he has with mr. beast, he talks about the stuff his friends have been up to, and the whole time, dream makes tiny movements, until he groans.
karl stops. "are you okay?"
"yeah..." dream raises a hand and rubs his face. "s'rry, i... that was..." he laughs. "i could barely tell wh't was goin' on. fuck..."
sap takes that moment to come in. he's holding the white collar, which he shows to dream. he sits up, exposing his neck to sapnap, who latches the collar and tugs on it weakly. dream swats his hand away.
karl, sitting in silence now, watches them. dream turns to him, holds his arms and and asks, "hug?"
karl barrels into it, and they both laugh when sap drops on top of them.
//
"okay, so, before we go inside," sap says, stopping at the door, "i think i need to... explain something."
"yeah?"
karls face is open, and kind, and sap takes a breath before he speaks. "i don't know if he's doing it right now, but dream sometimes goes into a... slightly different headspace. it's, like, a comfort thing. you'll understand."
"that's fine," he shrugs, but there's a hint of something else - not negative, no, but just... something. "it's your house."
sap exhales. "thank you," he says, and he thinks his gratitude comes through when karl smiles.
he finally opens the door. the entryway is barren, but he hears faint chatter from the living room.
sap takes karl on a little house tour, pointing out places he can go, where he can't go, their rules and anything else, while of course providing flavour commentary on random things.
he spots dream's collar on georges bedside table. he only hums at it, not commenting more.
the last place they reach is the living room. the two inside - cuddled on the couch, georges hands playing with dream's hair - look up, faces lighting up at the sight of karl.
"hey!" karl says, smiling wide, "uhm... can i join?"
dream laughs. "this couch is too small for cuddling." he looks at sap. "c'mere."
george laughs when karl squints, mumbling, "what the honk?"
but instead of joining, dream just gives sap a hug. "he's keeping me hostage," dream says, dramatic, "help!"
"he was trying to clean the kitchen."
"it is dirty."
"no it really isn't, puppy." sap laughs, ruffling his hair. dream pouts at him, then makes a sad face.
sap only laughs at him again, earning a scoff.
sap turns to karl, who has taken a few steps closer. he seems to be studying the dynamic. "we have two couches," he says, and wiggles his eyebrows a little.
"i get sapnap cuddles?" karl gasps, stepping over to the other, slightly bigger couch. "count me in. so in."
they throw themselves onto the couch, tangling up however they happen to.
"so, any plans?" karl asks atop sap's chest. they're staring at each other, and sap makes a funny face to make them both giggle.
george hums. "nah, not really." he yawns. "we don't leave the house much, honestly."
"and we don't like leaving dream alone." sap glances at his partner. "he... doesn't like going outside much."
"i go to the backyard," dream says, but it's sarcastic. he knows he doesn't go outside.
"to play fetch."
"incorrect!" dream looks at george, then lifts the arm around his shoulders and taps a bruise. "that's not from fetch."
"we play fetch and we roll around in the dirt. happy?"
"yeah," dream nuzzles back into george.
sapnap giggles at them. "if you see them running around outside like idiots, they're just playing. don't worry about it."
"is this related to..?"
"yeah, it is." sap mulls it over for a few seconds, then continues, "and if dream like... stops talking or something, just get one of us. he's fine."
"oh, you told him?" dream looks over. "that makes life easier."
"he's here for quite some time, didn't want you to hide again."
dream groans. "that was, like... months ago."
at karls curious stare, dream explains, "at the very start of my break, i like, didnt- didn't accept their help. so i was hiding for a while."
"got hard to hide when he was sad all the time."
"im fine now," dream responds to george, who lifts a brow. "okay, you dont- you didn't have to do that."
"dude was wandering like a lost dog." sapnap shoots him a smile, though. "god, im happy you're better now."
dream smiles, too, something soft and fond. "hard not to wander like a dog."
george huffs. "in the figurative sense, pup."
"i know, i know." dream leans over a little and gives george a brief peck on the lips.
sap is cooking lunch. he hears constant whispering behind him. every time he looks behind himself, the two at the table suddenly stop, as if they're caught doing something.
"are you checking me out or something?" sap asks. this is a common occurrence.
dream giggles. george giggles. dream laughs loudly, and george joins him. sap sighs, going back to the food. the whispers start again soon after.
he turns around again, and they have the same expressions. "no, seriously, are you 13 in math class?"
"we're discussing you, yeah," george speaks with no guilt, so it can't be bad.
dream nods along. "george is telling me about the ways he wants to have sex with you."
george blushes, but doesn't deny the accusations. sap turns to face him straight-on. "again? we fucked yesterday."
"he has high sex drive."
"yeah, dream, ive realised. im the one he takes it out on most of the time." dream's expression changes, and he stops him from apologising. george is still silent.
dream waves a hand in front of georges face eventually. "george?" he sing-songs.
george blinks himself out of it. "yeah, yeah, sorry."
"fantasising again?" dream asks, taunting him with a smirk on his face.
george leans over, whispering right into dream's ear. he leans back again, watching with his own sly grin as dream blushes, sputtering.
"leave him alone," sap monotones, not looking at them anymore. "he bites."
"no he doesn't."
the screech that follows is enough of an answer.
//
"dream," sap whines when the man comes up behind him and lays a kiss just where his neck and shoulders meet. he gets a lick in response and pushes him away.
dream pouts, pushing himself further into sap's vision. "do you not love me?"
"no."
"awh," dream mumbles. his arms are wrapped around sap's chest. he gets a pat on one arm before sap goes back to his work. "that's sad."
sap shrugs. "sure is, buddy."
this makes no sense where tf is sapnap
//
george opens the door to dream's room. it's dark inside, curtains and blinds drawn, dream huddled under his blanket. he hasn't left the room in a day or two.
george pads over, sitting on the edge to softly stroke dream's arm through the blanket. "dreamie?"
dream rolls over slightly, opening his eyes. he looks so tired. "hi, george."
"hey. can you eat something?"
dream looks away to the wall. "i guess."
"dream," george sighs, "you have to take care of yourself. for us? please?"
there's a moment of silence. "yeah, im- im sorry."
george supports him as he sits up and gets out of bed for the first time in a while. "no need to apologise, love." they waddle out of the room and into the kitchen, dream leaning mostly on george. sap made some soup but he's left already.
dream sits down, allowing a bowl to be placed in front of him. "thanks."
george places a kiss on his hair. he sits down and scrolls aimlessly on his phone as dream picks his way through the soup.
he doesn't finish all of it. george doesn't reprimand him, only praises him for eating what he did, tells him he did well. something in dream flares up at it, but he doesn't comment on it.
dream sits at the counter still. "i don't get why im so tired."
"you're adjusting to not working constantly." george finishes washing the dishes. "you weren't sleeping well. you're just paying it off."
"it's been a week," dream whines and rests his head in his hands. "i should be okay by now."
"dream, seriously," and george is taking his hands away so their eyes lock, "you need the rest. please."
dream hesitates. "sure."
george sighs. he's not gonna get much better out of him. "wanna just cuddle?"
dream nods and they leave to georges room, falling asleep in each others arms soon after.
//
dream sneezes.
sap looks over to him, watches as dream sneezes again from the other couch. his eyes are bleary, and he turns to sap weirdly.
"you okay?"
dream doesn't answer. he sniffles. he shakes his head.
sap stands up to fetch medicine. "can you go lay down in your room? ill be there right away, okay?"
dream stands up as well, swaying, but nods and goes to the hallway. he bumps into the doorway.
sap searches for george, finding him in his bedroom. "dream's sick."
"oh," george mumbles, spinning his chair to face sapnap. "is he okay?"
"sneezing and not quite there right now."
"poor guy." george quits his game, walking past sapnap to the kitchen. he calls back, "i can make some soup?"
sap smiles and shouts back, "that'd be epic." he continues to the bathroom, picking up some medicine and a thermometer.
when he enters dream's bedroom, he's laying on the bed, looking like his bones are heavier than the universe himself. he looks up to sapnap, giving a quiet whine.
"hey dreamie," sap says, walking over and setting the various packets down on the nightstand. he sits down, brushing a hand through dream's hair. it's not sweaty, but dream does feel slightly warmer than usual, even if he runs hot. he leans into the hand.
"im just gonna take your temperature, okay?" sap picks up the thermometer, pressing it to dream's forehead. it's only a little warmer than usual, not enough to worry.
//
dream sleeps.
on one side, sitting up in bed and idly twirling his hair, is sapnap. on the other, holding dream by the waist and laying chest-to-back with him is george, eyes closed and a faint smile on his lips.
"he's so... fucking warm..." george mumbles, awake but close to not. he moves his hands a little, shifts and tries to find a way to overheat less. not for a second does he consider just not having contact with dream.
"your fault for having a blanket over you."
"shut up." George doesn't try to remove the throw blanket over the three. he weakly swipes at sap, even though he doesn't reach. "you just don't know how to be comfy."
sap huffs a laugh. "sure."
"why don't you lay down?" george reaches his hand out, and sap takes it to hold. "sleep with us."
sap holds back a laugh at the phrasing. "im not that tired."
"mhm, sure." georges accent is thick with sleep, but he's obviously making efforts to stay awake. sap doesn't get it, he's been awake for a long time now and has worked for a while. he should just sleep.
he raises the hand from dream's curls to georges, doing the same motions, spinning . george hums a question. "fall asleep idiot."
"no."
"yes."
"no, sap."
"george," sap sighs, "you want me to sing you a lullaby or something?"
"tell me something," he mumbles, shifting again. dream's face twitches, and they both still until they're sure he's still asleep.
"like what?" sap asks quieter. he draws circles with his fingers in georges hair.
"i dunno." george yawns. "describe something."
"i could... tell you about the room?" george hums. sap continues. "it's kind of dark, the blinds are drawn, but there's like... streaks coming through."
he turns to the wall they're shining on, dust flying through the air in the beams of light.
//
dream waits until george yells he's muted.
he comes in, closes the door and shows the plate of pasta he's holding. it's hot and steam rises from it. "food."
george laughs quietly. "oh my god, dream got me food?"
dream walks to the desk, making sure to stay off camera, just in case. he gives the plate to george.
"thank you pup," he says, covering his mouth and blowing him a kiss. dream smiles and blows one back. george uncovers his mouth, giggles, and shoos him with a hand. dream steps back and goes to the door.
george unmutes. "look chat, dream got me- spaghetti with tomato sauce! it's like-" he giggles and looks at him, "it's like a date or something!"
dream laughs, the mic probably picks it up, and responds, "i love you baby."
george looks awkward, but giggles. "okay."
dream walks out, back to the kitchen and picks up the second plate of the same food. it's not steaming but it is still warm.
he takes it to sap's door, knocking again. sap calls him in.
dream enters and puts his finger on his mouth. sap looks at him. "im not muted, should i be?"
"dunno, guess not," he moves to bring the plate, again keeping himself off-screen. "there you go."
"thanks dream," sap says, patting his arm when he pulls away. it's just out of the camera's view.
"yeah, yeah," he says, already moving away. he stares at sap's setup, chat moving fast because of his appearance. "hi, chat," he shouts, then leaves the room laughing.
//
dream watches george speak to the camera. even if most of that enthusiasm is overblown for the audience, there's a part that's still his george, the part that makes dream smile uncontrollably, the part he loves.
he watches, and he waits, until sapnap searches for the pan he'd previously washed. it's in the sink, just out the camera, and dream carefully watches the painter's tape lines on the floor when he walks to fetch it.
he picks it up, walks to just the line, and holds it out. "for you."
it's not the first time dream's talked on the stream; he's just not been on camera. he sees chat explode. he doesn't respond, because he's not on stream, he's merely watching. there's no expectation for him to talk: george had made that clear multiple times already.
sap walks to him, takes the pan, lifts a hand to his hair and scratches his scalp. "good boy," he mutters, quiet enough for the mic to not hear.
dream widens his eyes. he didn't realise how starved of attention he was.
when he looks to george, who's now watching him, there's no comment other than a faint lift at the corners of his mouth. it's quiet, gentle, and something they can easily brush off if twitter later asks.
dream stares at the camera. he's out of view to his elbow, so chat couldn't have seen the scratching. it still drives him insane in some way, being exposed like this. maybe it's the rush of adrenaline. maybe it's something to add to the google doc of kinks. who knows.
all he does is get them more dishes, and when george later asks him about it, he responds by asking why george kept asking him for dishes instead.
//
the rope burns at dream's ankle. it's a comforting pain, one which reminds him of late nights but also of gentle words. it reminds him of-
george weakly slaps dream's calf, making him wince for a second. "that good, puppy?"
dream hums, "yeah, that's good. it's good."
this kind of... activity, whatever one might call it, came from george's want to practice bondage and various ties. then dream realised it feels nice. now it's still kind-of practice, just that they do it casually and georges ties are becoming more skillful each time.
george taps his fingers along dream's arm. they're bound wrist-to-wrist, then that's bound to the foot of the bed. there's nothing holding him taut, just the slight haze in his brain keeping him sunk into the bedsheets.
"hi, puppy," george says, then kisses him sweetly, "hello."
"what am i, stream chat?" dream teases, "hi guys, hello, hi!"
george rolls his eyes and huffs, "you're an idiot." he earns a giggle in response.
he moves to the other side of the bed, holding a different stretch of rope in his hands, idly twirling it. he grabs dream's other ankle, tugging on it. it earns him a kick and a growl.
"wowww," george drawls, "does someone have an attitude?"
dream tenses a little at those words, "no."
"good boy," george pets dream's hair, earning a hum. "you're being my good little boy, right?"
dream closes his eyes and sighs. "you're bordering, george." there's an edge to his voice.
the hands leave his hair, "fine. ill draw back."
"doesn't mean you have to stop petting me," dream says.
george sets the rope wound around his arms down. "sure, we're done."
"okay with me!"
george huffs a laugh. "you're so clingy."
"and you...?"
"love it. yes, i know."
//
"hi puppy!"
sap strolls in through the kitchen arch. his hands land on dreams shoulders, who's hunched over the island on his phone. the hoodie he wears isn't his.
"hey," he monotones. it feels exhausting, even just that little sound. barely a syllable.
sap twists around him. the corners of his lips are pulled into a pout. "you okay?"
he shrugs. "i don' know. not real'." there's a small slur to his words, just because pronouncing sounds like a chore. he doesn't want to be here. why'd he come here?
"you want some... hm, what can i make you...?" sap goes to shuffle through the cupboards. there isn't too much; dream hasn't felt compelled to cook for a while, and the others aren't very good at it, so there's mostly snacks. dream's mom's come by sometimes with food.
"you want some hot chocolate?"
dream hums. it sounds nice.
with the idle clatter of kitchenware in the background, dream lets himself float a little. he's felt weird for a few days. he thought at first that it might be related to not working, since that's what he'd usually spend his days doing, but sap had said that it might be his mind coming down from some kind of 'stress high', as he'd called it. sounded reasonable, really, so that was what he'd gone with.
when the drink is done, he smiles something feeble at sap. he's slowly guided to the living room couch, curled up in sap's arms. the hot chocolate is warm and sweet, rich in flavour. it's both grounding and practically melatonin for him.
"better?" dream nods. "im glad."
//
sap walks in. he, almost on instinct by now, sets a hand on dream's head to scratch at his scalp when he sees him.
dream, though, shakes him off.
sap looks back. did he do something? "hey, puppy."
"b- bad. bad." dream is shaking his head, curls flying around. "bad."
"hey, hey," sap says, quiet, as he crouches down next to dream. "what's wrong?"
dream doesn't seem the most present. his eyes are a little glassy, but he's not puppy-brained. he's just gone. it's weird and not something sap has seen in months.
dream stays silent but shakes his head. his eyes meet sapnaps fully, and there's recognition but no happiness.
"is it a bad day?"
dream thinks for a moment, but hesitantly, he nods. he raises a hand to presumably gesture, but even then he's lost.
"hey, it's okay if you can't speak. that's alright. you're doing good." that at least breaks through, dream's mouth twitching into a smile. it's not a very encouraging smile; he still looks weary and like he needs a hug, but he'll take it. he'll take anything he gets. "you want a snack? i can get you... some grapes?"
dream nods hesitantly so sap leaves to grab the dish of grapes. it's in the fridge, so it's cold, but he sets it in front of dream, who takes a few to chew on them quietly. he makes a weak thumbs up, probably a thank you.
"no problem, buddy. want to watch tv with me?"
dream pouts. sap tilts his head in response, then realises. "oh! no, like, just in the same room. we don't have to touch. you can eat your grapes in peace, man."
dream sighs, seemingly relieved. he stands up to follow sap.
they end up in the living room, dream curled up on one end of the couch, picking at his grapes with a soft blanket thrown over him. sap is at the other end, mindlessly tapping at some game on his phone. the show playing isn't very serious; some netflix reality show with just enough drama to keep them hooked, not enough to make it distressing. junk food.
dream seems to enjoy the distraction. sap doubts something's actually wrong, it's most likely just a bad day. they're less common, especially when compared to the beginning when dream was barely taking care of himself, but they happen.
days where dream doesn't want to talk, or do anything, or even touch. sap and george are always there for him, no matter what.
sap looks across. dream, smiling softly at the screen, bowl of grapes nestled in front of him, eyes slowly drooping shut. it's domestic and it makes sap's heart ache with the amount of love he has for the man in front of him.
(and later, when dream's fallen asleep, sap will take the mostly empty bowl, will tuck in his blanket, careful not to touch his skin with his own, warm hands, and he will turn the lights off to let dream rest.
and even later, sap will meet dream in the kitchen again, this time smiling and batting his hand away. and he'll feel the same love he felt yesterday.)
//
it happens just as george falls asleep.
his bedroom is quiet, sounds fading out as his consciousness does, too. the blinds are drawn. sapnaps somewhere else, but dream is in his arms, curled up. he's warm and comfortable and everything george could ever want or need.
and then he hears a muffled sob.
his brain immediately forgets sleep. he raises his head, eyes blinking open slowly. "y'kay?" he asks, rough but careful.
dream sobs again, curling up tighter. he clutches georges shirt like it's the only thing keeping him here. his hands shake.
george lifts a hand to push dream's overgrown curls out of his face. "wha's wrong, love?"
dream mumbles something, voice wet. george watches as his teary eyes shut tighter as he says it and lifts a hand to his jaw, rubbing a thumb across his stubbled cheek. "it's okay. hey, it's alright, look at me, puppy."
dream raises his head ever so slightly. he opens his eyes to stare weakly at george.
"awh," george coos at the sad look in his eyes, "what's wrong? im here, it's okay."
"do you-" dream inhales shakily, hiding again in georges chest. he mumbles, continuing, "do you love me?"
"what?" george says, impulsively, then backtracks, quieter, "i mean- of course i do, puppy, what do you mean?"
"you-" dream sobs, quiet, obviously trying to calm himself and failing. george sets his hand in dream's hair instead, brushing through. "you love me when im a- a puppy, but-"
"dream," george says, stern, because it's obvious dream's not in his soft, comfortable headspace anymore.
this is dream, in all his insecurities, anxieties and burnout-laden breakdowns. this isn't dream, the soft smiles and playful bites.
dream takes his face out of georges shirt. he's not looking up, but george sees the way his lip wobbles. "y- yes?"
"dream, i. love. you."
between each word, he pokes at dreams cheek. it earns him the same teary gaze again. "i love you no matter how you are and what you're doing. we've both seen eachother at our worst. i moved across the fucking world for you."
"don't you ever, and i mean it," george forces his head up, "ever, doubt that i love you. because i do. we both do."
"you- you mean it?" dream heaves out, face screwed up with his cries. he's not a pretty crier, but he's pretty no matter what he does. he's fucking beautiful and he's the most important person in georges mind.
"your heads being mean." george takes him into his arms again, drawing him closer. "i always mean it. i promise."
he can almost feel the weight those words have on dream, because he falls apart completely.
he sobs loudly, wetting the front of georges shirt, but george only whispers comforts.
he's reminded of only months ago, when they'd both be on their phones in bed, quietly mumbling about their worries, aching to touch and comfort when they both inevitably broke from the distance.
it hurts, now, so close yet unable to help dream.
eventually dream calms, though. he's so exhausted george can hear it in his breath.
"thank you..." dream mumbles out, slurring his words a little. "love you, george."
george giggles quietly. he keeps playing with dreams hair until he's properly asleep.
george thinks he'll discuss this more with dream in the morning, and falls asleep, too, hair tickling his neck and arms moving steadily with breaths taken slow.
//
"dream?"
the man in question turns around. he's holding a bottle of vitamin water. "yeah?"
"have you eaten anything in the last..." sapnap looks at his phone. "thirteen hours?"
"um..." dream closes the fridge. "...i suppose not?"
"sit down. now," sap commands, already making his way to the fridge himself. "im making you food and you're eating it."
"but-"
sapnap levels him with a glare so toxic he shuts his mouth immediately. sap sighs. "sorry, but you're eating. no arguing."
he's only heating up some leftover soup. there's enough here, neatly portioned out, to feed all three of them for multiple days, but suspiciously the ones with green lids are untouched.
sap hears as dream falls to lay halfway on the kitchen island. he looks at sapnap still, with his horrible haircut and his sunken cheeks. the look on his face, one that's vaguely exhausted, vaguely sad, hasn't left for at least a week.
"how much have you been sleeping?"
"not enough," dream grumbles, "ive been busy."
sap watches as the soup, set into a little pot and left to heat up, does absolutely nothing because he isn't stirring it and it's not boiling. "we're worried about you, okay?" he turns to dream. their eyes don't meet. "you need a break. seriously, man."
"...there's so much work to do."
it's resigned, tired, and it's dream at his limits. it's been dream at his limits for a while now.
"you're taking a break."
"huh?" dream lifts his head finally. he fidgets with the bottle, still not having taken a single sip of it. "what?"
"dream, you need it. we'll pick up your work, please just-" sap drags a hand over his face. "a week. then we'll see."
"that's... so long."
"it really isn't."
dream looks around for a while, then relents. "fine." he opens the cap of his bottle, finally. "deal."
//
the room is quiet, save for dream's keyboard clicking.
sap is on his own laptop, editing, while dream sits across from him answering emails. it's the one job he's still allowed to have - he'd become increasingly more frustrated with the lack of something to complete, so they'd agreed to give him email privileges. it's enough for him, though, managing the whole team's mail, like a secretary, or an assistant. he likes the job. it's easy enough.
sap groans. "this is so annoying."
dream perks up. "what?" he says, pulling off his headphones, "i didn't hear."
"editing. it's annoying."
"i dunno," dream shrugs, "it's kinda fun. like a puzzle!"
"puppy, you are the only person to ever say that."
dream laughs. "do you want help?" he asks, a happy little smile on his face.
"what happened to your emails?"
he lifts the laptop, showing an empty inbox. "im done."
"you're done?" indeed, the inbox is empty. "what have you been doing, then?"
dream points a finger at the other tab. it's hard to read, but... "oh, of course you are," sap mumbles, "what else would you be doing?"
he turns back to his editing software. "fucking... dnf-er."
"shut up," dream mumbles back, putting his laptop on the coffee table. "what's wrong with it?"
sap waits until dream is standing behind him, leaning down. his head rests itself on sapnaps shoulder. "look, this part- wait," he stops, then unplugs the headphones and continues speaking, "this part's weird. how do i fix it?"
he plays the clip. it's some silly video with george, one with mostly screaming and hitting and taunting. dream laughs at their words, a fond look in his eyes, one that makes sap's heart melt.
dream pauses the clip, thinking for a second, then speaking, in his obnoxiously fond voice, "it's all off."
"all?"
"all." dream points at parts of the timeline. "look, here, this part- move it further, so there's more room to breathe between the words, and here you should choose a different song. this one doesn't work."
"excuse you?"
"you asked for help," dream states. "you got my help."
"okay, you don't have to sass me."
"i exist to sass."
"sure. you don't exist to be pet and loved?"
dream hums, tapping his finger to his chin with a look of mischief. "hmm... maybe if you convince me."
sap chuckles, abandoning his work to turn around and tackle dream. "pets! pets!"
dream laughs, too, leaning in and letting sap ruffle his hair, nails dragging across his scalp. "i think- you might've convinced me. okay."
//
dream pulls the blanket up further, covering almost his whole face. "it's cold."
"it isn't," sap says, glancing at him briefly. he's streaming, although he's mostly just fooling around in minecraft, doing a mini q&a with chat, feat. dream. "he says it's cold, chat, when he's the one who sets the temperature."
"george keeps changing it!"
"you set it low in the first place."
more rustling from dream. "...it's good for cuddles."
sapnap awws, looking back again, a fond smile on his face. "that's true," he responds, then to chat, "we both run warm."
it's quiet for some time, before sap reads a message. "what's dream doing?"
"dream is being cold because sapnap left me alone."
"come on man," and isn't that weird to hear, now, "you're saying it like i abandoned you."
"you did."
sapnap looks at chat. "spooning order? uhm..."
dream knows why sapnap doesn't answer it, so he does instead. "me in middle, george and sapnap on either side. we don't spoon, guys." he curls more into the blanket and whines.
"dream is like... like a- a pillow princess."
dream squints at him. "what?"
"you heard me."
"i... i did." he is a pillow princess, and he knows it. "im not a pillow princess."
sapnap laughs at a chat message. "is dream a bottom? chat? who said that? 4k. 4k!"
dream laughs loudly. "what is wrong with your chat, dude?"
"well...?" sap says, obviously mocking. "the world wants to know."
"you're so stupid," he throws back, uncovering his face enough to show off his soft grin. "im not answering that."
"sounds like something a bo-"
sap gets a pen in his face.
"where did you- guys dream just attacked me!"
"you started it!"
sapnap scoffs. "i didn't start anything."
despite his knowledge that they're all switches, he says, "id say you're the b-"
"dream!"
"fine, fine. no fun allowed." he sighs, sitting up. he does puppydog eyes at sapnap. "is the stream so much more important than me?"
"do you want another blanket?"
"i want you." he gets a chuckle. "not funny."
"dream is so needy." dream can practically hear the eyeroll. "mods, poll in chat. do i end stream and go cuddle dream or do i keep going?"
"vote one!" dream shouts. "come on!" sap smiles at him fondly.
as expected, the first option wins. dream's cheers get reposted on twitter enough times sap has them memorised.