Chapter Text
Dream was awoken by the gentle patter of rain on his window, his body felt lethargic as he looked up at his ceiling listening to the splatter of water on the ground. Dream had always loved the rain, it was refreshing, calming and peaceful. The clock on his bedside table showed that it was just before 1:00pm, he slowly pulled himself out of the warm cocoon that surrounded him, a breath of wind reminding him that his window was still open.
He slowly pulled himself out of bed, his bare feet brushing across the carpet silently as he reached the window, to close it. But he was distracted by what he saw outside. Sapnap sat on the bottom step of the porch, his maroon shirt was soaked, clinging to him and his hair was sodden, water droplets racing each other down his neck and beneath his shirt.
Patches stood under the porch roof watching Sapnap, with an expression that was almost human. She looked incredulous that someone would choose to get wet of their own accord. She kept pawing the air as if to go to Sapnap but every time a droplet of water landed on her she would hiss and leap back under the cover of the roof like she had just been electrocuted. Dream shook his head at his cat, she was adorable but sometimes a little too crazy.
He made his way downstairs, still dressed only in a white shirt and grey joggers. The air was muggy as he opened his door, the heavy air immediately grabbing hold of his skin in a wet embrace. Dream made his way past patches who meowed at him, out into the rain. Warm droplets covered him in seconds, sending shivers down his spine.
He quietly sat beside his friend on the porch, blinking at the water droplets that fell into his eyes from his waving, wet hair. Sapnap sat still, staring at the trees across the street. Dream had no idea how long he had been out here for, he supposed it was lucky that the rain was warm today and not the biting chill that George described in the UK. “Nick?” Dream said after about 5 minutes, he was now completely drenched. Sapnap made no move to look at him, his eyes remained resolutely on the water flowing down the street. Dream could feel his jade tension and he was sure that he could smell a hint of lime jealousy.
Nick’s hand finally moved, dropping something in Dream’s lap, a message sat on the screen half obscured by the water droplets that sat stoutly on the screen.
Karl:
Me and Quackity out right now, catch you later.
Attachment. jpg
Dream opened the attachment to see Quackity and Karl warped in a tight hug. They were in California, in front of a beach, Karl had ice cream splattered in his nose and Quackity had managed to get some sort of sauce in his hair. They were clearly laughing at the camera, their eyes dancing with uncontrollable joy.
Dream tilted his head to the side as he pocketed the phone before it could get damaged by the rain. Sapnap took a breath, it was the most fragile Dream had ever heard him be. They had spoken to each other for years, telling each other everything, crying down the phone at stupid things such as school or girls, they had argued about things, they had comforted each other. Sapnap especially after Dream’s ex had broken things off.
Dream had sat with Sapnap late into the night, helping him with his confidence and making him laugh, to distract him from the stupid things that went around on twitter about him. It was Dream who had convinced Sapnap that he didn’t owe anyone a face cam stream till he felt comfortable. But now Sapnap eyes’ held that battleship grey confusion. “I thought we were a pair. You know like you and George. It was me and Karl. I like Alex, he’s great. But... I feel like people are slipping through my hands like water and I can’t hold onto them.”
Dream nodded, picking his words carefully, “You have me Nick. Always have. Always will. All those months ago, I asked you to come with me on youtube. I meant it, it didn't mean come part of the way, I meant the whole way. You said it yourself, we are the Dream team!” The younger nodded, a small smile crossing his face.
“Now, get out of the rain, mate! You’ll catch a cold and you really don’t want to know how over kill my mum is when it comes to illness. She’ll lock you in your room with blankets and soup!”
“Doesn’t sound too bad.” Sapnap quipped back, his usual fire catching in his eyes and a laugh rippled through the air, a real laugh. “I am her favourite!”
“I’m her son!”
“So? I’m still her favourite”
The two of them laughed as they made their way back towards the house, Patches giving them a disappointed look as they got the floor wet. She stood in front of the puddle made by Dream’s clothes, pawing at it curiously. Dream reached to get her food and seeing his movements Patches leapt forward towards him.
Unfortunately for her she ran straight through the puddle, losing her grip on the tiled, slippery floor and sending her skidding into the counter door with a loud thud.
Dream wheezed loudly and Sapnap had to grip the table to stop himself falling over from laughing as Patches pulled herself to her feet, raising her head high and walking carefully to Dream’s feet. He placed her foot next to her, still chuckling before going up the stairs, “Don’t use all the hot water again! I need some.” He yelled back down to Sapnap who walked into the bathroom.
“You take less time than me, you're in your 3 in 1 arc!” Was the retort that had Dream rolling his eyes as he grabbed fresh clothes to change into. Before he made his way into the bathroom he saw his phone had lit up.
Gogy:
I’m streaming in 10. Hop on when you can. I’m sure Tommy will join us at one point.
He smiled, throwing his phone back onto his bed, his mind already filled with George’s awkward expression that he would pull whenever Tommy started asking George questions, that they all knew Tommy was fully aware of the answer. Sapnap had clearly had ignored Dream’s demands about the hot water because he had only stood under the warm water for a minute before it became lukewarm, beckoning colder every passing second. Scrambling quickly to wash himself Dream jumped out the shower, shivering slightly from the now chilly water.
He took his time dressing, his phone told him George had gone live 15 minutes ago.
Finally Dream dragged himself to his computer, a band of lilac mischief branded in his mind as he pulled up George’s stream before joining the VC. “...Gogy had pretty privilege. Have you ever stolen anything because you’re pretty Gogy?” Tommy’s canary yellow laughter booming from his headphones, followed by coughs and snorts as the other realized Dream had joined.
“SAPNAP!” Dream yelled, on screen George jumped, his headphones falling over his eyes but a wide smile split his face. “I told you not to use all the hot water!”
Howls of laughter tumbled through the VC and George who had recovered was smiling, a light pink dusting his cheeks. The chat was now spamming Dream’s name and ‘Blushy Gogy ’, Dream rolled his eyes at the chat.
“Speak of the devil. Or Green bastard. Both are synonymous with each other” Quackity screamed. Dream frowned, cobalt blue excitement now freezing over into an ice blue nervousness.
“Does Gogy have pretty privilege?” Tubbo’s voice filled Dream in on the previous conversation. He wheezed, ignoring how his chest contracted slightly as he thought of George's face.
“Absolutely. Now Sapnap come here!” Sapnap screamed as Dream logged into the server with his second account, flying after Sapnap's character. He could hear Sapnap’s screams both in game as well as from below him. Now George really was blushing and the chat was now spamming ‘ DNF ’. Dream felt his heart drop, George hadn’t spoken a word since he had joined. He was glad it wasn’t a lore stream today, the group of them just mucking around on minecraft.
Dream picked up his phone sending a picture of Patches to George. He heard the ping on stream and watched George pick up his phone and smile. Capri blue pride filled Dream. “Is Dream sending feet pics again?” Karl’s voice entered the conversation, he was a little quieter than Quackity obviously sat next to him.
“Nope it's a selfie, Dream’s in his arrogant arc.” George threw back, hardly hesitating causing Tommy and Quackity to splutter in laughter and shock, while Tubbo’s quiet voice held a small hint of copper nervousness.
He screenshotted the picture.
“GEORGE!” Dream yelled down his mike, George only looked straight into the camera and smiled.
A message in game came up on everyone’s screen:
This is deffo flerting. This is deffo flerting.
“TUBBO! That was supposed to be secret” Tommy yelled loudly.
“Tommy!” Tubbo yelled back.
“Karl!” Quackity laughed
“Quackity!” Karl replied between gasps of laughter.
“Sapnap...” Sapnap said quietly, his voice holding a teasing hint but a midnight blue sadness seeped into those words. The others laughed harder, Dream joining them.
“Clay.” A soft voice cut through the call, sending his world spinning. George’s voice held a caramel fondness to them. Dream almost cricked his neck to look at his face cam, the brunette's eyes sparkled with that beautiful lilac mischief, so akin to Dream’s own. Dream suddenly couldn’t breathe. His blinked rapidly, muting himself as colours swirled across his vision. A sky set on fire descending upon him, ark blue laughter filling his ears in a soft, haunting melody.
The call had gone very quiet. It was broken by Tommy who cracked a joke that Dream had fallen off his chair and broken a bone. George’s laughter was the loudest in his headphones, adding to that cacophony in his head. “Gogy getting bold!” Quackity laughed his voice tasting like lemons in Dream’s mouth, Quackity knew that Dream had not fallen off his chair. His phone lit up with separate messages from Sapnap, Karl and Quackity, none of whom could leave the VC without looking suspicious.
“My chat were spamming to call him Clay.” George giggled happily. Dream’s heart plummeted. Of course it had been a joke. They joked all the time. So why did this one cut into him like salt in a cut?
“Dream. I need clout!” A deep, monotone voice cut through the VC, everyone jumping in surprise. Dream blinked, clearing his vision, the smells and colors still surrounding him, but he focused on his saviors voice.
Techno’s voice. The last person Dream was expecting.
Dream made sure to laugh as he entered the VC again. “Yes Techno?”
“I need to talk to you about my stream tomorrow. Important lore stuff classified” his voice clearly directed towards Tommy who whined loudly.
Dream followed Techno into a private call, Tommy’s complaints being cut off mid scream. They sat there for a few seconds in silence. Techno, surprisingly seemed to understand Dream needed a few minutes to compose himself without the pressure of having to reply. “Thank you Techno” Dream allowed his coffee scented words of gratitude to flow through his mike. Techno chuckled quietly, mumbling that Dream had done this for him before, so now it was time to repay the favor.
“You can tell me what's wrong, you know Dream. I’m not George or Sapnap. But I’m neutral. Not even Tommy can weedle secrets out of me.”
He paused. Techno was the last person he expected to pour out his thoughts too. Most of him didn’t want to worry the already stressed youtuber about his problems, Techno had enough problems of his own. But a small desperate part of him just wanted to scream. Dream couldn’t help his next words. Celeste words tumbling out his mouth, all he could taste were the silky honeyed coated tang that made his head spin.