Work Text:
Dream tapped the pen on the glass table, still staring silently at the still white lined paper in front of him. He snorted, frustration building up.
The wedding anniversary of George and him was getting closer and closer, just a few hours away. Time was slipping elegantly with every touch of the cuckoo clock that George had given him as a joke. He adored thinking of that day, but still it was the most stressful time for him.
His love language was giving gifts and he was more than aware of it. He loved to give everyone who was most dear to him something that reminded him of them. For example, for Sapnap's birthday he had given him a giant panda-shaped puppet, soft and with sparkling and innocent eyes, like his friend. Dream could never forget the sharpest blast of joy he had ever heard, that it also beat George's screams, from Sapnap and still now thanked him in his own way, so many fights and whatever he wanted in Minecraft.
With George it was complicated, a challenge that even for him, a lover of all the more complex challenges, made him sometimes just want to give up. His husband was perfect, so much so that nothing would be up to his level, at least not the physical one.
He began tapping the poor pen on the table faster and closing and reopening it as he tried to think of any gift that could reach a decent level for George.
Something technological? No, he had given it to him something similar last year and he hated repeating himself, because it gave him the feeling that he didn't try. Even though he was desperate, he didn’t want to give up so easily.
Chocolate? No, he had already filled him on Valentine's Day, remembering how much George had complained but his whole face was red as a tomato, and that sweet food in the refrigerator was still a lot. Dream didn't want to throw away that precious and candid sweet of the same color as the big and adorable George's eyes.
Flowers? What was he? A teenager in full swing of his hormones trying to ask his crush out, using fresh and colorful flowers with a letter stuffed with romantic phrases trying to impress, which maybe he did, and using them to also convince his partner's parents that he was the right person for their son? Of course not!
He threw his head on the table and let out a cry of frustration. His head was empty, no ideas, if he could look inside it could see an empty cellar full of cobwebs and a nauseating smell, anxiety was rising from fear of not being able to find a perfect gift.
“Why is George so perfect? It's hard for me to find something on the same level as him… ” he muttered softly, the sound of his voice muffled by the glass, and turned his head to look at the thoughtless nothing, not registering his thoughts.
His eyes glued to the photos of the two of them in the room. There were several moments immortalized from different periods: their summer vacation, where he could always remember the heat on the beach that could beat even Florida and all the delicious ice cream eaten with George, who slept so much meanwhile Dream was trying to break his swimming record; their wedding, the best day of his life. He just remember how beautiful the smile was on the short man, the happiest and funniest party he ever had and their kiss that made the wedding official. In the photo it was still possible to see Dream’s eyes full of tears.
But the ones that struck him the most, and always snatched a nostalgic smile were their childhood photos.
The two had known each other since the first grade. Dream was born and raised in Florida, while George had moved from England and to Florida, before starting elementary school. All this caused him to have a very strong English accent that intrigued everyone, including the young Floridian.
Dream chuckled and the scene of their first meet came to him in memory.
He was behind him in the desk, and he had noticed how the little British boy shrugged in awe of all the attention he had received for his accent (he noticed him when he just enter into the school and everyone attempted to talk to him for twenty minutes), and tried to get his material out, but he was so clumsy that it almost slipped from his little hands. He was no different from other children, except his accent, but he absolutely wanted to be friends with him. He was sure he could be a perfect playmate.
He tapped the boy’s shoulder lightly, causing him to jump and let out a quiet yelp and suddenly the boy turned around, his big eyes filled with pure terror and puffy cheeks too. Dream burst out laughing at that scene, his classmate was too funny.
"Hey, you scared me!" George hissed almost offended, “Why did you call me? Do you need something?" Dream calmed down in a short time and stared at the other child with sparkling eyes.
"Your accent is beautiful!"
"Oh. Thank you?"
"You want to be my friend?" The British closed and opened his eyes several times, confused. Was he serious? Maybe he just wanted him as his friend because of his accent.
"Why?" He asked in amazement, voice filled with confusion. The blonde shrugged slightly, as if he had asked him something really stupid and the answer was already obvious, and he replied:
“I want you as a friend, simple. You seem like a funny guy and not boring like the other ones. You have a nice accent too! It’s not the main reason though." He stared at him impatiently, waiting for his answer.
George quickly moved his pupils from one point to another, as if he were reasoning, then he focused again on the Floridian and smiled so big that his cheeks hurt and he nodded violently.
From that moment the two were inseparable.
During breaks they always played together, in group work it was always the two of them and they always tried to be deskmates. A few years later Sapnap joined in on their small amazing group. They were known in the school as the perfect trio. Of course they also quarreled, but they made peace in a day or less, sometimes even in less than an hour.
When middle school started, George was slightly terrified and his paranoia had spread throughout his brain. He was afraid that his best friends would change, as was often happened in the books the school had forced him to read. But over time he had lost this insecurity with Sapnap, he was still the same affectionate and crackheaded boy that loved Minecraft, not with Dream though.
Dream was always been the best in sports, thus creating a great name for him within the school and becoming the most ''popular boy'' in his class, if not the whole school. Another novelty, something born due to puberty, something also awakened in the boy, he would flirt a lot as a joke. At first everyone was dazed, but after a while they got used to it and laughed at it, except George.
They were all red signs in his paranoid world, he was so terrified of losing his first best friend. Maybe he was going to forget them because they weren’t cool enough, maybe he was going to find the hottest girlfriend and go to the best parties to get drunk and become more popular, mostly in high school. He hated that feeling.
But this too disappeared in a year or two. The blonde always had lunch with them, and was always with them in his spare time, he always tried to have a safe place with George in group work.
The British boy felt better knowing that their relationship was not lost, and that he was not in danger of losing it and had returned calm and serene. Their friendship was growing again and George felt sure about that, unlike Dream.
Something inside the Floridan had lit up. His heart was beating very hard in his ribs and hit his lungs so much that he was out of breath every time he was with George. His hands were always sweaty and his legs were pure fresh jelly, he felt like he should always make a good impression or get his attention. The logical part of him was silent each time as his emotions screamed in excitement, which just made the butterflies in his stomach move. He felt as if he almost lived in Wonderland or in heaven when he was with the short boy. He couldn’t really explain what he was feeling logically.
At first he thought it was simply his imagination or that he was sick, George was his best friend and nothing more, but eventually he realized he had a crush on him. Dream definitley didn't know how to take it. He would never have thought he could fall in love with one of his best friends, but in the end he mulled it over and told himself that it would pass in no time.
Instead it continued to grow.
That crush soon turned into a real and romantic attraction, growing through all the years of middle school and reaching its peak in high school, and Dream was panicking. He didn't want to ruin his friendship with George.
He flirted with him at first as a joke several times, although once he took courage and declared his love for George in class by creating a crazy scene, but everyone thought he was just friendly and not serious. This was choking him. Dream just wanted to take away that feeling or just feed it to keep it silence.
He decided to let off steam with Sapnap, who from that moment pinched him and almost used it against him to tease him, but he supported him a lot and gave him a brilliant idea.
Invite George to the prom.
He had thought about it, but eventually gave up and decided to give a shot, in an emergency using the excuse of just wanted to going out with a friend if George's reaction seemed too strange to him. So many methods had been created to ask him out that he forgot them all on the day decided to make him the proposal. You're an idiot, he kept repeating himself in his head, already seeing failure in front of him.
But George accepted, leaving Dream in complete happiness.
Dream could never forget that night, the feeling of having a chance with his best friend.
In the end, at university, he confessed. He wanted to do it before, but George was always among his friends, same for Dream, and they never had time for themselves, just the two of them.
From that moment everything flew quickly; their final graduation, their new home, their job (Dream was a writer and George a programmer) and their happy marriage, which they decided to do it on the day they got together in college.
Dream could not have felt more satisfied with life. If there was a god, he'd rewarded him for something he didn't know he'd done, except talking to that kid on the first day of school.
Wait.
A long-awaited light bulb finally lit up in his brain.
When he was in junior high he had a dream; he really wanted to marry George and have a family with him.
Thinking about it, he had managed to make it halfway. He had married the Brit, now only the part of the family was missing.
He had always wanted children and was also ready at that moment to adopt one, be called dad and watch them grow up. He chuckled at the thought.
On the contrary, George did not want to think about it, or rather, at that moment he was not ready. They had talked about it several times and his husband had always remained with an uncomfortable feeling for these talks. He too wanted to have a family with Dream, but he didn't feel ready for work and inside, feeling too much responsibility with a child.
Dream was slightly bummed, but he respected him.
He had never said anything about animals though.
A victorious smile rose on his face. He had found the perfect gift.
-
George came at home at nine pm.
Normally they were always at home together to work, but the short man had to go to an important meeting and had been out all day. Dream knew that at that moment George just wanted to go to sleep, but he absolutely had to eat something, cuddle together on the sofa or bed and above all receive and see his gift. He was particularly proud of it. He hummed some songs he made up (George insisted he had to at least try to put them on YouTube because they would have a hit) and just lay down lazily on the soft sofa, just at the exact moment the brunette entered the house. The Floridian jumped up at the sound of the entrance door opening and immediately ran towards it, like a dog that had patiently waited for their owner. If it had really been an animal, he would be wagging his tail like crazy.
"Georgie!" Dream greeted him warmly, hugging and cuddling in the crevice of his neck, while the shorter boy moaned slightly, "I missed you so much!"
"Dream, it was only a few hours, let me go!" Dream started to complain with noises, like a child.
"I know, I know, but being home alone is so boring and I couldn’t even bother you while you’re working. You know what a frustration I feel!"
"You always get affectionate at every anniversary, I swear, sooner or later I'll break your legs while you sleep."
"At least then maybe you would reach my height or a decent one...nah, you would still be too short!" At that George pulled an elbow into the blond’s stomach, who immediately let go and walked away, laughing at both the pain and the sheer amusement he had just gained, and put his arms in front of him to protect himself from other attacks.
George rolled his eyes.
"Instead of being an idiot, even if it's sadly in your nature", he pointed to a bag resting on his feet, catching the attention of the other man , "could you take this to the kitchen?"
"Uh, what is it?" The Floridian asked curiously, grabbing the object and peering inside.
Inside there was a medium-sized cake, white like George's soul and vanilla like the taste he always felt when he kissed him.
“It's a cake. When the meeting finished, which we do not talk about now thank you very much, I was able to go to the bakery and buy it. It was ten minutes before closing, but Niki is always a sweetheart and she let me choose the cake calmly. Once we have to invite her to dinner, we haven’t invited anyone in a long time. However, take it to the refrigerator before it spoils. It's vanilla, the way you like it," he explained calmly as he put his jacket on and stretched for a moment placing his heavy backpack on the ground, and add " you know I'm bad with gifts, but I tried. "
Dream smiled like a fool. He knew that George wasn't a big fan of giving gifts, since in his opinion he wasn’t good enough as Dream, and every time he got one he felt special. He squeezed the bag lightly and nodded silently as he ran into the kitchen and put the cake in the refrigerator, trying to find a place that fitting it. Now they had a perfect dessert for later, only the menu chosen by the shorter boy was missing.
He turned and George was already sitting on the table, sleepy and yawning, but he was looking at him with an affectionate and loving look. He walked over and stole a lazy, soft kiss from him, which warmed him internally and gave him the necessary security.
It was time.
"Thank you so much for the gift George, I love it," his husband let out a brief meow of the satisfaction of not having disappointed Dream, “but now it's time for your gift! This time I have surpassed myself and I feel very satisfied, the gift is closer to the level of your perfection!" He happily exclaimed, pulling his chest out and placing his hands on his hips. In response, he received a raised eyebrow and a slightly treacherous smile, almost defiant.
"Oh? A gift that can beat last year's is an excellent challenge for you. And stop saying I'm perfect, otherwise I'll throw a chair on your teeth-"
"Well, if you wanna know and feed your curiosity, the trick was to think of me too," he explained, ignoring George's final comment, “and so I found a way."
"Thinking of you? So you've decided to spoil yourself a little!"
"Pff, it’s always something for both of us." Dream said with a smirk on his face.
Now he had his full attention. His eyes were glued to him and his body was as still as a statue. Dream giggled slightly and sat on the opposite side of the table, leaning with his elbows and hands on his cheeks, and he moved left and right.
"What did you give me?"
"Try to guess!" The blonde hummed, teasing him with his finger for annoying George. The short man just exhaled and said coldly:
“I honestly don't know and I'm too tired to play your idiotic games. Speak up."
"Aw, you’re so boring!"
In revenge George pulled his nose and Dream whimpered in pain:
“Okay okay, I speak! Let go of my nose! Jeez...I can only tell you that is a wish that I always had since I was a teen." The brunet let go in confusion and something came to his mind.
“A wish you had since childhood? Wait, do you mean that of the family with me?"
“Yes, that! But wait, don’t think wrong, I didn't give you a baby as a gift."
“Pff, knowing you, you would be able to kidnap a child for me. I'll never forget how you caught Tommy and almost threw him in the street because he was bothering you."
He could never forget that moment. Tommy was a teenager but he acted as a child, and he was annoying him so much that he just did something crazy, such as almost throwing him under a car. Dream caught him so well that George was now kidding about how he was able to kidnap a child if he wanted, which it wasn’t a lie but he was a normal human.
Dream shook his head faster he could. "Okay listen, that's a different case, but no, it’s not a child, trust me." George laughed a little at his reaction.
"So what is it?"
The Floridian jumped up and signaled him to wait a second, and ran to their room to get a mysterious and heavy package. His cheeks ached from how much he was smiling. He had all the adrenaline in his blood and the excitement in his brain. The time had come.
Gently he came into the kitchen where George was patiently looking at his phone, and as soon as he heard the footsteps grow, he put it down and looked curiously at what Dream was holding.
The Floridian finally opened the long awaited surprise and the British approached and poked around inside, and then screamed with joy.
Two beautiful, slightly sleepy kittens looked at him curiously. One of the two had completely gray hair and some slightly darker lines and green-brown eyes, while the other was light brown and white underneath with yellow eyes. The first was less shy than the other, and slowly he was approaching George's hand to smell it and be lightly cuddled.
"They are so cute!" George exclaimed, stroking the gray cat. The shorter boy's joy was warming him so much, feeling so proud of his idea.
“I'm so glad you like them! I found like, I don’t know, some hours ago, an ad on the internet about these two abandoned kittens who needed a cozy home, and I didn't think for a second and broke my record to the car for picking them up! By the way, I didn’t get any reclamation. Anyways,” he pointed to the brown cat, "I called her Patches. I left you the honor of choosing the name for the other. He's a boy! " He gently grabbed Peaches, who accepted more than willingly and rubbed into his arms, making a muse, and Dream walked over to the sofa, staring at George as if to tell him to follow him.
George did the same and was amazed at how blindly the cat trusted him, even though they had only known each other for seconds. He sat next to his husband, who was playing and spoiling the little creature and then gave her a look full of affection and pure love. He asked him:
"So, what do you want to call him?" The brunet thought about it for a short time.
"Hm... Cat."
“Wait... are you serious? Do you want to call a cat... Cat..? "
"Yup." Dream was slightly shocked. Everything is fine, even the weirdest name he could think of, but his husband had zero originality!
"Do not look at me like this! You know I'm not good with names,” he replied as if he had read his mind, “and I honestly think that name suits him. Simple is nice."
"Like you."
"That’s not true."
“As if George was the most original name in the world, after Bob or John. I'm sure your name is repeated at least ten times in school books to learn English." George snorted, thus ending the speech.
Between them fell a comfortable silence, destroyed only by the muse of the kittens who had already felt at home, getting comfortable on the legs of their owners in the shape of a loaf of bread, starting to fall asleep between caresses.
The couple approached slowly, so much so that Dream could rest his head on his husband's fluffy hair.
“Thanks for the gift, Dream. I really appreciate it very much." He muttered, making the blonde melt. He had managed to make the most perfect gift he could ever create, realizing his dream of him in a different way. He was now the father of two kittens, and he didn't complain about it. That was the second-best day after his marriage he ever had. That anniversary was now in the list of the thing he ever did better.
"You're welcome George." He said extending a hand to the other man's shoulder and cuddling him a bit, returning to the peaceful silence.
"So, when would you like to adopt a child?"
"Shut up."