Chapter Text
It’s been months since Dream’s childhood friend moved in with him. Months, 4 months to be exact. In that time frame, Sapnap and Dream had fallen into a kind of rhythm, a rhythm that Dream knew wouldn’t be broken anytime soon, one to be described as ‘distant’.
Sapnap would wake up a few minutes after Dream, they would have breakfast in their too-big kitchen alongside Patches, clean up and spend a few minutes wishing each other a good day, then they would both retreat into their rooms for a day spent working, streaming, gaming, whatever the two boys felt like doing. They would only come out for lunch or dinner together if they were feeling up to it and would eat together, enjoying the meal Dream’s mom made. Then they would dive deep into their PCs again for the rest of the night, or head to bed.
There would be an occasional football or basketball game that would be watched together if both were interested. But other than that the routine wouldn’t change.
Dream could count on one hand the number of times he and Sapnap had hung out outside of meals or through the crackly microphones of a headset.
Before Sapnap had even moved into the two-story house with him, Dream and Sapnap both agreed that neither of them wanted their routine to change much once they were together. Neither of them were all too excited to deal with the awkwardness of discovering a new routine that would allow them time to exist together in close proximity when they were perfectly happy with how things were. That’s what they agreed on, so why was Dream having such a hard time?
He supposes that he was actively contributing to the repeated offenses of ignoring the little space between them in favor of getting into calls when they could just as easily sit on the couch in the living area and spend time together. But Dream was a busy man, he was a content creator, businessman, and many more things that he couldn’t even name.
He shoved the thoughts quickly aside in favor of delving deep into emails on emails and coding screens that make his retinas burn and his tear ducts fill with salty fluid.
“Punz you are ass at this game! Absolute dogshit!”
Dream sucked in a harsh breath at the sudden noise coming from up the stairs.
That’s one thing he noticed very quickly living with Sapnap, he games with his full chest. He screams and shouts and lets whoever is in the house know when he’s losing. Or winning, now that Dream thinks about it.
Another scream rips through the house,
“How did that hit me?!”
Dream lets out the breath that he had been holding unconsciously and proceeds to slam his head against his desk. His head hurts, both from the blue light streaming unfiltered into his vision and, now, from the hit against the desk. For someone so smart, Dream doesn’t keep much common sense in his brain.
He closes his eyes for a moment, wondering if Sapnap would let him borrow his blue light filter glasses he bought recently until he finds it in him to buy himself a pair.
Several phrases that Dream would never repeat ring through the walls of the house again and yet, he can’t find it in him to be mad at his friend. Something in Dream’s chest aches at the idea of being mad at his best friend, even for minuscule things like being loud playing a game.
Shaking his head, Dream lifts himself to his feet, deciding to soothe his headache by going into the kitchen to fetch some water, maybe a painkiller, and maybe catch the last few minutes of sunlight left in the day. Padding carefully, avoiding the slinking fur winding around his ankles, he walks to the kitchen. He tries his best not to step on his loving cat, nor bump into the walls of the hallway that seem a bit more narrow than usual. At the end of the hallway, he ducks down and curls his hand around the underside of Patches’ belly, lifting her up to his face with one hand and touching his nose to hers. The tabby mews quietly as he shifts her closer to his chest to pet her as he walks to the counter. Dream looks down at the cat, before setting her down on the counter and going round it to the cabinets to grab a glass. Patches plops down, settling to watch the blond man fix himself a glass of water and fumble around his medicine cabinet for a bottle of Advil.
“Are you-,” Dream tries, before he clears his throat, scratchy from disuse, “Are you hungry, princess? Want din din?”
Patches peers wide-eyed for a moment, before mewling at him in response.
Dream only nods, “Of course, always hungry. Got it.” He reaches down, opening another cabinet door to find Patches’ food.
“We’re running low on the Meow Mix kitty cat, Sapnap and I need to make a grocery trip,” Dream speaks low, directing his own thoughts to Patches, knowing full well she either doesn’t understand or is only interested in being fed.
He’s glad he can set aside the problem he has been increasingly more concerned about in favor of tending to his cat. He ponders on what other items they might need from the grocery store while he mashes at the cat food in Patches’ food bowl with some water. Dream paces to Patches’ mat and sets the bowl down next to her fancy water fountain.
Spoiled little thing , he thinks. He opted to sit next to the mat as he watched her saunter up and begin eating. A soft smile crept up his face as he took in a deep breath, thankful for the newer air. It was too warm in his room and it became uncomfortable very quickly.
A heavy thumping approached slowly behind Dream. He could recognize those footsteps by now. “Hey Sapnap,” he called behind him.
Sapnap nearly left his skin, letting out a loud squeak, one he would deny immediately if Dream asked. He glanced around quickly, just barely catching his friend sitting on the ground next to Patches’ spot behind the counter, despite the ridiculous height Dream had.
“Dude,” he gasped out, trying to get a grip on his racing heart, “you scared the absolute shit out of me, man.”
Dream let out an amused huff. “Sorry, didn’t think you couldn’t see me,” he mused underneath a chuckle. Sapnap scowled lightheartedly, walking around the kitchen island to see Dream fully.
“Did you feed her just now,” he asks, gesturing down at the feline still eating contentedly. The blond only nods. The shorter man gets the memo and walks around to the fridge, digging around aimlessly. Dream sits quietly, thinking to himself about everything and nothing.
The brunet eventually stops his search and notices three pills and a full glass of water sitting on the counter next to the sink. He stares for a moment before looking back at Dream,
“Did you set these out for someone?”
Dream looks up at him, confused, “Set what out?”
“These pills, and this glass of water.”
Dream’s eyes go wide in remembrance. He scrambles up, scaring Patches for just a moment. “Yeah, I did, I meant to take them but I got distracted and I guess I forgot about them,” he says.
“Oh, what’s wrong dude?”
“Just a headache, nothing big, don't worry.” Dream didn’t have the heart to tell him it was partially his fault.
“Well make sure to take care of yourself. Here,” Sapnap scoops up the pills and picks up the glass and hands them over to Dream to take, “you could take a nap or something, closing your eyes would help your head.”
Dream takes the glass and pills, but a strange flurry of a feeling flushes through him when Sapnap’s hands brush against his.
Woah, that’s new , he thinks.
And as he tries to shove the thought aside, he looks up and meets the oddly fond look in the brunet’s eyes?
No, no, he thinks, that’s a weird thing to pull from Sapnap just looking at you. Dream berates himself as Sapnap looks on, confused with the way Dream frowns and shakes his head a little.
Shutting the fridge doors, he gathers the courage to ask,
“Dude, are you okay? Seriously, I’m concerned. You don’t have to nap, I just thought it would be helpful.”
Dream finally gets pulled from his stupor by Sapnap’s tone. He sounds disappointed. Dream is confused, why did he sound disappointed with him?
“I’m sorry,” he says in lieu of asking him to repeat what he said, “I guess I’m feeling worse than I thought. Drained, burnt out, you know?”
Sapnap nodded and gestured to the items in Dream’s hands, “Take the meds, and we can sit and watch something in the living room?”
His statement sounded more like a question than anything, but Dream couldn’t focus on that. Instead, he gaped and looked at Sapnap, a little lost, “But- but aren’t you in a game with Punz?”
Dream wanted to spend more time with Sapnap, sure, but he would only feel guilty if he knew he was interrupting Sapnap’s time with Punz.
The brunet shook his head quickly, “I can play with Punz anytime. I wanna make sure you’re okay. You’re my friend too, Dream.”
This shook Dream, and at the same time, the way he said ‘friend’ made something in Dream hurt. Something deep in the pit of his stomach.
He nodded, slowly, and took the pills quickly, completely downing the glass of water along with it. Sapnap looked on, a little concerned before Dream spoke again,
“Could we watch a movie…?”
Sapnap looked on at Dream’s guilt-stricken face and melted, his best friend didn’t look good with a frown.
“Sure, Dream, we’ll watch whatever you like.”
Dream’s face lit up with the wide smile Sapnap had come to know, and he offered a smile in return.
“Dude, where did you go? I’ve been waiting on you for like thirty minutes!”
Punz’s voice struck loud and brash in Sapnap’s ears. The brunet winced and glared at the discord voice channel, a growing frustration at the ill-temper of the blond on the other end of the call.
“Punz, I’m gonna head out. Something came up and I need to go.”
“Are you kidding me? You made me wait and now you’re leaving? Do I have the option of asking what came up?”
“Dream came up. He isn’t feeling well and I want to help him.”
Punz’s scoff came through quiet in Sapnap’s headphones,
“Dude, Dream’s a big boy, don’t you think he can handle himself?”
Sapnap felt a heat flush across his face, but couldn’t pin why. Instead of playing detective, he bit back harshly, “Well, maybe he needs a little help sometimes!”
“Damn man, alright. Maybe cool off while you’re away. Valo made you tense.”
Teeth bared, he grunted out a response before half-near slamming his mouse down to leave the call, “Talk to you later asshole.”
Sapnap groaned through his teeth and ran his hands through his hair, wincing at the knots pulling at his scalp. He felt gross in his body and needed a way to let off the steam built up in his temper. He knew that Dream was fully capable of functioning like a normal human, but that wasn’t an excuse to let him drain himself of all the energy he had. Something about Punz’s comment, his tone, irked him to his core. So what if he wanted to tend to Dream just a tad? It’s what friends do, and Sapnap was his very best friend. Another yank at a knot reminded him of his uncomfortable feeling and the way his skin felt unfamiliar to him. He needed a shower, but Dream was waiting in the other room on the couch, Sapnap told him he’d only be a second to say goodbye to Punz. He’d need to be quick. Pushing back harshly from his desk, Sapnap stood and stretched, feeling a few spinal joints pop.
Dream was sitting a little awkwardly on the couch when Sapnap approached from the hallway,
“Hey Dream?”
Dream looked up quickly at his friend in the entryway, “Hey, Sap.”
“I need to take a quick shower, and then we can watch a movie okay?”
Dream nodded briefly and watched Sapnap spin around on his heels and head back into his room to go shower. Dream looked around, tapped his foot, picked at some loose threads in the couch cushions. He didn’t want to start a movie without Sapnap. He wasn’t sure why he was so damn nervous. This was Sapnap for fucks sake. His best friend of 9 years, someone whose knowledge of Dream rivaled Dream himself. What didn’t Sapnap know about Dream?
That you think his dimple is cute, his brain oh so helpfully provided.
The thought slipped through the cracks to the forefront of his mind. It was unexpected and quite strange, he didn’t pay attention to that stuff, that would be weird. He couldn’t think about that, no way. Sapnap was a good friend, sure, but that’s where the line was. Best friends. That’s it. Friends can joke about that stuff but it was a different can of worms to just… think things like that about them out of the blue. Dream needed to get it together, soon, before thoughts like that accidentally made it past his lips and he said something he couldn’t take back.
There was a quiet knock from the hallway and there was Sapnap, staring at Dream’s arm with an intense, concerned look. “Dream,” he scolded softly as he approached him, “here.” Dream watched a little entranced as Sapnap reached into his pocket at the same time as he grabbed Dream’s wrist and pulled it up away from his other arm. “You’re picking at your skin again. What’s got you thinking so hard? You looked frustrated.” He opened Dream’s hand that had been previously picking and scratching at his arm unconsciously, placed a small fidget toy in it, and let Dream’s wrist go. Dream passed a glance at the arm he had been previously messing with, wincing slightly at the newer scabs to litter the already healing scars. He glanced back to look at Sapnap, eyes catching on the lovely shade of sage. Sapnap caught Dream’s eyes and offered him a kind smile. Dream returned it with a shy one, but it twisted into a concentrated expression as he tried to remember what Sapnap had asked.
“I was thinking about… some editing I have to do… that’s all. I’m just getting tired.”
Sapnap’s heart nearly melted at the expression on Dream’s face. His eyes were trailed down to the little toy in his hands, which now rested on his lap. He had a small, barely noticeable smile on his face, and a little tinge of pink in his cheeks. His friend always looked so small like this, when he was shy and quiet, and it gave Sapnap that itching sense to kiss his forehead. But that would be weird, right? Dream was his best friend, and that was that.
“I’ll edit whatever you’re worried about, Dream. You’ve already got a lot on your plate, and I have no plans for a little bit. You can just send me what you need in the video and some instructions and I’ll get it done.”
While Dream wanted to feel happy, he wanted to let the warm and fuzzy feeling encase his body at the kind offer, he couldn’t. He couldn’t accept the help because, in reality, he didn’t have any editing to do, he finished all of his editing chores earlier the previous night. He didn’t know what to tell his best friend, he didn’t like to lie to him. But his face looked so sweet, as he beamed at Dream from above him. He would brush it off, that’s all he could do. Maybe he could rope George into sending him some old footage that they had scrapped to let Sapnap play with instead of reshooting a random video behind Sapnap’s back. Yeah, that’s what he would do. He nodded slowly, speaking low and looking back up at Sapnap through his eyelashes,
“Can I… send you the footage later…?”
Sapnap beamed and nodded his head quickly, shaking his slightly damp hair and letting loose droplets fall on Dream’s knees, nearly evaporating off the heated skin.
“Of course Dream, you can take your time! For now, we can just chill, no stress, just relax. We can watch a movie and have some dinner, it’s kinda late now huh? Would you like me to make you some food? I can make you your mac and cheese,” Sapnap sang. Dream visibly perked up at the sound of having one of his favorite meals.
“Really? Can we watch a Disney movie too?”
It took every cell in Sapnap’s body to keep his composure. How was this fair? Dream was so damn cute, so soft when he was like this. It was making it hard for him to keep this new feeling contained. He felt like floating like he wanted to hold Dream, he felt… what was happening to him? Where did the butterflies even come from? He was Dream’s best friend, and he loved him so much, but he couldn’t feel like this for Dream, it wouldn’t be right. He needed to get it under control. A quiet voice broke through the hazy clouds of confusion,
“Sapnap…? Are you okay?”
Sapnap looked back to Dream, looked at the freckles dotting his face lightly, at his confused, no, concerned face, at his deep-set frown. He could do this, he needed to, for Dream. For Dream, he would count every star, every freckle that scatters the taller boy’s skin. He would hold the world on his shoulders for Dream, and something inside him said that keeping a hold on his feelings would be just as hard as carrying the weight of the world.
“Yes, yeah I’m okay. We can watch whatever you want, Dream. Why don’t you go grab some extra blankets while I start dinner?”
The bright smile on Dream’s face was worth the internal conflict in his mind. He could do this, for Dream.
A few stumbles around the living room reached Sapnap’s ears as he stood over the pot on the stove. “You okay there, Dream,” Sapnap shoots over his shoulder, concerned that the blond’s headache got too unbearable for him and he collapsed. His worries were dismissed when he heard Dream giggle back, “‘M okay! Patches tripped me!”
Sapnap couldn’t help but chuckle along, “Patches, don’t trip your dad! You’re gonna kill him and get stuck with me! And I don’t spoil you nearly as much as he does!”
Patches mewls back just as loud. Sapnap can tell she wasn’t too happy with the accusations. “Don’t sass me, missy,” he laughed, as Dream giggled from the living room. Sapnap glanced to the living room to catch the sight of Dream’s joyous laughter, and if Dream asked, he would say he was glowering at Patches. “Dinner is ready, come grab a bowl,” he called.
When they had finally settled on the couch, pressed lightly to each other’s sides, Dream had put on Robin Hood, the Disney classic, and curled up with his favorite blanket. The sight was too much for Sapnap’s poor heart to bear, so he endured by focusing solely on the animation on the screen.
Dream chuckles as the end credits begin to roll past on the flatscreen. "You know," he starts, "I dressed as Robin Hood one year, for Halloween, I was maybe 6 or 7? I didn't want to go as the fox, but I did want to have the reddish hair like his fur. So my mom-” he had to stifle his giggles by biting at his plush bottom lip in a way that looked way too tempting to Sapnap’s twisted mind, “-my mom went out and bought some red hair dye spray and sprayed it all over my hair. I looked so silly, but thinking back I'm glad I know I'm never fitted as a ginger."
Sapnap looked on as Dream clutched at his sides, giving off pained wheezes. He smiled softly and reached over to ruffle at the soft locks that were falling into the other's eyes.
"That IS a bit silly because I think you would look good with any hair color, Dream."
The sharp wheezes died down eventually, and green eyes shot up to the pale hand curled around in waved hair.
For a brief moment, Sapnap considered pulling away, but his friend's hand reached up to wipe at the laughter tears in his eyes and a breathless "Whaaaaaat" fell past tempting lips. The brunet let his nervous smile fall, and a newer, more vibrant, and genuine one replaced it.
A soft hum reached Sapnap's ears and he realized suddenly that his hand never left his friend's hair. In fact, it seemed to take on a mind of its own, petting and sifting through the golden silk and pulling a contented sigh from Dream. The other, however, seemed completely unaware of the small noises he was making and the way his eyes fell sleepily so his eyelashes brushed just above the darkening eye bags that came with his stressful job.
Sapnap came to find that he was fine with that. Dream deserved to relax a lot more than he does, and if he had to take the leap and provide him that comfort, Sapnap would be more than happy to do so. Sapnap continued his hand movements as his other hand slinked over his friend's shoulder to guide his body down over Sapnap to lay him down to sleep. Whatever plans the shorter man had for the rest of the day could wait, the sun was already past gone behind the hills outside and all the burning fondness in his chest screamed at him to do this for his best friend. It would be fine, Sapnap could hold down the desire to sweep Dream into a warm embrace and kiss the stress lines off of his face. He could control the need to see Dream smile that sweet, gorgeous smile of his. He could do this, for Dream.
Sapnap slowly slipped from under Dream’s body, lifting him slightly to free himself from the couch. Dream was surprisingly light, reassuring Sapnap that his plan would work just fine. Sapnap got to work as soon as he was righted on his feet. He pulled Dream’s blanket back to the other side of the couch, wincing as Dream shivered from the sudden flush of cold air that hit him.
A small, almost imperceptible noise was elicited from the freckled boy. It sounded like a whine, or maybe a whimper, and Sapnap’s face lit up like a tree on Christmas. He was warm in the face, red, and little sparks of nerves flickered across his cheeks. He had never heard Dream make any kind of noise like that. And to make things worse, he wanted to hear it again. That would have to come later, though, Sapnap didn’t want to waste any more time getting his best friend into bed to get some proper sleep for once. He grabbed Dream’s arm as gently as he could, and slowly lifted the man into his arms. The lanky boy was light, but finding a way to maneuver around his long limbs without the other’s consciousness would be a feat, for sure. He twisted his body around and pulled the other arm to that he had him almost laying over his back. The brunet shifted Dream’s head to one shoulder and finally hoisted the man’s legs around his waist to lift him into a piggyback. He shot back a glance at Patches, who had found her way to curl up on the discarded blanket, probably basking in the scent of her owner for comfort. He looked around at the room, checking for anything Dream may need for bed, before padding carefully into Dream’s room.
Laying Dream down amongst the piles of blankets and pillows strewn onto Dream’s bed, Sapnap was careful to not let Dream get too jostled around. Dream shifted in his sleep a tad and mumbled incoherent phrases quietly into the air. Sapnap froze for a moment, not wanting to wake up his friend and ruin the peace he had found. Once he was sure Dream was settled back down, he covered Dream with the comforter and made strides to leave his room, only to stop at the small whisper of his name.
“...Sapnap?”
He was wrong, Dream hadn’t fallen back into slumber. But as he turned around, he realized Dream wasn’t quite fully awake, either. He turned once again to face the bed, to face Dream,
“Yes Dream? You need to sleep.”
Dream nods slowly like he’s barely following what the brunet is saying, before whispering back,
“Goodnight Sappy.”
Sapnap lets a smile break across his face and sighs, “Goodnight Dream, get some rest sleepyhead.”