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Practice was important.
There was a wealth of sayings and common phrases around practicing to better one's skills and such, and while Sapnap never really cared to commit any of them to memory, he could agree with the sentiment behind them all. There wasn't a better way to improve than to just do the same motions and moves until it became more muscle memory than actual planned thought, though that had its place in combat too. It'd taken some work to wrangle George into a training session with him, hells, even just keeping him awake for a decent period of time was a bit of a chore. But Karl had been impossible to find, so they both had to settle.
"Can't you just go easy on me just this once?" George complained, rubbing an eye sleepily and he dipped into a fighting stance. "I'm supposed to hang out with XD after this, and I'd rather be able to actually go a couple rounds with him."
Sapnap, who had already been waiting in his own ready pose, faltered at the thought. XD had been a frightening figure in some of the more recent stories going around the server, tormenting his dad, Bad, and threatening to do the same to those who got too close to George. Who had personally refrained from saying anything about the supposed God in favor of taking another nap, naturally. "Wait, like, you're gonna spar with XD? I don't know if that's-"
"It'll be fine." George huffed impatiently, waving away Sapnap's concern. "I know what people have been saying about him, but he just doesn't know his own limits. So we're gonna try and go at it to know where the line is."
"And that doesn't seem dangerous to you at all?" Sapnap pressed, taking a few steps closer and eyeing up George's stance. It was pretty solid, though he held himself in such a way to make it seem like he was too tired to do it properly. It was a good tactic to use, especially for him. So many people ended up underestimating George due to his general lack of activity, but there was a reason he was a member of the Dream team for so long. Sapnap winced at the thought and the sudden sour flavor it produced and shook it off. No use deliberating over something that was over now. "Aren't you worried he's gonna take it too far with you? You're just as weak as any other mortal, dude, just sayin'."
George flinched at that, imperceptible to anyone who didn't know him that well, but Sapnap caught it. "He... cares about me, I guess. He doesn't actually want to hurt anyone, but he really doesn't want to hurt me, so I think it'll be okay."
Sapnap took a light swing, testing the waters and giving a crooked smile when George deflected it easily. "If you want, I could stick around for it, play ref for the both of you."
George took a swing at him in return in lieu of replying, one he caught in return. It turned into a quick bout of back and forth blows, both of them circling the other, pressing for advantage when an opening revealed itself, only to be pushed back into line at the last second. It wasn't until Sapnap feigned a right and landed a hit on George's right shoulder, the hand being slowly consumed by spiraling lichen and fungus as it withdrew that it began to become more serious.
Sapnap couldn't help the vicious grin that crawled across his face as he allowed his natural heat to begin to coalesce in his fists, savoring the smoky smell of smoldering moss as he and George started trading blow for blow. It was an ability that George had only discovered recently, the ability to summon all sorts of mosses and fungi to grow across his body like some sort of padded armor. It seemed like he'd been practicing with his control over it, as the growth of it spread naturally across all the places his blows landed moments before they actually made contact. It spread across his fists as he withdrew his hands in an attempt to soften his next hits, and it would’ve probably worked too, if he'd been fighting against anyone other than Sapnap.
The air around them became hazy with smoke as Sapnap continued to burn through all of the fungi that had been trying to claim space across his closed hands, and he could see how it was affecting George negatively, his breath coming out in short pants as his eyes welled with tears in the smoke.
"You gonna tap out, bro?" Sapnap teased shortly. Better to not waste his breath on too much banter, as he could really only guess when the sparring would come to an end. "You’re lookin' a little teary-eyed there."
"Shut the fuck up." George snapped, though it was more playful than actually irritated. "It's not my fault all this smoke you're trying to blow up my ass keeps missing the mark, dude. Someone ought to teach you how to aim."
"Woah, dude." Came a giggling gasp from their right, and Sapnap couldn't help the way he perked up at the sound of his fiancé's voice. Out of the corner of his eye, he could just make out the bright purple and teal of Karl's hoodie. "The only ass Pandas should be blowing smoke at is mine, okay?"
Gods, what had he done to deserve this man? Heat was growing steadily throughout his chest and face, his grin stretching uncontrollably across his face as his fists suddenly burst into bright flames. George yelped in fright, but quickly squared up again, trying to take advantage of Sapnap's distraction. But he was not going to lose in front of Karl, not if he had anything to say about it. As the moss growing rapidly across George's skin began to thicken further, Sapnap pressed hard, lashing out faster while trying to keep his defense up. With every hit, George's greenery shriveled and smoked, until he looked like he had just run through a forest fire in a ghillie suit, and he had to shout yield.
"Unless you're planning on cooking me alive, we gotta stop, man." George panted, his face red with heat and exertion.
"Oh my Gods. Babe?" Karl said, smiling widely as he gingerly wrapped his arms around Sapnap's neck and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. "Babe, that was sooo hot. Do me next please?"
"Oh, do you next?"
"Prime, get a room, the two of you." George groaned from across the room, already drinking deeply from a water bottle and brushing ashes off his shoulders.
"You hear that, babe?" Karl asked innocently, draping himself further across Sapnap's shoulders. "It sounds like we've just been banished from the training room. How're you gonna show me your cool fire powers now?"
"Oh, you think I need a room for that? I can just show you right now-" Sapnap teased back, reaching back to skitter his fingers across Karl's side. He gave that cute little giggle again and lurched back, dancing back as Sapnap reached for him again. "Come here, baby, no wait, where you going?"
"You can't, you can't-" Karl laughed, trying to dodge backward but was stopped by his back hitting one of the support pillars. Sapnap had his arms braced against on either side of him before he could wriggle away, letting his fire rise just to the surface of his skin, not hot enough to burn, but enough that Karl could definitely feel it. "Wait, I just wanted to-"
"You just wanted to see my cool fire powers, right?" Sapnap teased, playfully closing in on him as Karl giggled hysterically, playful light still in his eyes. Sapnap took a moment to pause, just in case, and quirk his eyebrows at Karl, asking a silent question of assurance. But it was easily met with an exaggerated roll of Karl's pretty eyes, meeting his with a bit of challenge in them that Sapnap couldn't let go unanswered. Making sure it was angled far enough away that it didn't actually hurt Karl, Sapnap let his right fist catch fire again, the air around it wavering with the heat. "Well here, lemme show you."
"Oh no, I'm hurt," Karl whined, just barely keeping his mischievous grin off his face to keep up the act. "Your fire's too hot sir, you're gonna burn me."
"Oh, yeah?" Sapnap asked, pressing in closer and tilting his head just so, reveling in the feeling of Karl's cool breath washing across his lips. "I don't know about that, young man. It seems like you're doing just fine to me."
Karl wrinkled his nose cutely, eyeing Sapnap's flames out of the corner of his eye before lifting his own hand to hook on Sapnap's arm, leaning forward ever so slowly to brush his lips across Sapnap's before pulling back with a jerk and a fake hiss of pain. "Nope, you're definitely too hot. You better tone it down before I get someone to pour a bucket of water on your face. Make you melt like the wicked witch of the west, or whoever that was."
"Well, I can't let that happen." Sapnap laughed, withdrawing ever-so-slightly as he allowed his fire to die, reducing to just a few flickering flames coming up from his knuckles before dispersing them completely as Karl's hand slid down his arm to tangle their fingers together. "I think I'd melt or something if you did that, and then who would you marry?"
"Mmmm, I guess you're right." Karl sighed after a moment of thought, leaning forward again to actually give Sapnap a proper kiss. "Guess I'll have to settle for you, hot guy."
"Oh, settle, is it?" Sapnap said, grinning sharply as he dug his fingers into Karl's side again, making him keel over with laughter, trying to escape Sapnap's grip. "You make it sound like such a chore, as if you don't like having a boyfriend that can make you hot chocolate whenever you want."
"I don't actually." Karl laughed, pressing another kiss to Sapnap's face before wrapping his arms around him. "But I love having a fiancé that does that for me."
George watched their back and forth with a distant sort of jealousy.
He could remember the days of being part of that kind of exchange, alongside Dream as they set up houses and made a community for just the three of them. But it seemed like he was the only one still clinging to that past, outside maybe Tommy, but he couldn't really help it. It'd felt like no time at all had passed between then and now, long stretches of time being swallowed by his strange urges to just sleep for months on end. He'd almost thought it was the side effect of some latent hybrid traits, a fucked-up hibernation of some sort, but no. He'd only gained his floppy ears and mushroom powers after he'd met XD, after he'd promised to be by the God's side forever.
Speaking of which... George looked around the rest of the training arena, mildly disheartened when he couldn't spot XD.
Despite... Everything, George supposed, XD had become a bit of a comfort to him, an unchanging landmark in the middle of the ever-changing server, and he knew that XD was relatively violent and threatening to everyone that wasn't him. He didn't get it, but he knew, okay? That was the point of this... training session? George didn't really know what to call this, but what he'd told Sapnap was true. They needed a relatively safe way for XD to learn the limits of the average player, instead of smiting them mid-chase. Sure, it had been kind of funny when it had first started, but XD hadn't seemed like he was inclined to stop that kind of behavior any time soon, so better to nip it in the bud now before one of his kills ends up being canon.
"George." A deep echoing voice sang from behind him. George startled and whirled around, relaxing when he saw it was just XD.
"DreamXD." George greeted, only mildly embarrassed that he'd been caught off guard. XD seemed to delight in giving everyone a bit of a fright whenever he deigned to show up. A harmless quirk, even if it was a little irritating. "How, um, how're you doing?"
"I'm doing fine." XD said after a pause, his mask-like face about as inscrutable as his voice, though it tilted a bit to the side. "You said we were meant to be doing some 'training' today. Is it similar to what the other two players are currently doing?"
George turned back to see what he was referring to, only to feel his face catch fire as he caught sight of Sapnap and Karl making out against the support pillar on the other side of the room. Blushing, he turned back to XD, shaking his head frantically as he could feel sprouts popping up from his head in his embarrassment. "No! No, we- uh... we're just doing like... regular fighting, and stuff."
"Right." XD said plainly, as if the whole situation was completely normal. "And normal fighting doesn't involve... that?"
"Nope." George said shortly. Fuck, of course this just had to happen, of course XD had to come at the worst time and just... assume things. George made sure to raise his voice so the two love birds could hear him too. Get them to knock that shit off. "They're just being gross and inconsiderate!"
"Wha- oh, shit!" Sapnap exclaimed, jolting away from Karl and whirling around to face the both of them. He attempted and failed to school his expression into something more neutral as he added lamely, "Sorry, we're just, um..."
"Being gross." Karl finished with a giggle, not looking in the least bit phased to be in the presence of a God, because of course he wasn't. "And inconsiderate. Sorry, we didn't know when you'd be coming."
"I wasn't aware you would need a notification of my arrival beforehand." XD lied, because George had told him plenty of times how rude it was to just show up where he wanted to just expect people to drop everything to entertain him. "Sorry, I'll be sure to do that next time."
George threw a glare at him, but he didn't react with more than a small tilt of the head.
Whatever.
"Well, uh, thanks I guess," Sapnap said awkwardly. "George said you were here for some training, right? Something about needing to take it easy on us puny mortals, right?"
"I suppose?" XD said, his voice finally carrying some sort of inflection beside deep and layered. "George has told me it's not good to kill other players as it might end up permanent, and so wanted to conduct this session to teach me to 'pull my punches,' I believe."
"Yeah, okay, we can do that." Sapnap hurried to agree, raising his eyebrows questioningly at George but he looked away. They were already there, and he had already committed, so he might as well get it over with. There was a reason George had insisted he was the one to do this instead of someone else. Because as dangerous as XD was to everyone else, he'd never done anything to hurt George, and that had to mean something. "Just uh... get ready, I guess? I'll stick around, play ref so it doesn't go too far. Sound good?"
George gave Sapnap a quick smile, trying to reassure him that it would be fine, and though Sapnap still seemed to be worried, he dropped it, turning away to talk quietly to Karl. George made quick work of rewrapping his hands, the previous wraps having been turned to ash against Sapnap's chest and arms, and started doing some warm-up stretches to occupy himself. XD watched with a vague sort of interest, although he watched everything George did in the same way, and out of the corner of his eye he could see Karl disappear into the armory.
He sighed heavily, knowing he couldn't begrudge Sapnap the precaution, not after what he'd learned.
"What are you doing?" XD asked curiously, drawing closer to George's side until he could feel the rustle of silky fabric against his outstretched fingers.
"Stretching." George said shortly, groaning as he straightened up and stretched out his back. He could feel the press of sleep slowly encroaching on his mind, distant enough to ignore for now, but there. "I like to do it before and after I spar. Keeps me from pulling anything important."
"Is this a necessary exercise?" XD asked incredulously, his strangely tapered arms sifting out from under his swirling green cloak to imitate him. George almost laughed at him but attempted to refrain.
"Maybe not for Gods, but us mortals are a little more fragile than you guys." George explained, voicing lilting with light laughter despite himself.
"I'm gathering that." XD said flatly, dropping his arms, though George knew him well enough to know that XD wasn't actually offended by his laughter. "Are you not going to be wearing your armor for this 'training'?"
"Nah, the point of it is to make sure you can... I don't know, interact with me without it." George tried to explain. "Like, it'll be good if everyone can be around you without their armor on, 'cause it means they'll trust you, okay?"
"Okay." XD said, though George couldn't tell if he was lying again. "Though based on the temperament of most players on this server, it doesn't seem likely that any of them will wander without their armor if given the choice."
"Well, yeah, but that's not the point. The point is to make it so if they did choose to take their armor off around you, they'll be safe. It's not comfortable to wear armor all the time."
"It's not?" XD seemed genuinely baffled by that. "Why wouldn't it be? All the players I've seen thus far seem to wear heavy armor constantly. Wouldn't it make sense for the armor to be made with comfort in mind?"
"It's made with protection in mind, dude." Sapnap cut in, a little incredulously. "But it's cool, you know? We get used to it. Y'all ready?"
"Ready as I'll ever be." George says as XD nods contemplatively.
"I suppose."
"Alright, we'll just do some light sparring for now, bare-handed. Keep all hits around the torso area and we stop when someone yells 'yield', got it?"
"Got it."
"Agreed."
"Alright. Ready, set, go!"
It was a fairly easy start, much to George's surprise. He'd been expecting to stop them to let XD know when he was hitting too hard, but hadn't even landed a hit, playing defensive as George struck out with his fists. George could almost feel himself getting caught up in the thrill of it, pushing against XD and following as he folded beneath George's blows. XD's body underneath the robe had a weird amount of give to it, much like that strange white substance that made up his arms. His face was as impassive as ever, but George couldn't help the grin that stretched across his own, mossy bark crawling across his knuckles to strengthen his blows as he pressed XD against a support pillar.
"You know you have to actually fight back to learn, right?" George taunts breathlessly, feigning a right and landing a hit on XD's shoulder, just like Sapnap had done to him before. "You just gonna stand there and let me kick your ass, XD?"
"Hmmm." XD hummed, seeming nonplussed by the situation he'd allowed himself to be pushed into. "Do you think I should?"
"Hit me." George said boldly, suddenly confident. He swung at XD again, barking a laugh as the God wavered slightly with the hit, swaying to the right. "C'mon, just fight back."
And to his credit, XD managed to push them both away from the pillar, using his strength to force George to step away. He tested the waters with a few blows aimed at George's chest, but they were easily knocked away, and George couldn't help the urge to show off a little. Might as well show off while he had the upper hand, right?
Using just enough force to put a bit of space between them, George quickly fell forward onto his hands, sweeping a leg out to knock XD on his ass. Much to his shock however, George's foot swept through the underside of XD's ostentatious robes unimpeded. He wavered, nearly toppling over until a hand caught his arm.
"Uh, thanks?" George huffed, still a little unsettled that XD was just apparently floating all the time. Did he even have legs? "Do you have legs?"
XD looked down at George's legs and cocked his head to the side. "Are they needed for 'sparring'?"
"Uh, not really, I just-"
"I think that's a solid no, dude." Sapnap chimed in from the sideline. "Man's got no legs."
"Thanks ref!" George snarked back, rolling his eyes as he steadied himself again. "Ready to continue? I think I got you this next round."
"I believe I am ready. Your hits are an example of the amount of force I should be using, yes?"
"During fights and stuff, yeah." George agreed, crouching back down into a fighting position. "You might have to be less physical during more casual hang-outs and stuff, but most people can handle this level of roughness. Got it?"
"Yes."
"Cool."
Sapnap counted them down, and they started again. George was pretty confident in his abilities. Sure, XD didn't seem to be particularly bothered about any of the hits being landed on him, but he was just like that; damn-near inscrutable. So he swung out again, fully anticipating to land the hit like he'd done before, except that XD seemed like he was done being a punching bag.
Moving too quick to even be seen, XD easily caught George's fist, holding it securely in his own strange hand. He hummed in consideration while George squirmed to get his hand free from XD's grasp. "What-"
"Just measuring the force." XD explained, though George had no idea what that had to do with anything. Hadn't he been doing that this whole time?
XD let him go just as quickly as he'd grabbed him, and George stumbled back, trying to regain his footing, but XD quickly pressed his advantage. He landed his first hit to George's shoulder, which landed a little heavier than Sapnap's. Fuck, he hadn't even thought of growing his moss for extra defense; XD had just let George kick him around for a bit, though that was clearly a strategy on his part. Picking apart George's fighting style, his defense. It was a strat Dream had used plenty of times, and George couldn't help but mentally kick himself for not considering that. He'd just thought... Well, he wasn't sure what he'd thought. That XD would need a bit more encouragement to actually fight back?
But no, it seemed like XD needed no further egging on. George rolled back with that first hit, landing on his knees and fighting against the momentum to get back on his feet, but XD was there, coming quickly with blow after blow. Some of George's concentration was lost in his effort to grow his lichen again, but it was too much. XD landed a hit on his shoulder, his forearms as George tried to block them, and his stomach, making him wheeze lightly. He stumbled back, trying to get some space between them so he could recuperate, but XD followed, forcing him farther and farther back until it was George's back that was pressed against a support pillar. XD paused, and George took that brief reprieve to breathe for a second, wiping the corner of his mouth as he looked up at XD.
And this close, it was up.
XD wasn't ever someone who could be considered short by anyone's standards, not even Technoblade's. But even then, as XD loomed over him, George couldn't help but push his luck.
Quickly leveraging his heels against the solid weight of the pillar behind him, George lunged forward, intent on taking XD down with him. He might not have any legs, but George was sure if he just aimed high enough that somewhere in the nebulous space of the physics that made up XD's body, it would allow him to be taken down with him. But the slight give of XD's body didn't go any further, stopping George in his tracks as and a hand came from above and knocked him to the ground. he wheezed a bit as the air was knocked from him yet again, and distantly he could hear Sapnap calling a time-out, but XD was already there.
"That felt disingenuous." XD said, calm and unphased as anything could be, though his hands on George were achingly gentle as they helped him to his feet. "You'll forgive me, I thought I had a better grasp of what mortals could handle-"
George looked up at him, and he cut off abruptly, hands stilling where they were resting on his shoulders. That mask-like face of his was still unreadable, but his silence spoke volumes. It was just unfortunate that it was all in a language that George didn't know how to read. He was about to ask what was wrong, but then XD's hand came up, brushing lightly through his fungi-decorated locks of hair, making his floppy ears twitch at the feeling. It felt- strange. He'd always found himself under the Gods' scrutiny, ever since he'd vowed to be by XD's side forever, but this felt different somehow. weighty, meaningful, and horribly bewildering.
He could feel his face catch fire as he remembered that Sapnap was watching on the sidelines.
It seemed like XD had the same thought he'd had because in an instant he released George with a terse, "Farwell," and promptly disappeared. Weak-kneed and confused, he collapsed to the ground, catching himself on moss-covered hands as Sapnap came running over. He looked up at his friend, at a loss for words, but Sapnap just offered a hand out to him.
"S-Sorry about that." George said, accepting Sapnap's hand up.
"Nah, you're, uh, You're good, man. Just-" Sapnap hesitated, looking like he was deliberating something in his head for a moment before blurting out. "Are you two, you know, tog-"
"What?! George yelled, feeling his face burn with renewed vigor. "No, no, no. We're just, um... F-friends, I guess? But we're not-"
"Oh, okay." Sapnap said, looking a little blank as he stared at the place where XD had just been. "Sure."
"We're not." George insisted lamely, not sure what else to say.
Because they weren't anything. George was just some guy that had been left behind by his best friend and had weird sleep issues, and he was a God. A God that seemed to like him, strangely enough, but that didn't actually mean anything. It couldn't.
...And even if it did, what then? Dating? An actual relationship? What would that even look like?
A laugh caught his attention, and he saw Karl had come out to greet Sapnap again, tangling their fingers together without a second thought. As if it was the easiest thing in the world, a natural response to just... being near his partner. Karl was saying something with a smirk and Sapnap was laughing, unrestrained and joyful before he pecked Karl on the cheek. Easy. Simple.
George felt a pit open up in his chest as he watched, then turned back to where XD had disappeared.
It didn't mean anything.
But maybe it could.
Someday.