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“Just hurry up and put them on already, idiot.” The plastic frame wrapped over the top of George’s ears. He looked up, slowly re-familiarising himself with his surroundings. A soft gasp left his mouth.
“Well? Does it look different? Can you see the orange over there?”
“It’s a seven. It's clearly a seven”
“There’s literally nothing there”
“No way! It is so clear.”
“I didn’t see anything.”
“Oh, you’re kidding me! What?”
George glances at his second monitor, chuckling at Dream’s reaction to his colourblindness. He sees his familiar discord avatar, lighting up every time he speaks. Their current call was nearing the 10-hour mark, the timer ticking along under his shared screen.
“Severity strong, you’re strong George! You’re strong!” They both laughed as the results of the test showed on George's screen.
“I don’t think that’s good, I think that’s bad in this situation.” George scrolls down the page, skimming over his answers and what his results meant. He was reading through a section that talked about the commonality of his type of colourblindness when Dream spoke up again.
“Wait, go back up, what was that?” George scrolled, trying to figure out what it was that caught his friend’s eye.
“There, stop. Woah look, they have glasses that can let you see red and green. Do you think they actually work?”
A few clicks later and Dream had ordered the glasses, saying that as soon as George got to Florida, he would take him to see the sunset.
After all the stress of getting his visa, packing, and moving his whole life across the ocean, that call had pretty much faded from George’s memory.
It was a few months after he had moved, and he was slowly getting used to the heat as autumn made itself known. His bags were almost fully unpacked, aside from the two or three that he had just thrown in the spare room. He was so happy to finally be home, living with his two best friends, and finally getting to spend time with them after all these years of endless waiting. This was probably the happiest he had ever been. So forgive him if the memory of Dream buying the glasses had slipped his mind.
One afternoon he and Dream were just sitting in the lounge, scrolling through their phones. Sapnap was away in North Carolina shooting a video with Karl for MrBeast. It was nice just sitting together in silence, it felt familiar after so many years of doing the same through microphones and monitors.
George came across a meme of him being colourblind during the last MCC. He snorted as he looked at himself not being able to copy the colours in a section of gridrunners. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dream look up from his phone at the sound.
“What is it?” George turned his phone around just as the video started again. He watched as Dream read the caption that appeared at the start of the clip, ‘gnf being colourblind during mcc’. A sudden flash of recognition showed on Dream’s face and all of a sudden he was standing up and making his way over to the kitchen.
“Dream?” Confused, George watched as Dream held up his hand, signalling him to wait. He rummaged through various drawers and cupboards until he found what he was apparently looking for. He held up a small black box, a proud smile on his face as he made his way back over to the couch.
“Remember when I ordered you those colourblind glasses?” The memory of the call suddenly came back to George. As did Dream’s promise to show him the sunset.
“You said you’d show me my first real sunset.”
Soon enough, Dream had found out what time the sun was going down and was driving George to a nearby nature reserve.
“George? Are you even listening?” The familiar chuckle brought George back to the present. From behind the tinted lenses, his eyes slowly adjusted to what they were seeing. In front of them was a large lake, the surface growing darker as the sun dipped below the horizon. But now as George looked out across the water, he noticed that it looked brighter, more alive.
“Woah, wait.” He lifted the glasses off his face, only to put them straight back on. “It actually works, the water looks like it’s like, glowing or something.” The setting sunlight bounced across the top of the water. It seemed like sparks were shooting over the lake, warm little flickers. He looked up at the sky just as the last part of the sun dipped below the horizon. The amount of colour that painted the sky was breathtaking. Brand new colours he had never seen before. It was all so vibrant, warm, and soft, all at the same time. Every single wisp of a cloud looked like it had been kissed goodnight by the sun. Everything just seemed to glow, as if the world was trying to use up every last bit of light before nighttime brought its darkness. Sure he had seen plenty of sunsets before, but this just looked magical, so many warm hues dancing together.
Somehow George’s hand had found its way across to Dream, resting on top of his knee. Almost as if he needed something familiar to hold on to as he processed what he was seeing. He looked around at the trees surrounding the lake, noting how the warm light had touched them too. His hand started to jostle on Dream’s knee as his friend let out a chuckle.
“What do you think?” George slowly looked back over to the man sitting next to him, only to gasp again, tightening his grip on the knee under his hand. The face that he had only recently become familiar with was somehow completely different than before. All of the gentle curves looked like they were being held in the warm hands of the vibrant dusk light. Every point and angle was gleaming with a warm accent. Every soft brown curl on his head seemed to glow a bright gold. And his eyes, oh god his eyes.
What before looked like a muted yellow to George, was now a vibrant colour that he assumed was green. It was a similar hue to the grass and trees that surrounded them but with so much more complexity and character. Along with the green, there were deep swirls of brown and blue, melting together into mesmerizing patterns. The best part though was seeing the whole sky reflected in his eyes. The warm tones of the sunset wrapped around his irises. At that moment he realised that he hadn’t fully taken the time to study Dream’s face up close since he’d moved. He came to the sudden conclusion that Dream was beautiful. His long eyelashes, strong eyebrows, carved jawline, the faint spattering of freckles over his nose and cheeks, golden light highlighting the curve of his soft pink lips.
“I-” He had no idea what to say. There was no way he could articulate how Dream looked in this light, and how it made him feel. “It’s pretty.”
“Who? Me or the sunset?” Dream smirked, the corners of his mouth ticked up, his eyes became impossibly more alive. George forced himself to look back across the water. He pushed away the loud thoughts that wondered if he would be able to taste the sunset on his lips if he kissed him.
“You’re an idiot,” George took his hand back from Dream’s knee before it got permanently stuck there, “Thank you, for the glasses I mean. I can’t believe this has been here my whole life and I’ve just never known.” He gestured out towards the slowly fading colours in the sky. He looked back at Dream who met him with a gentle smile.
“You’re welcome Georgie, anything for you!” His voice was full of amusement and mirth as he threw his arm around George’s shoulders and pulled him in. “I’m so glad that they work, sunsets are like one of the best-looking things in my opinion, besides you of course.” George scoffed, leaning his head against Dream’s chest as he turned his attention back to the sky. By now, the clouds had shifted from their vibrant oranges and reds to softer pinks and purples. They stayed like that for a while, close together as the last of the colour faded from the sky, giving way to darker skies and the appearance of the first few stars.
When they pulled apart, George found himself staring at Dream’s face again, now illuminated by the few light posts scattered around the reserve. He raised the glasses on and off his face, noting the subtle differences. He began to wonder how he hadn’t noticed just how good-looking Dream was until now. Had he just not been looking close enough? He watched as Dream’s cheeks bloomed a darker than before. Was he blushing?
“Are you just gonna keep staring at me?” He chuckled awkwardly as George blinked himself out of his trance. “I mean, I know I’m hot but this is a bit excessive don’t you think?” George's eyes fell once again to his lips, watching how they moved to form each word as he spoke.
“Sorry, I just- this is weird. It feels like I’m seeing you for the first time all over again.”
“George, what do you mean? You literally see me every day.”
“I don’t know, you just look different right now.”
“Good different?”
“I don’t know,” George repeated, taking off the glasses and looking out at the lake again.
“Well, I think you look pretty silly in those glasses.”
“Hey, I bet you’d look even sillier in them.” George turned back, reaching up to place the glasses over Dream’s nose. Dream laughed as he missed one of his ears and left the glasses hanging lopsided over his eyes. George was right, he did look silly, but it was annoyingly endearing.
“Well?” Dream moved his face around and posed to show off the new addition.
“You look dumb,” George said through a smile. He looked at the way the glasses cast a lopsided shadow across Dream's cheeks. The contrast made his lips stand out even more than before. He took a moment to take in their current position. They were on a narrow and uncomfortable park bench, Dream’s arm still loosely wrapped around George’s shoulders. His other hand was fiddling with the glasses on his face, lifting them to fit properly.
“What about now?” Dream asked after he had put them on correctly.
“Still dumb,” George said, tone not convincing at all.
“Sure.”
“We should probably head back soon, right? Before it gets too dark?”
“Yeah,” But neither made any attempt to move, both seemingly content with sitting on that bench until the sun came back up. Once again, George found himself staring at Dream’s face. He reached up to take the glasses back but stopped his hand in mid-air. Instead, his eyes focused on a lock of hair that had fallen across Dream’s forehead. Before he could fully think it through his hand changed direction, moving to sweep the strand back into place. He watched as Dream’s eyes tracked his movements, flitting to his face in question once George’s fingers made contact with his forehead. Ever so gently, George brushed the hairs to the side. His hand lingered in Dream’s hair for a second, running through his curls before he withdrew. He had no idea why he just did that. But god, Dream’s hair was so soft. Their eyes locked again, Dream’s seemed to hold a million questions in them. George shook his head, trying to rid that random exchange from his memory.
“I’m sorry, I have no idea what that was.” He looked down, Dream’s gaze feeling a bit too much. He fiddled with his own hands in his lap.
“It’s fine,” Dream’s voice sounded strained like he was holding back from saying more.
“Let’s head back home, it's getting dark,” George said, only looking for words to fill the silence. He moved to stand up but the arm around his shoulders didn’t budge. “Dream come on.”
“Uh, yeah ok, let's go.” He slowly removed his arm from George’s shoulder, hand grazing the back of his neck on the way. He tensed up at the contact, eyes flitting to Dream’s. He watched as a smirk formed on Dream’s face, hand moving to remove the glasses from their place on his nose. He reached for one of George’s hands, turning it over and placing the glasses in his grasp. Dumbfounded, George looked at the glasses sitting in his palm before watching Dream stand up and start walking back to the car.
With a random stroke of bravery, George quickly stood up and grabbed his friend’s hand before he could get too far away. Dream spun around, a puzzled look on his face as he looked down at their interlocked palms. George shifted his grip, threading their fingers together, before tugging on Dream’s hand to lead him back to the car. He only managed to make it about three steps before Dream stopped him by wrapping his other arm around his waist and holding him flush against his chest. George’s breath halted, feeling his back pressed against Dream.
“What are you doing George?” Dream’s voice reverberated through his spine.
“What do you mean?” He replied. All he got in response was a scoff, Dream’s chin coming down to rest on top of his head. “I thought we were going home, come on.”
“No, stop, just- come here.” All of a sudden George was spun around, finding himself staring straight into those eyes again. Dream just stared back, one hand on his waist, the other still holding George’s.
“What?” George continued to stare as he felt Dream pry their fingers loose from each other, his free hand now moving to hold his jaw. George tilted his chin up ever so slightly as Dream leaned in, their noses half an inch from touching. “Dream…”
“Shh, just-” Dream moved closer, the tip of his nose grazing George’s cheek. He felt a warm exhale brush against his lips and surged forward, closing the distance. Dream’s lips were as soft and warm as the sunset made them look. It was a gentle and sweet kiss, over too soon for George to fully process it. As they broke apart, George reached his arms around Dream's neck, tangling his fingers through the curls that he found there. He pushed in again, reconnecting their lips with more purpose this time. He felt Dream smile against his lips which caused a grin of his own to break out. He pulled away laughing, hands still drawing circles against the back of Dream’s head. Seriously, how was his hair so soft?
“George! What?!” He just laughed even more as he watched the confusion grow on his friend’s face. His hands moved from the back of his neck to his jaw as he pulled him in for another kiss, this time he allowed himself to relish in the way their lips felt as they moved together. Dream’s hands grasped his waist, pulling him closer. George felt like his whole being was alight. It felt like he was full of the warm light from the sunset, about to overflow and cover everything in the soft hues. It felt so right, Dream and him. They fit perfectly together, lips moving like this was a regular occurrence.
Dream’s fingers dug into George’s waist, making him gasp. Dream was quick to use the opportunity to introduce his tongue, which George happily accepted. They stayed like that for a long while, kissing until their lips felt like they were buzzing. When they eventually broke apart, Dream leant down so that his forehead could rest against George’s. George opened his eyes to see Dream already looking at him. He felt a bashful smile break out on his face. It only grew when he saw Dream return the smile.
“I would’ve given you those glasses months ago if I knew it would lead to that.” George chuckled again, reaching up to place a gentle peck on Dream’s nose.
“We really should get going now.” He licked his lips, tasting the faint warmth of the sun.