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“Hey, George,” Sapnap said, headphones on his head as he was going through stuff in his room. He liked his room nice and tidy, so he was reorganizing things and putting clean clothes away. “What’s up?”
“I need some help,” George whispered, and Sapnap's attention was instantly on him. George’s never sounded so… small before.
“Hey, talk to me, what’s going on?” Sapnap asked, quickly moving over to his desk and forgetting about whatever task he was doing.
“I don’t know,” George croaked. “I think I’m having a panic attack or-or an anxiety attack, everything feels fuzzy. Everything is wrong, nothing feels right. I feel too big ,” George whispered.
“George, George breathe for me. Hey, do me a favor,” Sapnap said. “Name as many US states as you can. Don’t argue, just do it.”
“Florida,” George whispered, “Georgia. Louisiana, New York, North and South Carolina, LA, Michigan, Ohio, Texas.” George stopped after that, mumbling something incoherent to Sapnap’s ears.
“Good, can you turn your camera on for me?” Sapnap asked, clicking open discord on his second monitor. It took a second, but George’s face was soon on his screen, to which Sapnap returned the favor. “Name as many animals as you can.”
“Cat, dog, turtle, wolves, birds, squirrels,” George started breathing better as he spoke. “Panthers. Penguins. Ocelots. Uhh, I don’t-”
“That’s okay, that’s all I needed,” Sapnap said, happy that his breathing had audibly calmed down. “Breath in, really deep for me, for five seconds. Ready? In… two, three, four, five. Hold for 6— two, three, four, five, six. Out for seven— two, three, four, five, six, seven. Great, one more time without my counting, ready?”
George nodded, and he followed the structure again, counting in his head as Sapnap led him with words. ‘In. Hold. Out.’ He finally felt calm enough, but the fuzziness wasn’t going away.
“I feel better. I’m just still really out of it,” George whispered. “I think I may need to lay down. Everything’s still so fuzzy…”
“Okay, do you want to stay on the phone with me? Until you fall asleep?” Sapnap asked, and George nodded.
“Please. Being alone right now… that’s just too much—” George croaked.
“Okay, not a problem. Why don’t you switch to your phone and get yourself ready to sleep, yeah?” Sapnap said, his voice going incredibly soft. “I’m right here, I’m not gonna go anywhere, Gogs.”
George nodded, and quickly switched to his phone. He just shut off his monitors, unready to handle shutting everything down right now, and taking his phone to the bedroom. He set Sapnap up on his bedside table, propping the phone up. George was able to change, just a little off camera, into something a bit more comfortable before turning the big lights off and laying down.
“Perfect, good job George,” Sapnap said softly, and George smiled. “Do you have your usual water bottle next to your bed?”
“Yeah,” George nodded, reaching over and grabbing it.
“Good, take a drink or two. That’ll help. I can tell you’re still a little panicky,” Sapnap said softly, and George slowly took a couple sips out of the straw before setting it back down behind his phone. “Good, thank you.”
Unlike their usual dynamic, George seemed content in following gentle commands, which was perfect for Sapnap as the caretaker in him took over. He almost wanted George to slip, but he wasn’t going to push or force it. If it happened naturally, then it happened and Sapnap would be prepared, if it didn’t… then that’s that.
George mumbled something again, curling back up in his bed. “Sapnap… can you just… talk to me? Please?”
“Of course,” Sapnap smiled, responding to someone he was dming. “We’ve pretty much got your room finished here. Dream’s tweaking out waiting for you to come home. I really think you’re gonna like it. I think we should do a Dream Team stream soon, since none of us want to edit any videos. I think it’d be good just for our fans, ya know? I know it’s really hard, since we’re all so busy… but I think we need it. Also, I’ve been doing so much paperwork because of you,” they both chuckled. “Dream’s been… so so tired recently. But, I’ve been taking care of him!”
“Would you take care of me?” George asked.
“Without a second thought, of course I would,” Sapnap smiled. “What’d you think I’m trying to do right now?”
“Thanks… I’d try to take care of you too…” George whispered. “Don’t know if I’d be any good at it, though.”
“That’s okay. With time, we’ll all grow and we’ll all know what each other needs to help each other grow, to take care of us, and just be a consistent part of our lives. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither were we. I’m still learning new things about everyone,” Sapnap chuckled, and George smiled, yawning softly. “Sleep, gogy. I’ll always be here.”
“Okay,” George whispered, pulling the pillow closer to his face. “Ni-ni, Sappy,” he said softly, and Sapnap smiled.
“Goodnight, darling,” Sapnap said, getting a soft snore in response. He watched as George’s thumb inched up and then into his mouth. Since he really couldn’t do anything about it, he tried not to think about it for the time being.
Sapnap stood to continue cleaning, letting the call stay open on his laptop, unwilling to let George go yet. Just as he was putting the last of his clothes away, Dreamie waddled in with his polar bear, or Pop as Dreamie called him, and the pop-it.
“Sappy, cans I si’ds in heres wit ‘ous?” Dreamie asked, and Sapnap smiled.
“Of course love, but we gotta be quiet because Georgie is sleeping,” Sapnap said, taking the boy's hand and leading him through the mess of folders, bedding and just general stuff. “Do you wanna watch some TV?”
“Yus p’ease,” Dreamie whispered, looking over at the monitor. “Ni-ni, Gogys,” he said, and Sapnap smiled, turning on the TV to one of Dreamie's favorite shows, Bluey.
“Okay, there’s your show. Watch it quietly while I finish and then I’ll come up there to snuggle, okay?” Sapnap promised, and Dreamie nodded. “Do you have your paci, baby?” Dream looked at himself up and down, before shaking his head. “Alright, I’ll be right back. Stay there on the bed for me.”
With another nod, Sapnap was leaving the room quickly. Jogging down the stairs, he made it to Dream’s room, snagging the pacifier off the desk, and quickly making his way back up. He wiped the paci down in the bathroom, rinsing it and drying it quickly before making it back into his room to give to Dream, who took it without hassle as he watched his show. Leaving Sapnap free to clean again.
Once Sapnap was finished with the basics of what he wanted organized, he shifted the monitor to face his bed just a bit more before laying down beside Dream. The little curled into him, settling onto his chest, arm wrapping around Sapnap’s middle and squeezing his shirt. Sapnap let Dream rest his head against his arm as his own hand rubbed Dream’s arm soothingly, both of them silent as they watched the cartoon. Bluey was a show Sapnap genuinely got lost watching.
But, it wasn’t long before Sapnap was the only one awake between the three of them, and it wasn’t for long. Disney’s “Still Watching” screen popped up, and Sapnap passed out long before.
(-8-)
When George woke up, he was groggy and almost didn’t recognize where he was. His thumb ached, and he made a face as he pulled it out and away from his mouth. Glancing at his phone, he noticed he was still on call with Sapnap, but the two on the other side of the screen were still out. The room was dark, TV having an automatic shut off, but the monitor gave enough light for George to see that Dream was curled into Sapnap’s chest, and Sapnap had an arm around Dream’s mid-section.
He groaned gently, rubbing his head as it pounded when he tried lifting himself up. George had to wiggle his thumb around to try to get the feeling of pins and needles to go away. He cleared his throat, grabbing his water cup and chugging down half of it, his throat was dry and scratchy beyond belief. George glanced back at his phone when he heard movement, and he saw Dream roll over in Sapnap’s arms, facing the camera.
Two things came to mind.
One: George was getting an accidental face reveal right now, and George wasn’t sure if he should look away, hang up and pretend like he didn’t see anything. Or be absolutely amazed by the face in front of him. Dream was gorgeous; George doesn’t just give out that word easily. Dream’s face was sharp, jawline, eyebrow bone, almost everything on this man is sharp . But, there was one more thing.
Dream had a pacifier in his mouth.
Confusion filled George’s features. Why the hell did Dream have a pacifier in his mouth? And why did it look relaxing as hell? George shook the thoughts out of his head, sniffing lightly. He still felt really dizzy and foggy, like he couldn’t really get out of bed. He laid back down with a pathetic croak, shoving his face into the pillow.
“George?” Sapnap’s voice filled his ears. So soothing.
George looked up and over into the phone, where the monitor had been adjusted away from the bed and away from Dream’s face. George missed looking at him already. “Hey, are you okay?” Sapnap asked, and George pressed against the pillow.
“Everything’s still so foggy,” George croaked. “I feel too big.”
“Alright, do you have any fun pajamas? Maybe ones Karl or someone may’ve sent you?” Sapnap asked, and George sniffed, thinking.
“Yeah. I’ve got some Adventure Time ones from Karl, I think,” George said, sitting up again.
“Why don’t we put those on? Those might be more comfortable than your sweats and t-shirt. That could help sensory wise,” Sapnap suggested, and George nodded. The brit didn’t have it in him to fight or question.
After getting the jammies on, something immediately felt better in George’s brain. Something clicked, and he was so happy it did as he sat back down on the bed, waiting for Sapnap’s next instruction to help.
“Awe, look at you. You’re adorable,” Sapnap smiled, leaning against the hand propped up on the desk. “Do you have a stuffed animal? That might help with feeling too big? It could bring you back to when you were a kid?”
George nodded, getting off the bed once more and going into his closet, grabbing a stuffed elephant from the back of his closet and racing out of the dark area as quickly as possible. “Dis Elli,” George whispered, holding up the elephant.
“Well, it’s lovely to meet you, Elli,” Sapnap smiled, and George giggled. “Are you still tired, Gogs?”
George yawned, nodding slightly as he lifted the blanket over him again. “Perfect. Take one more drink of water before snuggling in for me, okay?”
“Otay Nana,” George whispered, grabbing his cup and sucking down another good quart of the water, then sitting it back down on the table. He pulled the blankets over his shoulder again, snuggling into the elephant and taking a deep breath. He was out quicker than Sapnap’s ever seen.
“And just like that,” Sapnap whispered to himself, looking at Dream and George. “There were two.”