A Matter of Time || Dreamnotfound

10

They walked the whole night, trekking through the dark, spruce forest.

Fog came up to their ankles and several noises were heard in the distance, but nothing scared Dream. Sure, he was on edge, but he felt safe with company. George's humming never relented; it was the same tune that slowly became familiar to Dream.

He thought about humming along, but he decided against it.

Eventually, tiny rays of sunlight peeked through the thick foliage, telling them it was day. After several more hours of hurried walking, they reached the end of the forest and collectively breathed sighs of relief.

A knot formed in Dream's throat when he remembered what day it was, but he pushed the thoughts away with a shake of his head.

Once the group was a large distance from the spruce forest, they stopped under a shady tree in a meadow. Sapnap handed them all the last of their food and they ate quietly. Once they finished Sapnap claimed he wanted to find a pond or river to bathe in. He left, leaving Dream and George alone.

George sat down and leaned against the tree, resting his head back. Dream raised an eyebrow and said, "Get up, let's practice."

George blinked slowly and gave Dream a confused look, "What?"

"You said you wanted to be useful, so let's practice."

George grinned and stood up, wiping the dust off his pants. He lifted his fists up, getting ready to punch.

Dream shook his head with a grin, "No, no punching today." He picked up a rock by his boot and held it in his palm. "Lift this."

George's grin faded and he sighed. He walked up to Dream and took the rock from his hand, lifting it up with a sarcastic expression. Dream rolled his eyes and chuckled softly, "No, you idiot. With your mind."

He snatched the rock from George and held it between two fingers. George groaned in frustration, "Dream, I don't know how."

"Sure you do, you threw a boulder at the amphiptere, for fuck's sake. You can lift a tiny rock."

"That was different."

"How?"

George hesitated before saying quietly, "It was going to kill you."

"And?"

George looked at the ground between them and muttered, "I dunno, something inside me turned on, like a switch, and all I could think about was helping you... it didn't quite work out the way I thought, though."

Dream tilted his head and replied, "So, hypothetically, if I was in danger again, would it be easier for you to use your power?"

"Hypothetically," George said with a warning glare.

"Hmm..." Dream tapped a finger to his chin as he asked, "Wanna recreate the scenario?"

"No."

Dream sighed. "Alright, then pick up this rock... with your mind this time."

George chewed on his lip, starting to focus. His eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he looked at the rock. After a long moment, he sighed and threw his hands in the air, "Dream, I can't!"

"Yes, you can," Dream replied calmly. He offered, "Try holding out your hand like you're going to pick it up. Sapnap said you held your hands out when lifting the boulder, so try it now."

George gave him a bored stare, but he lifted his hand and looked back to the rock. Minutes passed and George dropped his hand. He said in frustration, "Dream, it's not going to work! Why are we doing this?"