A Matter of Time || Dreamnotfound

13

Dream stayed up all night, keeping watch over the three mortals.

George woke up first, moving away from Callahan to sit next to Dream, leaving over an arm's length of space between them.

Dream didn't know how to start, so the two just sat in silence for a while, staring at each other. George cleared his throat and spoke first.

"I really am sorry for kissing you," George whispered, looking down. "I― I just kind of acted on impulse."

"Yeah," Dream muttered.

George looked back up and said quietly, "But you did kiss me back..."

"I know."

"So why are you pushing me away?"

Dream closed his eyes and sighed softly. "I..."

"It's because of that other person, right?" George's voice was so quiet, even with Dream's ears, he had to strain to listen. "You said you had a partner once, but now he's gone?"

"His name was Fundy," Dream whispered, "and he was my everything."

"Everything is a big word," George whispered.

Dream swallowed and opened his eyes. He said, "I-I just― you remind me of him."

George was silent for a moment before he said, "Tell me about him."

Dream blinked in surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, um, okay." Dream cleared his throat and looked at his hands. "He was a shapeshifter― like Antfrost, but instead of a cat he could change into a fox... everything about him was just so... compelling. He drew me in and I couldn't help but fall in love with him."

Dream chewed on his lip, deciding if he should be telling George all of this. He continued after a moment, "He had this energy about him, like he was beckoning me. He was pushy and stubborn, but when it was needed, he was kind and caring. He made me feel accepted, at home... I finally felt a connection that I had never felt before."

"Like a soulmate," George said quietly.

"Yeah," Dream muttered. "He-he was everything I wasn't at the time. I was mean and harsh, still sour because I didn't want to work for my boss. Even though I had been doing my job for a while, I was tired of killing and I wanted out― I wanted to find out what happened to my family.

"I had little to no personality. Talking to me at that stage in my life was like talking to a wall. Things changed when I met Fundy..."

Dream closed his eyes, relief coursing through his body when he felt hands grip his own. Dream continued, "Fundy was one of my targets― I was supposed to bring him back to Technoblade alive. His home was the farthest I had ever travelled, almost a year away by foot. When I captured him, he wouldn't shift out of his fox form, biting me to try and get away. I had never met someone so stubborn.

"After a while, he stopped and shifted into his regular body. No one had ever looked at me like he had― fierce determination in his eyes and such hatred that I flinched when I first looked into his eyes... Fundy liked to talk. He'd talk and talk as we walked, never failing to find something new to talk about.

"The first weeks were long. I hated him, I hated how he wouldn't stop yapping his mouth off, I hated his fox-like laugh when he said something funny. Everything you could hate about a person, I hated Fundy for."

Dream felt a tear slide down his cheek and George's hands squeezed his softly. Dream whispered, "Eventually, I started talking back. I had never had someone to talk to before. It was nice... talking. I learned all about him and he learned about me. Since I didn't have much skill in conversation, my tongue would slip and I'd spill something.