Ready Now (Merman's Tear One-Shots)

George's first Halloween

For a group of pirates (and two mermen), George and Dream's crew didn't spend a whole lot of time at sea. Then again, they weren't really pirates anymore- more so adventurers, but the point still stands. It seems, with each passing second, that they spend more and more time at the kingdom of Lmanberg than they do out at sea. George wasn't complaining though, because he really did adore the people who lived there. Especially Tommy. But you didn't hear that from him.

They'd docked at Lmanberg two days ago, and something had been a little bit odd. Walking down from the ship, he'd noticed that Lmanberg and its citizens had taken to a...unique...style of decorating. Now, George wasn't against this decorating style, but it was just so different to what he was used to.

Walking through the square, he'd seen pumpkins littered about, with weird little faces carved into them. And then he'd seen a shop owner hang out a bunch of little skeleton figures from the top of their roof. Some sort of eerie music was playing, and it had really made him nervous.

First, he thought, well, maybe it was a human thing. But then Karl hadn't seemed confused about it at all! So maybe it was just a him thing? Either way, he kept silent. He did not need his friends laughing at him for being confused about their decorations. He also didn't want to offend anyone, in case it was something sacred to human culture.

George found it was pretty simple to forget about after that. The castle had none of those decorations, and he'd been there for a couple of days. They'd be leaving again soon, and maybe everything would be back to normal the next time they visited. All he had to do was just not mention it. Keep quiet. Easy, right?

Apparently not.

The previous night, George had stayed up way too late. A lot later than usual. In his defence, that card game took way too long to finish. And when he kept losing, he had to wipe that smug look off of Dream's face. So of course, they kept playing late into the night until he won. And he had, thank you very much. 

Although, because of that, he slept in. And nobody had woken him up! He'd gotten out of bed at around 11:45, had gotten dressed, and had made his way to the dining hall, where everyone was sure to be. He'd enjoy some breakfast, make small talk, and enjoy his day. Except, as he walked through the hall that morning, it looked like a scary storybook had thrown up all over the castle. 

Those very decorations from a couple of days ago had been put in the castle, but ten times more extravagant, and a lot less carefully planned. He'd walked with a furrowed brow as he stepped over a fake spider, and had been left without words as he saw the dining hall.

Themed foods littered the table, decorations hung from the walls, and a steady tune of unfamiliar music echoed a beat throughout the room. It seemed he was the last up, and everyone had greeted him with various calls of 'hello's and 'good morning's. Dream had leapt to his feet and dragged George over to the table, handing him foods he'd never had before and then jumping into a conversation with Phil.

So that brings him to the present. Sitting at this long table, and wondering just what the fuck was going on.

George smiled politely as Quackity passed him a cupcake, and he thanked him as the man turned to Tubbo again. George glanced down at the cupcake in his hand and laughed lightly at the icing that decorated the sweet treat. A crudely drawn spider with a weird face graced its surface, and he pulled a weird face back at it before biting into it. 

He heard someone laugh, and looked up quickly, still chewing, to see Dream looking at him from his side. The blonde was smiling as he looked at George eating his cupcake. 

"Wha-?" George asked, muffled by the food in his mouth, and Dream shrugged, still smiling widely.

"You looked like you were trying to scare the cupcake back." Dream commented after George continued to look confused, causing the brunette to roll his eyes.