head in the clouds

mario kart

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Sapnap definitely doesn't let Dream win in mario kart... definitely not.

—

"No!" Dream exclaims, making a run for the couch and barreling straight into the pillows with the two Nintendo controllers clutched behind his back. He frowns up at the brunet, "Mine!"

Sapnap, who's standing in front of the stubborn boy, sighs mildly and tilts his head to the side. "Come on, Dream. We can share, can't we?"

"But Napnap," he whines petulantly and kicks his feet, "I wanna play the cars!"

'Napnap' crouches down to Dream's level and meets his sullen gaze, countering it with the kindest eyes he can muster. "You will get to play, honey," he consoles, watching as the boy's frown softens ever so slightly.

Hoping to finally end their little squabble, Sapnap places a gentle hand on the blond's knee and continues, "If you give me a controller, we can play together."

Dream considers the offer for a few moments, before visibly giving in by pulling both hands out from behind himself and into his lap. He holds the small controllers in his palms toward Sapnap, mumbling a sweet, "Contoller?"

A quiet 'awe' escapes Sapnap's mouth before he can swallow it, throwing the little into a fit of smiles and rosy cheeks. "Maybe I can have the red one?" He suggests, smiling wide when it is shoved into his hands right away. "Thank you, sweetheart."

Sapnap stands up to turn the TV and console on, then he plops himself down beside Dream on the couch to begin their long-awaited match. Both of them have talked about wanting to compete in Mario Kart to decide once and for all who is the better driver, but they just never got around to it.

"Thank you," Dream parrots, giggling to himself for some reason unknown to Sapnap. Whenever he regresses, the blond often repeats random words he picks up on from his friends, a bit like George's eminent word association. Perhaps that's where he gets it from (it probably is).

The TV lights up and Sapnap navigates to the game, leaning over the small space between them to turn on Dream's controller. Speaking of, the blond is practically bouncing where he sits criss-cross applesauce among blankets and fluffy pillows. "I'm ready!" He shouts excitedly.

Sapnap smiles at him, ruffling his hair lovingly. "Me too! But how about we use our inside voices?" He intentionally makes his own voice extra quiet to demonstrate his point.

Dream's mouth falls open slightly as he listens, nodding gravely to show he understands. Big boys like him can use their inside voices— George is doing important work in the other room, after all.

"Alright, you ready to pick your character?" All the colorful people and creatures are moving idly on the screen in front of them, waiting to be picked. Going with the classic option, Sapnap has chosen to play as Mario.

Dream manages to move his thumb on the buttons over to his all-time favorite; "Napnap look— I'm Yoshi!" He looks over to the other half of the screen, pointing to Sapnap's character excitedly, "And you Mawio!"

He's being so cute that Sapnap has to resist the urge to reach over and squish his cheeks. Instead, he says, "That's right, baby. Let's choose our cars now, yeah? I bet yours is gonna be so cool."

Dream is too distracted to respond, totally focused on finding the car with the prettiest colors plus wheels and a parachute to match. Once he's happy, he turns to the brunet with a hopeful expression.

Sapnap looks over to the boy's finished vehicle, letting out a dramatic gasp when he sees it. "Wow, that's super impressive Dream," he praises, "I have a feeling you might win with that."

The compliments make Dream lean back against the soft couch bashfully. "Maybe," he mumbles shyly, trying (and failing) to hide his proud smile.

And maybe Sapnap purposefully drives his car off the tracks a few times so Dream can catch up, and maybe that's the only reason Dream manages to win over him. But seeing how his eyes lit up whenever he finished a round and the giggles he let out every time he passed someone, made the mini white lie totally worth it.

Plus, he kept his inside voice the whole time, which Sapnap made sure to reward him for afterward with lots of cuddles and even a few hershey kisses from George's (not so) secret stash in the cupboards.

—

731 words

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