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Dream gets upset when his favorite crayon snaps in half, but luckily George knows how to put the pieces back together :)
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Dream woke up little this morning, which only really happens when he's got a lot on his mind or when he slips younger than usual before falling asleep. The reason this time was a bit of both, especially the fact that he was in baby space most of yesterday.
But he's feeling older today, floating somewhere between four and five, and he has a lot of fun things he wants to do. Topping his list of wishes by far is to try out his new set of crayons that Sapnap bought for him a few days ago. He's even got a sketchbook to go with!
All the colors of the rainbow are in the neat little cardboard box, and they all have such pretty names, like ocean bliss for blue and cherry pop for red. Dream can't wait to draw his little heart out with them, and for George and Sapnap to smile and tell him he did a good job.
...
He's only been drawing in his book for a little while when it all goes wrong. Just as he's about to press a new color onto the page, one he had been saving to use til now, the crayon breaks in his hand.
Part of him just wants to curl up into a ball and cry, but he's a big boy! And big boys don't cry over silly crayons. Instead, he blinks any pressing tears away and heads straight for the kitchen where George is drying dishes. Surely George can fix it? He knows everything!
"Look," Dream pouts, holding both his hands out toward George to show him his favorite crayon, in the color sunny lemonade, snapped clean in half. "I b'oke it," he mumbles, shifting timidly from foot to foot.
George steps closer so their foreheads nearly touch, taking Dream's outheld hands in his own and peering down at the broken colored wax. "Oh no, darling," he coos tenderly, looking up at Dream's sulky expression. "Did your crayon break?"
Dream meets his eyes and gives a small nod. "Need a new yellow, p'ease," he mutters, secretly proud to have remembered to use his manners. His caregivers often have to remind him to say 'please' and 'thank you' and of course, Dream listens because he wants to be good.
He lets George pick up the broken pieces from his hands, hoping that his soft fingers can magically put them back together. He always knows how to make things better.
But, much to Dream's disappointment, the crayon remains in two halves even when George is holding it. That doesn't make any sense, he frowns to himself.
"How about a pretty blue one? Maybe pink?" George's tone is way too kind for how upset Dream is feeling inside. His only yellow crayon is broken forever!
And his frown only grows and grows when his gaze meets gentle, brown eyes— he doesn't want stupid blue or pink, he wants—
"Yellow!"
"That one's broken, Dream—" George patiently tries to console, but is quickly interrupted by the sound of frustrated feet stomping on the carpet.
"Yellow!" Dream demands again, drawing out the word in a long whine. "Yellow, yellow, yellow!"
"Hey, we don't yell, alright? Let's breathe—"
"I wan' yellow cwayon now!" Dream disregards the no yelling rule completely, slurring his words a little bit as the fog that comes with little space starts to thicken even further in his mind. He may have been four or five a couple hours ago, but that age is dropping much lower now that everything feels so utterly wrong.
"Hey, we can fix it together, alright? But only if you calm down." George's voice is firm but ever so gentle. Dream loses himself to the words, lets the softness wash away all his frustration. "Are you gonna be good?"
Dream nods; he can be good. He's a big boy... sort of.
Slightly ashamed of his crayon-induced meltdown, he sits down without a word opposite George at the dinner table. He glances over at George, and is relieved to see that he doesn't look angry at him. And Dream is determined to prove that he can be good from now on.
A candle is set out between them, and Dream is instantly mesmerized by the flame that George lights on it with a match. "You are never allowed to do this on your own, okay? Fire is very hot, right?"
Dream nods dazedly in response, his eyes locked to the bright light on the candle. "An' very dangerous," he mumbles, snapping his eyes back to George. "Like the stove!"
"That's right, my love," George smiles his pretty smile. "Now watch."
He picks up the two pieces of crayon and holds both ends over the hot flame. Dream is absolutely fascinated, watching with great intent as the yellow wax starts looking more and more melted, and just as he's sure it's going to drip onto the table, George fuses the two pieces together!
"Oh my gosh," Dream marvels at it all, eyes wide and lips parted in amazement.
The wax hardens quickly now that it's away from the fire. "Let's let it cool down for a bit before we touch, yeah?" George lays the yellow crayon down on the table, blowing the candle out and setting it aside.
Dream nods solemnly. "We hav' to wait," he agrees, "it's very hot."
"Can you blow on it? Like this," George puckers his lips and blows a cool stream of air down on the crayon. Dream copies him, giggling a little when George blows on his face playfully.
"Perfect, it's gonna cool down even faster now that you're helping."
"I'm helpin'!" Dream doesn't resist the urge to clap his hands with excitement. He's being so good now!
Then, once it's all cool and dry, George picks up the repaired crayon and hands it carefully to Dream's waiting hands. "See? Good as new," he pacifies.
"Goods as news!" Dream cheers, flashing a happy grin across the table at George who smiles right back before giving him an encouraging 'off you go!'.
And then he's off to his little art station again, practically bursting with ideas for pretty pictures he can make now that his sunny lemonade is no longer broken.
He draws the sun and lemons and bananas and everything yellow he can think of, which turns out to be a lot when he realizes that anything can be yellow if he wants it to be.
...
"These are beautiful!" George says when a shy Dream comes up to him later to show his finished drawings. Most of them are yellow, but he's added splashes of different colors too, and they actually look really cool.
"An' I put blue for you!" Dream points to one of the drawings, which, in a very abstract way, could almost resemble George's Minecraft character.
George continues to spill compliments and sweet remarks to the little, watching him blush and smile with pride. And of course, he makes sure that every last one of the colorful sketches goes on the fridge afterward, for all to admire.
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head in the clouds
Fanfictionlittle dream & caregivers george & sapnap age regression one-shots :)