Ends of the Earth [DNF]

Chapter 17: Nature's wonders

Dream woke up before George. Clouds occupied the sky. It looked rather harmless in the moment, but darker clouds could be spotted in the distance. His nightmares were now nowhere to be found and Dream knew that he had the sleeping boy to thank for that. He found himself often in beautiful environments and Dream couldn't help but envy George for having to have had the chance of experience these places.

He had been shown many beautiful places, yet nothing compared to the sea of stars. It felt like a hoax that such a place existed.

Dream decided to wake the brunette after some bickering with himself. He shook the guy lightly but without result. Suddenly a sleep-drunken voice appeared in his head "Please Karl, go and bother Quackity instead." Dream was not prepared for that. He'd only heard George's voice once in his head and it felt weird.

Dream sighed in defeat, the brunette really didn't want to wake up. So, he shouted. "George, wake up"" The reaction was immediately. The brunette shot up and appeared ready fight an entire army. His brown locks were a mess, but it didn't take away from his beauty. Dream found his thoughts wondering to unknown territory once again.

When George had connected with reality again, the two began to pack their stuff. "Please don't wake me like that again, I was ready to fight God." Dream couldn't help but laugh, he'd been told that his laugh sometimes sounded like a kettle, he couldn't deny the truth in that statement. George looked at him with surprise first, but started laughing due to Dream's unique laughter. Dream stole glances of the other while they packed. He knew that his feelings, and life for that matter, was a mess. But when the brunette laughed nothing else seemed to matter.

They finally got everything packed up and they were ready to leave. The schedule followed the same pattern as usual except for the fact that they would occasionally talk to each other. Dream asked a little bit about how it was to live on the ground. George gave a brief description about what he did and how he'd managed to experience all these places he usually replaced Dream's nightmares with. Dream noticed that the brunette was careful with details about their base, their lineup and generally avoided anything too invasive. Still, the brunette was exceptionally talkative, which felt totally out of character, but Dream didn't complain. He returned the trust by talking about his life in the bunker. George looked more and more disgusted the more insight he got.

"Do you wish to live forever in the bunker? Following the premade path that's made for you?" The question was more difficult to answer than Dream would've thought.

"I don't know, I guess that I don't really have a choice." The brunette seemed to break down Dream's answer. "There's always a choice, you know?"

Dream laughed half-heartedly. "So what? You're saying that I should just ditch everyone and run away into the sunset?"

The brunette turned his gaze against him, his expression was completely serious. "Yes, that's what I'm saying." Dream huffed. "It isn't that easy." George raised an eyebrow. "Why?" The question remained unanswered.

Why couldn't he just leave? No one's ever left the bunker; he would never make it.

Their walk continued in silence. The day was coming to an end and it was getting darker. George revealed that botanicas was one of his favorite subjects (no surprise there) and spent the day trying to educate Dream on different plants and their purpose.

Dream realized how funny he found it to mess with the brunette, his temper was short and he couldn't help but laugh when George snapped at him. "Mate, that's the fifth buttercup you've pointed at in the last hour! They were poisonous the first time you asked and it still hasn't changed. And no, it's not a dandelion. Are you blind, deaf or both?!" George threw his arms up in annoyance and covered his face with his hands. Dream broke out in laughter before reaching down to collect the yellow flower he'd just pointed at. He spun to action while George had his head buried in his hands. He placed the flower in the soft, dark locks. George looked up from his hands and gave Dream an annoyed frown. To which Dream smiled sheepishly. "But they're called buttercups. Butter is eatable." George facepalmed and walked away from him. "Your stupid, bimbo-ass would have died to a fucking flower if it wasn't for me." He heard George muttered in front of him. Dream just grinned. Of course, he knew the difference by now, but it was way to amusing to pretend like he didn't.

It was sad that Dream had learned more about the Earth during these few hours than he'd done during his entire time in the bunker. He would never have guessed that plants could be interesting. Although, the best part was probably hearing how passionately George spoke about them. He knew that George wasn't mad mad, just mad. The atmosphere was light and comfortable between them.

George was still walking in front of him, muttering something incomprehensible. So, Dream did the only reasonable thing. He sprinted forward and grabbed the brunette around his waist and placed the brunette over his shoulder. George's surprise was obvious, but soon gathered what just happened.

"Let me down, you lanky idiot! Your unnecessary tallness is making me nauseous!" Dream laughed. "Oh, c'mon Georgie!"

The response was a pair of arms that gripped around his torso and legs that somehow escaped his grip and suddenly spun over his shoulder. The unexpected motion caused Dream to lose his balance and stumble backwards and later hitting the ground. George had somehow done a flip over his shoulder and landed behind him. It was George turn to laugh now as he stared down with amusement. "I told you to let go, blondie."

Dream was still on the ground, trying to recover from the initial shock. He had to give the guy some cred, he sure as hell possessed some surprising tricks. But even though he'd just been tackled to the ground by someone half his size, causing a slight dent on his ego, didn't mean he'd let the brunette have the last word. "It's actually dark blonde with warm undertones!" He shouted. George just flipped him off. A smile spread across his face as he got up and started walking to catch up with his acrobatic companion.

The sun was finally about to set and the brunette declared that it marked the end of today journey. They found a place surrounded by big palm trees, the clouds that Dream saw in the morning had passed and the sky was clear. The climate changed a lot after the nuclear disaster and one of the biggest differences was the fact that the environment was way more mushed together than before the explosion. There was no longer different climate zones and species that had grown separate before was now intervened. It was a rather tropical feeling to the place that they lived in now, but it wasn't uncommon to find for example birch trees, which would've never grown in tropical climate before.

They packed up their stuff, made themselves as comfortable as possible before they lit a small fire to make something edible. Dream couldn't help but notice the brunette's weird manners. He didn't look uncomfortable but rather... nervous?

They ate a little dinner and George rose afterwards. He started walking towards a small trail that was nearly invisible. Dream furrowed his brows. "What are you doing?" The brunette turned around and Dream could have sworn that his eyes shone more the usual. A smile painted his face and Dream kept wondering how someone could be so beautiful.

"We're here." The confusion didn't change. "Where is "here?"" George kept smiling. "Do you trust me?" The voice rang through Dream's head. Did he trust the mysterious brunette? The answer was surprisingly clear.

"Yeah, I do. On the condition that you don't go all spider monkey on me again." Dream thought. He didn't know if George would be able to understand that. George had spoken to him using his mind before, but Dream had never responded with his own thoughts. However, it became clear when George expression changed to surprise. Dream laughed quietly before making his way towards the brunette. George seemed to have gotten over the initial shock and started walking along the trail.

The trail was a bit difficult to follow, it was clear that few people used it. It consisted of big leaves that covered the view and annoying roots, that made Dream trip, causing George to laugh hysterically. They finally made it to a point where the trail widened and the trees became fewer.

George suddenly stopped. "Do you still trust me?" The voice rang through Dream's mind. He already knew his answer and focused on forming the thoughts in his head. "Close your eyes" the voice echoed in his mind again. Dream was a little confused about the situation but closed his eyes. A hand grasped his own and started pulling him forward. He kept his eyes closed and felt how the ground became softer. The brunette stopped and Dream saw it as a sign to open his eyes.

He didn't know what to expect but when he opened his eyes, he was met with the thing he'd only seen in his dreams, the place that looked too unreal to exist.

The Sea of Stars.