some persuasion required

chapter 1

It was when Dream could hear the tears stricken in George's voice, even as the other fought hard to keep them from spilling so obviously into his voice at such news they were just wrought.

It was when they were alone, over a call that left George lost in something static and broken; it was then that Dream knew he could not bear it any longer.

He couldn't bring up any possibilities now. Definitely not now. With George worn down, exhausted. Not when spirits were so low and any flickering of bright flames would sizzle out with one fatigued sigh. Not when they had just been denied a visa- for the second time.

Truthfully, this instant felt more like the crushing weight of rejection than the first dismissal. As then, in a call much like this, they had more hope than unsteadiness laced in their tones, that hope of what they could have, it was still within reach.

The initial denial didn't have this hint of finality they were left in the wake of now.

Dream was there when George got the first fateful phone call, the one they dreaded and obsessed over and waited for. Not in the true sense, of physical or facial presence, but he was there in voice and ears, listening in anticipation for his life to begin again.

He strained to hear the other side of the call, and even though George had put it on speakerphone, it was still at the suffering distance he ached to free them from. Dream struggled, knowing he was helpless, powerless in this moment. All he could do was be there.

And, in the decimated aftermath, Dream stayed.

"It's just a couple months of set back," Dream had insisted then, feeling the tragedy start to simmer in George's eyes and into the pinched line of his brow, "At most, a couple of months. We can still fix this."

George took some time to be convinced, to work through the grief of the news, of the wait they had to endure. But, slowly, slowly, George warmed to the words the other spoke, of how this could be worked out, that not all was over before it even started.

"I guess, even though resubmitting is a pain," George had hesitantly offered, "There is still a chance. I mean, it was only rejected for errors."

"Exactly!" Dream had beamed, relief passing through them both, because all they needed was a line to grab onto, some achievable goal to focus on, "We'll make it undeniably perfect, and next time, they can't refuse."

And, even with their best efforts to mend the trivial mistakes that almost cost them everything, George was ultimately denied once again, with a mere few moments of exchanging curt words, and, just like that, it was over.

Another cold voice tapered off on the other end of his shaky phone, George left with only a longing that had nowhere to go. Nothing but a dark screen held in his hand that was still his only real tether to the very person he was trying to move his whole life for.

"I don't know what to do," George breathed in a whisper, like the statement was an obstacle he had to push from his lips, "I feel- This feels impossible."

The tightness in Dream's throat expanded, a threatening wrap-around of tension that made it difficult to speak, to think, to give any answer that would be sufficient to heal this wound, but he still tried.

"We'll take a break from all this," Dream comforted with all the meager stability he could muster, trying to alleviate George from the stress and pressure he stacked higher on himself, "Then, we'll go from there."

A sniff could be heard through his phone speakers and Dream felt himself begin to tear in half completely.

"I just- I don't know if I can do this," was George's watery, trembled reply, the back of his hand swiping quickly over his eyes even though Dream couldn't see him, "The disappointment. I didn't.. I wasn't prepared for it to feel like this."