Let's Play Pretend - by seasandsalt

Chapter 2: Day Two

There's something tickling his nose.

He would raise his hand to brush... whatever it is away but he's still half asleep and his arm is too heavy to move. So he lays still and takes a deep breath, breathing in a sweet citrusy scent. It's a familiar smell and he smiles. The movement of his mouth, lips turning upwards into a small grin, causes the... thing to shift, tickling his nose even more.

Whatever it is, it's soft.

Nick takes another deep breath in through his nose and keeps his eyes closed against the sunlight pouring through the window. He squeezes his arm around the warm object he woke up holding, pulling it closer to his chest. His nose is tickled again. The object shifts, sighs.

Nick's eyes shoot open.

He's laying on his side in the middle of the bed, the light blue blanket pulled up around his shoulders. His head is resting on one of the plush pillows with his hair brushed away, out of his face. His right arm is asleep, tingling and resting underneath a heavy weight.

His left arm is wrapped, tightly and securely, around Dream's waist, holding his back close against his chest. Nick's nose is buried in his hair and he inhales again, realizing that he's smelling the citrusy scent of Dream's shampoo. Dream's warm, nestled up against him, and Nick can't see his face from his angle, but his hair is messy and he's letting out soft snores.

Nick pulls his arm off of Dream and holds it close to his chest. He's not sure if he's scared to wake him up or just doesn't want to touch him again, but he carefully maneuvers his right arm free from where it was resting, supporting Dream's head as he sleeps. The mattress dips and the blankets fall from his body as he pushes himself backwards and sits up on the edge of the bed, facing away from Dream's sleeping form.

Sunlight pools in from the round windows on either side of the bed and Nick plants his feet firmly on the floor. A noise comes from Dream, a mix between a huffed breath and a small whine and Nick sucks in a breath. He brushes it off, letting out a quiet laugh, telling himself that Dream's upset he moved because of the loss of warmth.

That's the reason.

Another quiet laugh and Nick's standing, stretching his arms above his head and listening to the cracks and pops of his spine as his muscles and bones get used to standing again. He reaches up and closes his hand around the soft, dark blue fabric of the curtain. It's pulled across the window and blocks a little bit of the light. Nick moves quietly around the bed and closes the curtain over the other window.

He looks down at Dream, at his still and sleeping form. His friend looks peaceful, lips slightly parted and chest rising and falling in time with his snores. Blond hair is in his face, not long enough to cover the freckles that spatter across the bridge of his nose, but long enough to fall against his closed eyelids. His knees are slightly bent and one arm is under his pillow while the other rests on the mattress in front of him.

Nick feels wrong for staring at his friend for so long while he sleeps; he feels like a creep. He tears his eyes away and shakes his head to clear his thoughts.

As he walks around the bed again, he can feel the slight vibrations of the cruise ship's engines through the floor and he has the sudden realization of remembering that they're moving. Despite having just closed them, he yanks the curtains back from the window on his side of the bed and stands on his tiptoes to look out of it.

Ocean spans before him, as far as he can see in front and to the sides, through the glass of the small window. It's bright blue, matching beautifully with the blue of the sky and the shine of the sun. There are a few clouds in the sky, pure white and fluffy, and Nick presses his palms flat against the wall to lean in closer to the window. The tip of his nose presses against the glass and he hears a snort to his left.