twelve days of christmas

6 days - back to shore

𝖙𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖌𝖊𝖗 𝖜𝖆𝖗𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖘 𝖑𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖉 𝖎𝖓 𝖔𝖕𝖊𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖆𝖚𝖙𝖍𝖔𝖗'𝖘 𝖓𝖔𝖙𝖊

*͛ ͙͛ ⁑͛⋆͛*

sapnap has his head down against the counter, arms crossed under him like a pillow. he is completely away from the world, unaware of the people around him and the continuous ticking of time. there's a heavy chance the ravenette has fallen asleep at some point during his strop.

george is standing across the shop, reorganising a few mugs that are hanging off hooks on the front of a shelving unit. the brunette says he's making the place look nicer, but dream can't actually tell much of a difference from when his friend started fiddling thirty-odd minutes ago now.

dream glances down at sapnap beside him, listening carefully to hear his friend's soft, regular breathing. he slides out of his chair, quietly walking around the tables and cabinets in the centre of the store to find george at the other end. quietly, he asks, "what's up with him today?"

george looks back over towards the counter, presumably just taking in the sight of his sleeping boyfriend. he shrugs a little, but still answers, "just feeling rough. you know how some days he just gets really emotionally drained. it's probably leftover tiredness from yesterday."

dream nods, he does know. he's been here for every step of sapnap's journey with narcolepsy even before he got diagnosed as a pre-teen. he's been there for the victories and the battles, and he will continue to be there for the rest of forever. he has seen how sapnap's mind can just shut off sometimes, on a day that would otherwise be completely normal. often, nothing ever happens to make him feel so distant, he just wakes up and wants to give in.

dream thinks it's because his friend always tries to put his all into his life. he is always smiling and laughing, trying to always stay positive even in the face of adversity. he refuses to let his condition get the best of him and, therefore, oftentimes goes out and does things on days when he should realistically be resting - his doctors suggested that may be why he has such regular sleep attacks, because he keeps overworking himself, but the ravenette always says he'd rather pass out a few times than miss out on a day just lying in bed. dream thinks this all builds up over time, which is what leads to crashes like this when his friend just... switches off.

"he was awake before me today and he was like, shaken," george adds quietly, putting down the vase that was in his hands to turn and fully face sapnap, leaning his back against the surface behind him and crossing his arms over his chest. "he wouldn't tell me why but i think he had sleep paralysis last night. he just wants to seem strong, i think."

dream keeps nodding. "should i get some advil from out back in case he wakes up with a proper headache?" he asks. he doesn't even know if sapnap was ever really in pain or if it was just his bad mood that made him mumble, 'you guys give me a fucking headache,' while george and dream were laughing over a suspiciously phallic-shaped bauble. normally he would be the one to make those types of jokes, not frown upon them.

"nah. if he wants it, he can ask for it," george says, looking back at the shelf behind him. whispered, he adds, "he needs to learn to talk about his shit sometimes, you know?"