Begonias

Chapter Eighteen|Laid Back

Dream groaned as the hot water of the shower soothed his bug bites, the way they burned feeling more satisfying than painful.

In hindsight, sleeping outside, on a balcony, during a Texas summer night? A horrible idea. But Dream was drowsy and incoherent, so could you really blame him?

The mosquitos were ruthless, showing no mercy on his exposed skin. Dream had counted at least ten new bites.

Dream let his mind water in the hot and steamy bathroom, it drifting into places it had no right being, but eventually, everything lead to George.

Dream found himself thinking of the boy, and how much more petite he was compared to himself. He thought about how easy he would be to lift, or even to pin against a wall...

He thought of the boy's smile, his lips... He thought about how his laugh sounded over the phone, peaceful and serene, and then he thought about how it would feel to have him whisper in his ear after a long day streaming...

He leaned his head against the shower wall, thinking about how it would feel to hold his small hand, how those hands would feel...

As the bathroom filled with steam, Dream found it harder to breathe. He had lost track of time, and the water was hot enough to make his skin tingle.

Dream knew he was fucked when he first had the urge to cough, but by then it was too late. By the time he had turned off the water and opened the bathroom door to let fresh air filter in, he was hunched over the toilet, hacking and coughing.

Petal after petal came up his throat. It had been a while since his last episode, and this hellish disease was snapping back with a vengeance.

He felt tears leak from his eyes because of the burning in his throat, and as much as he tried to literally change his mind, all he could think about was George.

George, rubbing his back as he coughed up a scene from hell.

George, laughing with him at Sapnap's shenanigans.

George, eating breakfast with him and complimenting Bad's cooking.

George, kissing him on the cheek after he bought a present for him.

George. George. George.

The water was a deep red when he finally got the chance to catch his breath, his thoughts of the sweet things he could do with the one he loved being his own downfall.

Dream rested his forehead on the clean seat of the toilet, breathing heavily, his body crumpled.

He needed a second to breathe.

---

Dream had decided today was a sweater day, throwing on a pair of basketball shorts and his green sweater; his own merch, dinky smile and all.

He felt himself sighing as he put a copper teapot on the stovetop, enough water in it for a cup of coffee in his own French press.

Dream didn't know who had brought the teapot, but if he had to guess, it'd be Sapnap. The boy loved coffee, and he was the whole reason Dream and Bad grabbed three different flavors of creamer from the store the other day.

Dream yawned as he poured the scalding hot water into the press, along with his favorite coffee, Death Wish. It was the world's most caffeinated coffee, and Sam had bought him a bag of it as a gag gift, but Dream had really taken a liking to it.

Dream pressed it, pouring the nectar of the gods into his own mug, which was a fan-made one with his little blob boi printed on it.

He dumped in a couple of packets of Splenda, stirring it and taking a sip, humming in satisfaction. It was just barely hot enough to burn, but in a good way, the way that woke him up enough to take the next sip.

He nearly melted into the couch as he sat down, grabbing the remote to turn on the TV. Today was just one of those days that he didn't feel like doing anything at all, other than watching Netflix, listening to music, and reading.

And he smiled a bit as he started playing a movie he hadn't seen yet, 'A Whisker Away'.

---

Dream would be lying if he said he hadn't gotten emotional at least once during the one hour and a forty four-minute duration of the film.

Now, he wouldn't go as far as to say he had cried, but he definitely wanted to punch the antagonist in his sadly adorable booper snoot at least twice. And he's not usually a violent person.

Unless it was Minecraft Manhunt. That is a completely different story.

He smiled to himself as he read the notification that Bad was streaming, and when he checked without a face cam. He got an idea, his smile widening further.

Dream grabbed a muffin off of the counter, one of the ones he made yesterday. He climbed up the stairs, being as quiet as possible. He snuck to Bad's room, opening the door quietly. Bad's setup was on the opposite side of the room, parallel to the door.

He closed the door softly behind him, sneaking over to Bad. He was wearing a headset and talking to Stream enthusiastically.

Dream pulled his phone out, going on his alt twitch and donating ten dollars to tell Bad to look behind him. Bad didn't hear it, but the chat spammed it after the donation, and eventually, he saw.

"What? Guys, my camera isn't even on, what do you mean 'look behind you'?" And then he turned, and let out an ear-piercing scream. He barely remembered to mute his mic before he chewed Dream out, wide-eyed and clutching the part of his shirt above his heart.

"DREAM, OH MY GOD-" Bad yelled, before Sapnap burst into the door, an unplugged lamp in his hands.

"WHAT HAPPE- Dream, I swear to fuck," Sapnap said, taking deep breaths, just as scared as Bad was.

Dream couldn't stop wheezing, and he was lucky he had already had an episode, or else this definitely would've triggered one.

He laughed as he handed the muffin to bad, which he snatched, saying something along the lines of 'you better freaking give me a muffin after that', which only made Dream wheeze again.

He loved these people, and if he wasn't already dying, he would definitely give his life for them.

Second chapter of the day.