Double Whammy: A Two-Fic Special (DNF)

Finding a Rose in a Garden of Irises, Love's Not a Game But His War (pt 2)

Hiding from his friends in Minecraft while they're trying to hunt him down and murder him is one thing, something Dream's used to and getting easier with every day. But hiding recently-uncovered feelings from his best friend so he doesn't find out is another thing, something Dream isn't used to and getting harder with every day. Roughly a month had passed since that fateful night, and it was easily one of the hardest months of his entire life.

The simple and joking "I love you"s he was used to playfully telling George almost on the daily immediately became almost impossible to get out, his heart wanting to put every ounce of feeling and truth behind it. What used to be zero hesitation and a confident tone was reduced to a hesitant buffer and a more meekly tone, something Dream begged the life out of nobody- either George or his viewers- could pick up on. The shippy teases he was so used to making without a care in a world or without a moment of thought suddenly become hyperaware to him, almost feeling his voice waver with nervousness each time.

And that was only while he was in front of a camera, performing for an audience, where it was easier to shove his feelings down. It became harder, increasingly harder, once the cameras were off and the two of them were alone together.

Because there was no barrier to hide behind, no persona to keep up to distract himself, to coward himself behind. It was these moments that his heart and mind argued the most, his head saying what he was doing was a necessary self-sacrifice in order to save his friendship with George, his heart screaming that he's simply just a coward. He wished he knew which it was, just for a moment of peace in his life. But luck wasn't on his side, and he had no clue.

"So I was thinking, next challenge, we can try to code it to where hostile mobs like creepers and zombies switch properties or something," George was explaining his idea, grounding Dream back to reality before he was zoning out, a recently common occurrence nowadays. "That, or we can try to randomize the properties, make it hard to tell what each mob would do."

"I mean, it shouldn't be too hard, we were able to give all mobs the properties of a creeper before," Dream replied casually, grateful for the distraction in the form of a conversation about coding. Even though George was the reason he got into coding to begin with....

"Yeah, that's why I thought of it, I was remembering that video," George happily stated, falling silent when Dream replied with a distant "Hmm", Dream suddenly feeling like ending the call and getting as far away from his computer and George as possible.

"Hey," came the sudden serious and concerned voice from George, all edges dropped, his voice like silk to his ears. "Are you okay? You haven't been acting like yourself lately, if that makes sense... Are you getting enough sleep?"

Shit. Dream wasn't being as stealthy as he thought he was. Slight panic began to settle on his shoulders as Dream swallowed nervously, wracking his mind for an excuse. Sleep, he said something about sleeping.

"It's nothing," Dream tried to reply as casually as possible, "My neighbors just got a new dog and he barks all night. I've been kept up a lot these past few nights, but it's nothing."

"You can always file for a noise complaint, you live in an apartment, right?" was George's immediate response, and Dream internally sighed in relief, glad George took the excuse without suspicion.

"Nah, it's not worth it," Dream replied. "I think I overheard them talking about giving him away because he keeps barking, so I'll be fine."