ORPHANED

:: forty ::

dream watched as george grabbed the strings of his hoodie, pulling him in closer. george stood on his tiptoes to reach up and press a soft kiss to the corner of dream's mouth.

the blonde short circuited.

he felt his breath hitch, pressing a finger to where to the others lip previously lingered. he was sure he was going to pass out several times.

"that shut you up pretty quickly."

dream focused his gaze on the smug boy in front of him.

"i'll keep that in mind." george smiled, noting the flush on the blonde's face.

he was caught with a bright fiery red blush, there was no going back from here. "you're such a tease." he pressed his cool hands into his cheeks.

"you act like such a big strong man until someone makes a move on you. that's kind of embarrassing." george smirked at him.

"you can't just do that, you caught me off guard."

"you're so dumb." george rolled his eyes, feeling shy under the dumbstruck gaze of the blonde. "aren't we getting on the roof?"

dream attempted to steady his heart, focusing on anything but the heat he felt for the man in front of him. "right."

he assisted george onto the rooftop, before pulling himself up. they sat far from the edge, cautious of their foot placement. dream had a strong sentiment with sitting on roofs. it brought him back to when he was younger.

"i've never sat on a roof before."

dream turned to glance at the sky before smiling at george, who sat beside him. "your roof isn't as comfortable as mine is."

george scoffed, "i didn't think i'd ever be self conscious about how comfortable my roof is."

dream's laugh prompted gentle giggles from george.

"did you have fun today?" he observed the way the stars reflected in the other's eyes.

"that's a dumb question." george shook his head, scratching his knee to distract himself.

"are you going to answer me though?" dream faked a pout, turning to george and bumping their shoulders.

"of course i had fun." george looked up to smile and roll his eyes at dream.

"i'm glad." they sat for a while, appreciating their time together. he placed his board between them, scratching at the peeling stickers on the deck.

"what does that mean?" dream's eyes followed george's finger to the sticker he was picking at.

"my friends from back home put those there so i wouldn't forget them." he wasn't sure why he felt george deserved to know.

"you don't talk about them a lot."

dream shook his head, turning away from the board, avoiding the guilt that bubbled in his stomach. he stared up at the sky.

"what we're they like?"

dream sighed, "i could go on forever." he turned to laugh with george, only to be met with a patient smile.

"i think we have time." george gestured around to the world that seemed to be on hold. no one was out, the sun still hiding from the sky.

dream turned to his board, staring at a faded pink sticker. "well i think i should start with the story of how i met techno." he imagined how the man would look now.

"it isn't an easy story to follow, it's hard to explain...we lived in the same cul-de-sac, we went to the same school, had all the same classes, it was weird. we didn't know each other very well but we both seemed to agree that we hated one another." dream could feel george's eyes concentrated on him.

"we were really competitive about a lot of things. he had the upper hand because he was older than me, but i will never forget how devastated he got when i grew a few inches taller than him." dream picked at the skin of his hands. turning his mind away from the unanswered text in his phone.

"i think that's when we started to push aside our differences. we finally realized how much we actually had in common and started to be friends. my sister was livid, she never thought she'd see the day."

dream turned to smile at george when he heard quiet laughter. he joined in, before his mind wandered back into the past. he smiled at the memories, and moved his hand to pick at another sticker.

"when you live in a cul-de-sac the closest people to you are your neighbors, as i got to know him better i also got to know our neighbors; tommy, tubbo, wilbur, and philza. techno was close with all of them, so when i joined in they were quick to accept me." he smiled at the reminders of their mischief.

"tommy and tubbo were something, let me tell you. i always felt like an older brother to them, no matter how many times tommy protested. alone they were some random kids, but together they helped get me and techno into some challenging problems."

he picked at a perfectly intact sticker of a stick man. holding what looked to be the sun.

"wilbur usually spent his time hanging out with them, but i didn't see him very often. philza on the other hand was as close to me as techno was, even though he was a little older. he's actually the one who taught me how to skate. he bought me my first skateboard and helped me set it up."

dream pointed to the lime green graphic of his board. scratching off some of the print.

"techno was one of the first people, i wasn't related to, that i wished the world would get better for. i never wanted to see him unhappy, he deserved a lot, i wanted the world to satisfy his dreams. i only felt that way for another person a little while ago."

george was flattered, he never expected to be sharing such a personal moment with dream. he blushed, "who was it?"

dream smiled at him, turning back to the sky. "sapnap."

—

oh, lore?