ORPHANED

:: fifty-six ::

"i could get used to that."

"yeah, well don't, you'll never hear it again."

"never?"

george shook his head.

"and what if i call you...daddy?" he paused for dramatics, watching as george gripped the cat harder.

"please, for the love of god, stop flirting in front of me, you're making me feel lonely." quackity fake cried as he pulled at the curtains of the photo booth, wiping his face on the fabric.

dream and george rolled their eyes, trying to avoid listening to the wails of the man for any longer.

"how are we going to cramp five nearly grown men into this photo booth?" karl stood inside the booth, pressing buttons that most likely did nothing at the moment.

"push." sapnap was quick to answer.

and so they did. they pushed, most likely more then they ever would need to, but they made it work. they took a handful of pictures everyone contributing to buy a strip with their preferred theme. quackity and karl insisted on the cat theme, though decided not to elaborate exactly why.

"okay now make a kiss face." quackity would say,

they'd all pretend to kiss the air. sapnap and karl would then try to push george and dream into each other, sighing when they were overpowered, yet tried again. a lot of the photos turned out blurry for this exact reason.

"you guys need to learn how to control yourselves, we aren't dumb enough to fall for that." george rolled his eyes, grounding his feet.

"why are you trying to avoid it?" quackity spoke with a smirk on his face. neither of the guys spoke.

"looks like it's time to go out to eat." sapnap spoke, clasping his hands together as he collected the strips of photos allowing the other boys to leave the booth. quackity and karl walked beside sapnap, looking through the pictures they had just taken.

george returned to dream's side, pressing back a yawn that still made its way off his lips.

"you're always tired." dream frowned at him.

"my roommate is loud." george seemed to recall a specific memory.

"i'll have to kidnap you and have you sleep at my house. it's like you're barely sleeping."

"you wouldn't have to kidnap me, i'd much rather sleep with you."

before dream could enjoy the blush that came across his face, sapnap turned to speak to the two.

"were thinking of going to a restaurant?" he searched the guys faces for any sign they disapproved. "restaurant it is." quackity and karl cheered from beside the boy.

**

for having chosen what sapnap insisted was just a casual restaurant, they all seemed extremely underdressed compared to the formal attire everyone else in the booths wore.

"so much for casual." karl stepped on sapnap's foot.

they stood at the podium in the dimly lit restaurant, it wasn't long before they were being seated.

"and are you here on a double date?" she glanced between karl and sapnap, dream and quackity, her eyes persistent on george. dream knew exactly what she was thinking.

"do we get a discount if we're on a date?" sapnap glanced between his group.

"no." their waitress, emily, or whatever she had said her name was, found her interest in george.

"then we're on a date." karl answered for sapnap.

"but you've got the couples wrong." sapnap rested his arm on karl's shoulder, "me, karl, quackity, and then dream and george."

"oh." she glanced up at the look on dream's face, turning away with embarrassment evident in her demeanor. "i'm sorry." she handed them the menu's.

"it's all good, right dream?" sapnap kicked dream's leg from under the table.

dream bit the inside of his cheek as he nodded with a forced smile at the dark haired girl. she nodded back and quickly stepped away.

"jealous dream is scary as fuck." quackity spoke from in between karl and dream. karl's laugh was loud in the hushed conversations around them. dream made a motion to look down at george, who wore a proud smile on his face.

"we don't fit in with anyone here." sapnap darted his eyes around the establishment. "we might get jumped if we joke about stocks."

"got it, no talking about stocks." karl pretended to write the words onto the menu with an imaginary pen.

george pulled at the sleeve of dream's sweatshirt, waiting to earn all of the blonde's attention. "you don't think she's pretty?"

dream's smile faltered, yet returned to his face, trying to be supportive for his friend.

"do you want me to get her number for you?" he could feel himself clenching his teeth, trying to keep up with the happy look on his face.

"dream, i'm just joking."

he blinked at george. "not funny."

"it was a little funny."

"it wasn't."

"i like jealous dream."

dream rolled his eyes, smiling.

"what do you want to eat?" george picked up a menu, flicking through all the pages much too quickly to get a valid opinion on all of the food.

"what do you want?" dream, peeked around george's shoulder to see what he was focused on.

"i was told they have really good sushi here, and i want to try it."

"you like sushi?"

george nodded. "love sushi."

dream watched as george face turned over as he probably thought about the food. "i've never had."

george snapped back into reality at that, "what? you have to try it."

dream chuckled, "then i guess it's settled."

"do you know how to use chopsticks?" george set down the menu, no longer interested in browsing the different dishes. turning in the booth to face dream, their knees brushing underneath the table.

"no?"

george rolled his eyes, "i'll have to teach you."

"i can't be mad about that." dream smiled, watching as george picked up his hand. he inspected dream's fingers, tracing the veins that ran underneath his skin. george then rested dream's hand on his thigh, seeming to enjoy the warmth that generated.

george shyly smiled up at dream. "your hands are warm."

—

i have no idea if any part of this makes sense, i feel like my brain has escaped me