Despite George telling him to go, Dream came back almost two hours later.

George was preparing himself for another fight, considering that's what seemed to be a constant in their conversations, but he was surprised when Dream just came in and said nothing.

He wasn't sure which he preferred, the yelling, or the quiet. Both were extremely uncomfortable for the merman. When yelling, he had the fear of being killed for it, and when quiet, he had the fear of not knowing what was happening.

They sat there for about an hour, George lost in daydreams but keeping an eye on the other man, and Dream sitting there whistling or fumbling with things in the room.

But then Dream just up and left, leaving a confused George staring after him.

George proceeded to sit there, blowing his newfound fluffy hair up every time it flopped over his eyes, when Dream came back, not even ten minutes after his departure.

In Dream's hands was a book. George hummed in acknowledgement to himself while the blonde sat back down in his previous spot, flicking open the pages and diving into the words.

George watched him read (it's not creepy, okay?) and continued to blow his hair up.

Dream didn't move much. He'd sit there, and when his back ached, he'd shift slightly, but other than that, he was basically like a statue. Unspoken, unmoving. Just...existing.

His blonde hair flopped over his mask, and he pushed it back up, settling into the corner once again. George leaned against the side of the glass and rested his head on his arms.

Dream continued to read, not taking any notice of the merman, who huffed slightly to himself.

George narrowed his eyes for a moment when an interesting but also bothering thought came to his mind.

How on earth could Dream see through that mask? As far as he was aware, the smile and eyes were painted on, and he couldn't see any other way the man would be able to move around and see, let alone read.

Dream must have noticed George's gaze on him, because he looked away from his book to the merman, who was staring intently at him.

"What?" the man questioned, and George did not respond.

Dream stared at him for a moment, before sighing, shaking his head, and going back to his book, flicking the page over again gently.

George coughed to get Dream's attention, who looked up once more.

"What?" he repeated, and let out an annoyed huff when George didn't respond to him.

George had to bite back the smirk that was trying to push its way onto his face. Sure, he did want to know how Dream could see through that thing, but it was far more fun playing with the man. After everything that Dream had done, George had every single right to make their time together as annoying as possible. If he annoyed Dream to the point where he got fed up, maybe he'd stop hanging around in George's room. Wow, George was so smart. Good job George.

Dream continued to read, while the brunette had an idea.

He turned so he was at the other side of the glass tank, leaning his head on his arms like before on the side of the glass, before he lifted his tail from behind him, and let it collide with the water with a splash. The water sloshed around him, but only a little bit went over the edge.

Dream jumped in surprise, dropping his book. He looked up at George questioningly.

"What the hell was that for?" George made the executive decision to once again not respond.

Dream leaned over to pick up his book from where it had fallen, and he closed it shut with a sigh.

"It's your fault that I lost my page." he muttered, dropping the book onto the bench he was sitting on.

George resisted from rolling his eyes, considering Dream was looking at him, but in his mind, he was definitely rolling his eyes. Very much so.

The brunette turned and went back to his original position, sitting with his back up against the class, his tail tucked up closer to him.

"Are you just going to keep on ignoring me?" Dream asked while George pretended he didn't hear him, choosing to instead look at his sharp nails.

Dream stood up suddenly and clenched his hands.

"This is starting to get really annoying." he seethed, causing George to flinch at the quick movement.

Dream noticed this, and sighed, rubbing his chin with his hand, before plopping back down onto the seat behind him.

"Sorry." he said.

Dream carefully picked up his book, before he leaned back into a sitting position against the corner. He looked at George once more, before sighing, and trying to find his previous page.

George sunk under the water, fully submerging himself.

He was bored.

He was bored, tired, and in pain. His tail and muscles ached from not being able to swim. Sure, he could stretch, and that would alleviate the pain from his back momentarily, but it didn't last long, and it was definitely not the same.

George just wanted to be out of here. And if he couldn't at least have that, then he just wanted something to do.

About another hour went past. Half an hour or so ago, George had resurfaced, but Dream hadn't said anything to him.

Dream snapped the book shut, while George watched him, and left.

He came back two minutes later with a small ball.

He sat on the floor a few metres away from George's glass box, and held up the ball.

Dream dropped it, and it bounced up and down before being caught by the man again.

George watched in hesitant fascination at the human object. Dream smiled at that, and gently let the ball bounce towards George, who backed up a bit as it stopped against the glass in front of him.

Dream waited, a patient smile on his face, as George's hands gripped onto the sides of the glass. He peered over the edge curiously, and stared at the ball.

With one hand, he reached down and poked it.

It was kind of squishy. Rubbery. He picked it up, and looked back up at Dream.

The blonde nodded slightly, and George let it drop, just like Dream had. It bounced down and hit the floor, before coming right back up and landing in the water with a small splash.

George let out a squeak of surprise while Dream laughed, and he whipped his head up with a glare, which silenced the man.

The merman looked back down at the ball as it bobbled along in the water, and he picked it up.

He shook it slightly, to get rid of some of the water, before he moved forward again and bounced it towards Dream, who caught it in surprise.

Dream held it for a moment before he bounced it back to George, who, now knowing how to play, caught it quickly and bounced it back.

They continued the back and forth game for a while, George never once growing bored of it.

He hit it a little bit too hard that time, and it bounced stronger than it should have, hitting Dream right on the chin.

Dream rubbed his chin in surprise, while George froze in fear.

Stupid George, stupid George, stupid George. Now he's done it! He hit Dream, who was probably going to hit him back now. What was he thinking, playing that stupid game with the other man? He was risking getting himself hurt. Dream was probably going to get mad, scream at him or something. Maybe he'd take away the ball, or move him to a smaller room, or get rid of George's water!

George started to breathe rapid breaths in panic, his mind fogging up with bad thoughts.

"Woah, hey, it's okay!" Dream interrupted George's panic with a gentle voice.

George's head snapped up at the man, who was holding the ball, a soft smile on his face.

"It's okay, it was an accident! It didn't even hurt." Dream said, and George furrowed his brows in confusion.

"It would take more than a flimsy bouncy ball to take down the all-mighty pirate captain Dream! Don't worry about it." he continued, grinning, and George let out a hesitant but confused smile.

Dream bounced the ball back to George, who's breathing had slowed down and heart had stopped thrumming against his chest.

George grabbed onto the ball, and bounced it back to Dream, a lot more careful than before.

A few hours later, it had started to get dark, and Dream had disappeared off to what he assumed was dinner.

George's stomach grumbled at the thought, and he sighed sadly. He didn't want to ask for food, then Dream would know George was weak and would have something to exploit out of him.

Although...Dream had been pretty nice earlier. He'd controlled his temper and had even brought a game for George. Speaking of, George held the bouncy ball in his hand. He let it drop into the water and watched it as it bopped around for a bit.

Doing this took his mind off of food, which was a good escape.

About half an hour later, Dream was back. This was weird, because Dream should have gone to bed after eating, but instead he came here. And with him was a blanket and pillow.

He silently moved over to the corner of the room, next to the bench, and laid the pillow and blanket on the floor. Dream then looked over at George, who was watching him with a confused look on his face, and smiled.

He sat down on the blanket and folded it over himself, before giving George a thumbs up and blowing out the candle that was illuminating the room.

The room was enveloped in darkness, the only light coming from the moon that peaked through the parted window. George let his eyes adjust into night vision, which was always helpful for him when hunting and moving around the ocean when it was dark.

He saw Dream lay down and snuggle into the pillow. Does he seriously sleep with that mask on? Weird.

George bit his lip, trying to stifle his stomach from grumbling again.

He really, really wanted to ask Dream for food.

He watched as Dream laid there. He was peaceful. He looked harmless. So with that thought in his mind, George hesitantly opened his mouth to speak.

"Do you have any food?" he whispered into the room, and saw Dream sit up in bed.

"Pardon?" the man asked, and George rolled his eyes.

"Do you have any food?" he repeated, "I'm hungry."

Dream gasped, standing up quickly and flicking the small flame on. The room became light again.

George looked up in surprise at the sudden movement.

"Holy shit! I forgot to feed you!" Dream yelled, smacking himself on the side of his head, before running out of the room, the door slamming behind him.

George snorted to himself quietly, before leaning back against his tank.

"How curious." he murmured to himself and the empty room.

x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x

Hello, my friends!!

Back again with another chapter!!! I put way more fluff in here this time hehe.

I hoped you enjoyed!!! Have a wonderful day/night/afternoon/morning/whatever else exists

Happy reading!!

-Bee

(20/1/21)

Co-posted on ao3