George had never experienced a storm before.

At least, not over the water.

Of course, his pod had told him of storms. Huge booming thunder, lightning striking through the sky, wind with the force of all his ancestors, waves churning and deadly!

But that was only on top. On the surface.

Every time a storm happened when he was with his pod, they'd swim into even deeper waters, where they weren't affected by the gods raining hellfire (or hell water, he guessed) (If that was even a thing).

A few times since being alone, he'd caught himself close enough to the surface to feel the uncomfortable waves and the loud noises, but he'd always managed to steer clear from it since then.

Even underwater, where it was muffled, the sounds scared him shitless.

So, of course, he would start to panic when a raging storm took over the skies.

George slept peacefully before a large clap echoed through the sky. He shot up, blearily rubbing his eyes as the sky started to bang its drums.

It shook the ship so hard that it swayed back and forth, and as George whipped around behind him, he could see harsh rain splattering against the closed window with tremendous force.

Fear shot up his spine as lightning flashed through the sky. The sound of shoes being put on quickly made him turn, his grip deadly strong on the glass, so much he'd be worried that it would shatter if he wasn't already preoccupied.

Dream was hopping on one foot, shoving his shoes on as he threw on a coat. His mask still covered his face, but George could tell the man was worried.

He shot past George, who opened his mouth to call out something, but was interrupted by Dream yelling "I'll be back! Have to help the crew and secure our stuff!"

Despite there being a hallway before the door, he could still see the raging winds and rain before the door slammed shut.

George's heart was beating fast, so much that he felt like he might throw it up any minute now.

He whimpered as thunder boomed through the sky, another flash of light accompanying it. He curled into himself as tight as he could and pushed his hands over his ears.

They did not do much to rid of the sound, but it was better than nothing.

George's breath came out in short and sharp gasps as the storm continued on. He hadn't even noticed he was crying until the salty taste of his tears threatened his mouth.

He clenched his teeth as thunder boomed again, the ship croaking an ominous sound as it tipped back and forth, his eyes screwed shut as the water around him sloshed back and forth.

He tried to put his mind on something else, in an attempt to block out everything going on around him, but it was fruitless.

He sat there shivering, eyes clenched shut, as he tried to drown everything out.

"Oh my sweetness..." a soft voice called out, somehow overpowering the storm.

George blinked his eyes open slightly.

"Mum?"

His mother sat in front of him, tail curled beneath her, long brown locks of hair glinting as lightning flashed.

She had a gentle smile on her face, her familiar eyes twinkling with love.

She moved her hand over to George's face, stroking it softly. It felt cold to the touch. Like ice.

Despite the cold, George leaned into the touch, not once breaking the gaze him and his mother were sharing.

She smiled and leaned forward, planting a small kiss on his forehead.

"You mustn't be afraid, my darling." she murmured, as George's tear-stained face crumbled with sadness.

"I'm scared mum, I'm scared-"

"I know. It'll be okay."

"I don't know what to do, mum-" she shushed him with a familiar smile.

"You're brave, George. So very brave. I love you."

"I- I love you too mum-" she stroked a tear off of his face, a sad smile taking place of the one before.

"You'll be okay." she murmured again, and George's heart squeezed.

"Please- please don't. Don't go." she sighed softly, leaning forward and pressing her delicate hand to his chest, resting over his heart.

"I'm always here."

George didn't respond. He just stared up at her in complete and utter sadness, still shaking, but not noticing the storm any longer.

She placed her hands on both sides of his shoulders, and said: "Hey." George furrowed his brows in confusion. What?

she said again, shaking his shoulders.

"What-"

"Hey!" and suddenly, his mother was not there. Instead, in her place, was Dream, yelling out to get George's attention.

He kneeled in front of George, hands on the merman's shoulders as he shook him.

George seemed to snap back into the present, as he looked up at Dream's face, still violently shaking.

"I'm okay!" George snapped, as Dream continued to shake him.

Dream stopped, moving his hands to rest on the glass edge.

"Are- are you sure?" Dream asked, worry lacing his tone, "I just came back and you were shaking, and you looked so scared! You were muttering something, I- don't know-" George took a deep breath, making Dream pause from his rant.

George stared at where Dream's eyes should be under the mask.

"...Are you sure you're okay?" Dream questioned hesitantly, and George paused for a second, before letting tears stream out of his eyes.

He sobbed, his body shaking. He said nothing. He just sat there and cried. Like a baby.

Was George crazy? He felt like it.

Dream leaned forward, putting his hands back on George's shoulders.

He gave him a pat and rubbed his shoulder.

"It's okay." Dream murmured, "You're fine."

George pushed away all instinctual thoughts to get the fuck away, and gripped onto Dream's sleeves, vision blurred from the tears.

Dream let the brunette hold him. They sat like that for a while, until George's tears had calmed down and the storm had moved into a gentle pitter-patter of rain.

George sighed sleepily, hiccuping slightly from his crying. Dream carefully peeled himself out of George's grip, who looked at him with a pained expression on his face.

"It's okay. I'm just grabbing something." Dream said quietly, before standing and walking to the corner he slept in.

George's arms hurt from the uncomfortable angle he'd been in before, but he didn't care. He felt a small pang of guilt for holding Dream over the glass, it must not have been incredibly comfortable, even though he was sitting down. He swatted that thought away quickly. He could worry about that the next day.

He watched Dream as the blonde picked up some things from the corner he'd been sleeping in. The man grabbed his pillow and blanket, before dragging it back over to George.

He flashed a quick and reassuring smile as George looked at him in worry.

Dream let the pillow flop onto the floor next to George's glass box, sitting down with a gentle sigh.

He tucked himself under the blanket and looked up at George, who was leaning over the side of the glass, looking at him with a peculiar look on his face. How odd. George studied him for a moment, taking note of the fact that his mask was still on, and that Dream apparently just slept on his back all the time. It must be uncomfortable. George wondered why he was like that.

"What are you doing?" he murmured to the man below, and Dream smiled up at him.

"Sleepover." What? Was this some human thing he didn't know about? He narrowed his eyes at the man, his face still flushed from crying. Whatever. Now wasn't the time to question Dream about weird human shit. He was too tired for that.

George leaned back and went underwater. He was level with Dream now. The blonde looked at him through the water and smiled.

George blinked, his hair gliding gently in the water before he let out a little smile.

They laid there like that for a moment, looking at each other. George decided right then and there that Dream was an incredibly bizarre human.

He confused George so much. From all the stories he'd heard as a kid...humans were supposed to be bad. And yeah, don't get him wrong, Dream and his crew had kidnapped him, they'd already been over that, but Dream was...different. He had reasons for it. Nothing selfish like for money. He didn't want George's tears for himself, he was forced to do it.

Dream was- well, he was nice. He was the opposite of those horror stories he'd been told growing up. George wondered, if only all humans could be like Dream, then maybe, just maybe, their species could co-exist.

George snorted to himself. That was highly unlikely. But hopeful thinking wasn't always a bad thing.

George bit his lip, reminding himself of his rules like he did every single day.

Trust no one, help no one, take care of yourself, and only yourself.

George never had the urge to break his rules before. His rules kept him safe. But he found himself breaking all of them recently. And surprisingly, he didn't feel that bad about it.

He gazed at Dream for a moment longer, before casting his eyes to the top of water that rippled close to his face. He ignored it and stared at the roof.

He brought his hands to his chest and held them there.

Maybe, just maybe, he could accept the idea of tweaking his rules. He glanced over to Dream, who was curled up in his blanket, his mouth parted as he slept, and smiled.

Yeah. Maybe.

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

Hello friends!!! This chapter is short. I am sorry. But I hope I satisfied people who like both angst and comfort!!

If you haven't already noticed, I've been aiming to update every day, and I'm doing my best! But tomorrow I'm getting my haircut and then I have commitments after that and I don't know if I will have time to write a chapter. I will do my best- and if my plans end earlier than expected I might be able to bust one out in the evening, but I'm not entirely sure.

Thanks for all the support!!

Happy reading!!!

-Bee

(22/1/21)

Co-posted on ao3