———————————————————————

———————————————————————

"Cherish the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart."

-

———————————————————————

—•—

George's face burned as the gladiator peeled away from him to cross the room and open the door. He then sat up in his bed and leaned against the large amount of pillows, ignoring the searing pain in his back.

A servant stood in the now opened doorway and, after bowing, he cast the gladiator a fearful glance, before addressing the emperor.

"Your highness, I have splendid news!" The servant exclaimed. "Your mother has caught wind of your injuries, and is on her way this very instant!"

George's face immediately paled. The colour that had tainted him before was now washed away like the tide. His mother was on her way.

"Thank you, that'll be all." The emperor dismissed the servant and, as Dream slammed the door shut, George cradled his face in his hands.

"You don't seem thrilled at all." Dream said, crossing the room to stand beside the bed again. This time, he was a bit further away.

George shook his head tiredly. "My mother is coming to see me."

"Are you not excited to see her?"

"No."

Dream hummed in realisation. "I take it that you're not terribly fond of your mother, are you?"

"Not in the slightest," George dropped his hands and looked at Dream. "Even before my father died, she had always cast me out. She never wanted children, but my father needed a male heir to succeed the throne, so I guess she was happy to get a boy the first time."

Dream took a seat on the very edge of the bed near George's feet as the emperor continued, relaying everything he wanted too.

"My father and mothers marriage was arranged, of course, but she didn't mind. She got to marry into Roman royalty, after all. When she fell pregnant, she vowed that if it was a girl, that she would cast it into the streets of Rome. So, imagine how she felt when she had a boy?"

Dream wondered whether this was a rhetorical question, so he remained silent. George pondered for a moment, admiring the stars visible beyond the window.

"My father was happy that I was a boy, but my mother... well, she just did not want to be a mother. All my life, I was looked after by servants and guards as my mother partied and travelled. When my father wasn't commanding the army, or leading the empire, he was training me on how to be the next emperor, and how to be a man."

George steadied himself with a deep breath, then proceeded, under the watchful gaze of Dream.

"Throughout my teenage years, I trained to be the next ruler of Rome and I trained to be a legionary soldier. I could never quite get the grasp of greed and brutality, and my father resented me for it and so did my mother. I just... couldn't be cruel. I couldn't kill people. So, when my father died, the whole empire looked to me for guidance, and that's a lot of stress on someone like me."

Dream listened carefully, allowing the emperor to spill words from his mouth freely. He wished not to interrupt, for this ranting seemed to be good for the emperor, and the young mans troubled conscience.

"So, to answer your previous question, no. No, I am not fond of my mother, because she never really was a mother to me. As soon as my father died, and I ascended the throne, she left. She quickly took a large fortune, and fled Rome to retire to my fathers country home hundreds of kilometres away. She doesn't care about me, and the fact that she's on her way, is incredibly suspicious."

"Do you have reason to worry about ulterior motives?" Dream asked, and this was the first time he had spoken for a number of long minutes.

George shook his head. "No. She may resent me, but she'd never want me hurt. She's also fucking stupid, and couldn't even kill me if she tried."

Dream's lips quirked beneath his mask in a poor attempt of a smile, but he brushed it away. What the emperor said wasn't meant to be funny, but Dream couldn't help but exhale sharply through his nose in amusement.

"She'll be here in the morning," George said, with a voice full of dread. "So... I better get some sleep."

Dream took this as his cue to get to his feet as the emperor nestled back into his bed, attempting to get comfortable. But he couldn't, and he puffed angrily when pain coursed through his legs.

"Is it your legs?" Dream asked, and George nodded, screwing his eyes shut and he bent his knees upwards, trying to release the aching pains.

Dream reached over and plucked a pillow from near George's head; being one of many. He then pulled back the covers and, in one large hand, lifted George's legs up by the back of his knees. He did this so gently that Emperor George hadn't realised.

The gladiator then placed the pillow beneath the emperors knees, and settled his legs back on top of it. George immediately felt relaxed, and Dream stepped back anxiously, flipping the blankets back over the emperors lower body.

"Is that alright?" Dream asked.

George nodded. "It is, thank you."

"Do you need anything else?"

George shook his head. "No, no, that'll be all. Thank you, Dream. And... goodnight."

Dream bowed respectfully, with one hand at his side, and the other holding onto the handle of his sword. He bid the emperor goodnight and exited the room, before posting himself right outside the door.

He had accepted that he wasn't going to be getting much sleep for a while.

—•—

The next morning, there was no sign of rain. The sky was a brilliant blue, dotted with the tiniest whispers of clouds near the sky's edge. Birds chirped noisily from their perches high atop the trees, and butterflies floated through the air, winding themselves between the flowering shrubs of George's garden.

Dream's eyes were heavy with sleep as he stepped into the emperors room, just as the royal doctor stepped out. The doctor concluded that all George needed now was rest and plenty of water.

"Good morning, your highness." Dream murmured, stifling a yawn. If it wasn't for the mask, the emperor would have seen how tired the gladiator looked.

"Good morning, Dream. Did you have a good sleep?" George returned, sipping from his cup of tea.

Dream shrugged. "I've had better."

George hummed, placing his tea cup on the side table with a slightly trembling hand. His arms felt weak and bruised and he knew he needed to reserve most of his strength for when he had to deal with his mother.

George cleared his throat. "Right, well, I need to go to the bathroom."

Dream nodded. "Okay."

A silent moment passed before George said: "Dream."

"Yes, your highness?"

"I can't walk on my own."

"Oh, right." Dream hurried over to lend the emperor his arm. George grabbed onto the gladiators bicep and gingerly lifted himself from the bed.

With small steps, Dream led the emperor across the room and through the door, into the adjacent bathroom. After a few minutes, Dream led the emperor back out and helped him onto his bed.

"I want to get out of these clothes," George said, plucking at his thin night shirt. "I feel dirty."

Dream nodded diligently, crossing the room to throw open the emperors extensive wardrobe. He reached in and pulled out a green toga.

"I can just wait for Karl to get here, you know." George told Dream as the blond walked up to him with a toga.

Dream held out the toga. "Wear this."

"What?"

"Wear this. It's pretty."

George eyed the gladiator, before taking the toga and admiring the soft material. It was a light, almost pale green, with silver detailing around the hem and the belt along the waist.

George looked up at Dream. "Will you help me put it on, or am I waiting for Karl?"

"I can help." Dream muttered, helping George to his feet and began stripping the emperor of his clothes.

George wanted to make some sort of crude joke as the gladiator slowly unwound the emperors shirt, but he kept his lips sealed. Instead, he secretly relished in the warmth of the gladiators hands hovering over his abdomen.

Dream peered at the bandages wrapped around the emperors midriff, and he reached a finger out to tug at the bottom of it.

George noticed this. "It's—"

"—Spiders web, I know. My mother used to dress my wounds in it as well."

Dream shunned the saddening memory away from his brain as he dragged his hands down George's body, sliding the pants down with it. George almost felt the need to hold his breath, before Dream got to his knees, green toga in his hands.

"Put your feet through, your highness." Dream urged.

As not to lose balance, George placed his hands on Dream's broad shoulders and lifted one foot. With a surprisingly gentle touch, the gladiator held the emperors heel and guided his legs through the base of the toga, and repeated this for the other leg.

Dream then worked the toga up the emperors body, slowly getting to his feet as he did so. George's hands still held onto Dream's shoulders as the gladiator returned to full height, causing the emperor to stretch his arms upwards.

Aching, and slightly embarrassed, George dropped his hands, but caught onto Dream's arms, wrapping his fingers around the crook of Dream's elbows as the gladiator wrapped him in the toga.

"Are you sure you haven't done this before?" George laughed and Dream smiled.

"No, your highness, I have not."

"Well, you're doing a very good job. Almost better then Karl, actually. Maybe you should take his job instead." George joked as Dream tightened the ribbon around George's waist.

Now finished, Dream settled George back onto the bed, and crossed the room again, walking up to George's vanity to take a shiny emerald broach.

George suddenly gasped and Dream whirled around, sword already flying from its scabbard.

"Oh my gods!"

"What?" Dream spun, searching the room.

"My jewels! They're back!" George exclaimed, clasping his hands together, motioning towards the jewels that Dream had been searching through.

Taking a deep breath and putting his sword away, Dream returned to stand before the emperor, holding the emerald broach.

"Yes, I managed to find the man responsible and retrieve most of it," Dream said, pinning the broach to the front of George's toga. "Some of it is missing, but the bulk of it is all there."

George almost choked up. "Thank you, Dream."

"No problem, your highness." Dream replied, stepping back to grab the mirror by the closet, holding it up to show George.

"Oh."

Dream smiled. "You look very pretty."

George lowered his head to hide his blush. "Thank you... all I need now is makeup."

Dream put the mirror away. "Yeah, no. You're going to need Karl for that. I don't do makeup."

George laughed at Dream's serious tone. "Of course. Karl will be more that happy to help me. But, if you want, I could put some on you?"

"I wear a mask."

"And?"

"No one sees my face."

George clicked his tongue. "True. But I can imagine how gorgeous—"

He stopped himself.

Bad George!, he cursed himself, but it was too late.

Dream's head moved ever so slightly to the side, and George could almost feel the smile beneath the mask.

"Would you like to finish that sentence, your highness?"

George shook his head adamantly. "No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Now, uh, ding dong. Oh! Was that the doorbell? My mother is here already! I better go and answer the door—!"

George went to move, but was immediately stopped by Dream, who pushed the emperor down into the mattress.

"You don't have a doorbell, and your mother is not here yet," Dream murmured, running a finger along the emperors jawline. "But for now, I have a job to do."

With that, Dream straighten his posture and swept into a bow, leaving the room and leaving George to gape silently at the door.

But then, as almost as though he had manifested it, the sound of horses echoed up the driveway.

George groaned as a few trumpets sounded.

His mother was here.

———————————————————————

Hey homies, this is an authors note!

Dream: *breathes*

George: 😩😍🤤

Dream: 🤨🧐😏

This chapters question/statement: who's your favourite member of the dsmp and why?

Until next time,

Blue :)