Chapter Text
Dream was miserable, to say the least. Ever since he was found to be a witch, nobody wanted to visit him anymore. Everybody was too scared to even say hello whenever he went into town. It was lonely there, in his hut. All he had was his cat, Antfrost, to keep him company. This is why Dream avoided going out as much as he could, he was quickly growing tired of the hateful stares that always landed on him.
Dream let out a heavy sigh and began stroking Antfrost’s back, the cat purring softly as he did. “Oh Antfrost, do you think the village will ever forgive me for being the way I am?” Dream mumbled. “I miss Sap, and all of the others. Actually, I heard Karl proposed to Sapnap and Quackity! Can you believe it? They’re gonna be getting married!’ Dream chuckled, then smiled softly. “I wonder if I can be Sap’s best man, if I get invited at all, that is.”
“Bah! This is so depressing! Let’s go for a walk, I need some air.” Dream gently picked up the feline and grabbed some lead. He wrapped it around the cat’s neck and led them both outside. Once out of the door, Dream took in a deep breath. “Ah, that’s so much better!” Dream squinted at the sky, it was midday and the sun shone bright. “Hm, I don’t have anything to do today so we have a lotta time to kill. How about a walk on the beach? Sound good, Ant?” Antfrost only looked up at Dream with a curious expression. “...Right. You’re a cat. You can’t talk.” Dream spoke as he rubbed his forehead. “Alright. Come along now.”
Dream tugged lightly on Antfrost’s leash, signaling for the cat to move. Antfrost only meowed and stood to follow behind Dream. The pair walked for a while, finally reaching the sandy shores of L’manberg Beach. “Wow Antfrost, the beach is always so beautiful this time of day. Nature always seems to amaze me.” Dream sighed. Dream led Antfrost around a boulder, stopping suddenly. “Antfrost, do you hear that?” Dream whispered. The sounds of a beautiful voice rolled across the beach, enchanting Dream. “It’s so…pretty. Come on, let’s go find the owner of that beautiful voice.” Dream picked up Antfrost and practically ran to find the source of the singing. Finally, rounding a corner, Dream nearly dropped Antfrost as he stared at the beauty in front of him.
It was a man, with brown hair and pale skin. And dark brown eyes that shone like stars in the night sky. The thing that was most perplexing, was the man has a tail, from waist down. It looked like a fish’s tail. Without thinking, Dream suddenly blurted, “What are you?” This made the man snap towards his direction, absolute fear in his eyes. The male jumped into the water below, making Dream rush towards where he was sitting before. “Wait! I won’t hurt you, I promise I- I didn’t mean to scare you, I’m sorry!” The words tumbled out of Dream’s mouth, he’d hoped that the fish person could understand him.
A minute passed, then five, Dream slowly began losing hope. He turned to walk back home, but stopped when he heard a voice ask, “Who are you…?” Dream smiled and turned back to the person, his head peeked up from the depths of the ocean. “Dream! Er- My name is Dream. What is yours?” Dream gave the man his most charming smile. “....George. Call me George.” The male rose slightly, his shoulders now showing. “George.” Dream liked the way the name rolled off his tongue. “It’s a nice name.” George shrugged. “Thanks.”
“If you don’t mind me asking this, are you a mermaid?” George’s eyes widened slightly in clear offense. “Sure. Because I’m clearly a female.” He scoffed. “No. I’m a mer man . There’s a difference, you know.”
“Oh. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize.” Dream apologized. “You dry-landers know nothing about the underwater kingdom. But the same goes for us. We don’t know much about the traditions you have up there.” He sighed, bringing his tail up to float. “Actually, I came up here today to try and learn more about dry-landers like you.”
“I want to propose a deal. What if…You and I were to…I don’t know, continue interacting?” George spoke slowly. “What do you mean?” Dream inquired, tilting his head to the side. “What if you were to take me to your home? And you could teach me about the drylanders and then I could teach you about the mer. And to be completely honest, I’ve been curious about drylanders for a while now but never had the courage to come up here, until now, that is.”
“Sure.” George’s mouth nearly hung open by the quick response. “Sure? You’re just accepting like that? You’re not worried that I’ll…try to murder you or something?” Dream shrugged. “You don’t seem like the type of person to commit murder. And plus, I’d love to learn more about your kind.” George was left speechless. “Well, I guess then the only real problem is getting me out of here.” Dream’s eyes lit up as he spoke. “That’ll be easy, I actually have this potion-” George interjected, “Wait. A po-potion? Is that how you say it? What is that?”
“Oh- um- it’s a…liquid, I guess. It advances your abilities for a short amount of time.” George nodded. “So..It’s like the gems we have back in the kingdom.” He mumbled. “What does this potion of yours advance exactly?” He asked. “This specific one enhances my strength, I’d gotten it raiding an abandoned pillager outpost!” Dream exclaimed. “Some of the things you drylanders say are funny.” Dream scoffed. “Okay, first off, we’re not drylanders. Our species is called humans . Second, would it hurt to use my name?”
“Fine then, Dream .” George replied mockingly. But the way he had said it made Dream’s cheeks turn pink. “T-There we go. That’s much better.” Dream said, unable to stop the slight stutter. He’d only hoped that George wouldn’t notice. “Alright Dream. Time to get me out of here.” George said, hopping onto a nearby rock, scales shining in the sun. Dream took out the strength potion from his satchel and drank it, feeling its effects quickly sink it. Putting Antfrost down and wrapping the lead around his wrist, Dream moved towards the merman. Dream picked up the mer, then grimaced. “Is this alright with you? I- I don’t want to make you uncomfortable or anything, but this is the fastest way of transport at the moment.” Dream rambled. “Dream. It’s fine. I’m fine. As long as you get me out of here, then I don’t care what you have to do.” Dream nodded in affirmation, before making the trek back to the hut.