Archive of Our Own

Up until tonight, George thought the worst thing he could experience was being 6,300 miles away, across an ocean, from his best friends.

It just hadn't hit him yet, he hadn't processed what this would mean, what it would actually feel like to be left behind again, especially with the distance gap being 22 thousand times larger than it was before. He's been so busy the last few weeks that his brain hadn't caught up to him yet.

Even when Dream and Sapnap entered a quarantine with their other two crew members, Bad and Sam, it didn't hit him. They were just in a specially enclosed living space, in a part of the command center that George saw every day. It just felt like they were living in a hotel, and he could visit whenever he wanted.

That's not going to be an option after tomorrow morning, and it won't be an option again for the next three months. This is the last chance George has to see and talk to his best friends before they'll be 140 million miles away, on another planet.

"Hi, George!"

George is startled out of his train of thought at the sound of Sapnap's voice, his brain immediately registering that he's not, in fact, 140 million miles away (not yet, at the very least), he's here, on earth, in the room that he and the other command center employees have been using to communicate with their quarantining astronauts.

"Hi," He looks up to see Sapnap on the other side of the glass barrier that divides the room, lounging on a beanbag chair and looking at him with an amused expression, grinning with sharp hybrid teeth.

He looks calm, and maybe a little excited, but George knows that this is a front, and Sapnap is probably terrified right about now. While he handles actual space flight fine enough, Sapnap hates landings and takeoffs, he always has, and that's normally one of George's favorite things to tease him about.

"Where's Dream?" He asks, instead of teasing Sapnap like he normally would. Sapnap is fun to needle and to poke at and to annoy, but George isn't looking to annoy him right now, not when they only have twelve hours until liftoff, and he hasn't seen Dream yet.

"He's working on his will just in case the rocket explodes tomorrow or we get stranded on mars forever," Sapnap chirps, flicking his tail back and forth in amusement. George doesn't bother with a retort, and instead frowns at him until he gets a real answer. Sapnap sighs. "…he's playing Minecraft."

George has to hide a smile at that, watching Sapnap roll off the beanbag chair to go get Dream, his long, sturdy crocodile tail flopping after him. Only Dream would play Minecraft twelve hours before a trip to another planet, that's such Dream behavior that it makes George's chest warm a little, pushing away the anxiety of what's going to happen tomorrow morning.

The quarantine quarters for the astronauts has a handful of rooms, all of them sealed to prevent potential illness before the flight. The last thing anyone wants is to get sick right before a three-month trip to Mars, and even if they do have a doctor on board (kind of. Bad's more of a nurse practitioner than a doctor doctor), it'd still really suck to have a cold in zero gravity, not to mention the risk of spreading it to everyone else on the ship.

"George!" Dream's voice is warm as sunshine as he bounds out of his room, grinning at him. His tail is flicking side to side like a dog's, despite the fact it's long enough to be dragging on the ground behind him. "Where have you been all day?"

"I've been making sure the ship is ready for takeoff," George responds, feeling his chest lift at the sight of his best friend, the world feeling lighter the moment he arrives. Despite himself, his own tail starts to wag in time with Dream's. "While you were messing around down here playing Minecraft instead of getting ready."

Dream laughs at him, shaking his head, and his curls flop into his eyes. "I've been ready for months, George, and this is the last time I get to play anything until we get back home in September." He snorts, glancing behind him. "You should see Sapnap, he's been addicted to Valorant for the past three days. Bad had to talk one of the IT managers into uninstalling it so he'd actually sleep."

George smiles at that, rolling his eyes in amusement, before he reaches behind himself to grab one of the roller chairs so he can sit beside the glass wall between them, watching Dream do the same with Sapnap's abandoned beanbag chair. The pressure and anxiety on his chest lifts a little more when Dream sits down and smiles at him.

"The ship's ready for takeoff tomorrow?" Dream asks, smiling at him again, his sharp, handsome teeth showing as he does so. A warm shiver runs down George's spine at the sight of them, his prey animal instincts sounding the alarm at the sight of a carnivore before him.

George ignores them, the same way he's been ignoring them for a decade now. Personally, George thinks his instincts are being a little ridiculous when they freak out at Dream, because, for one, George is a pine marten hybrid, and Dream is a crocodile hybrid, their species don't even share overlapping territories, and because George's instincts never flip out at Sapnap or Sam, and they're both also crocodile hybrids.

Which is… weird, but George hasn't ever put much thought into it before, and elects to keep ignoring it right now. He smiles at Dream in response, his tail still wagging. "It's mostly finished." He sighs and looks up at Dream for a long moment, their eyes meeting. George's stomach clenches. Three months. Ninety days. He's not going to see those eyes again until September.

"That's good," Dream nods, reaching out to touch the glass separating them both. "I- uh- I think we're all ready to go, too." He smiles again, his eyes looking guilty and somewhat sheepish at the same time. "I wish you could come with us."

I wish I could come with you too. George thinks, nodding to Dream as a response. He knows why he's not allowed on this mission, it's pretty obvious once he sees the four hybrids chosen for it. Dream, Sam and Sapnap are all crocodile hybrids. They don't need nearly as much food as a normal human does, which means the ship can both fit more equipment and use way less fuel. Bad is somewhat in the same boat, being hybridized with a Gila monster means he also needs less food, but he was chosen from the pool of applicants because he has medical training, not because of his hybrid status.

George applied, of course, when they first sent out applications for willing astronauts, and he did occasionally get called in for testing and training - it wouldn't have been his first time in space, either, he's been aboard the ISS for crying out loud, but in the end… with a mission this big and important, and so far away, NASA needed astronauts who are sturdier.

"We'll be home soon," Dream tries, seeing that George's face fell, and George looks up to meet his eyes, which are crinkled up with worry. "And maybe you and me and Sapnap can go on a mission together like we usually do, once we're back?"

"M- maybe," George nods, letting out a disappointed breath, before he reaches up to rest his hand on the side of the glass across from Dream's, looking at the difference in the size of their palms with a delighted shiver. "If we're cleared for it."

Dream smiles at him again, his eyes worried and warm, before he seems to brighten significantly. "Oh! Do you remember back when you lived in London, how we'd fall asleep on call with each other?"

"What about it?" George asks, his lips quirking up in an involuntary smile. "There's going to be a 20 minute transmission delay between the ship and mission control, and I can't exactly sleep here."

"Can't or won't?" Dream grins back, his eyes sparkling. "Come on, George, you know that Tina would let you overnight in one of the empty meeting rooms. She's site director, everyone has to listen to her."

George's heart warms at that thought, knowing that Dream's… put thought into this, put thought into how he wants to stay in touch despite being 140 million miles away. He's going on the first manned mission to mars, on a ship so fast that the scientists who built it don't fully understand it, and he's… worried about George. Worried about talking to him.

It's a very Dream thing to do.

"Sure," George finally responds, smiling at him. "We can sleep call again, if you insist."

Dream grins, and opens his mouth to respond, but before he can say anything, there's a knock at the door. George turns around just in time to see Antfrost poke his head around the corner, his ears pricked curiously. He spots them both and makes a sheepish expression, glancing away.

"Uh, hi," He says, looking weirdly embarrassed, like he walked in on them doing something other than talking. "George, Puffy wanted you to double-check the backup code for the launch sequence." He flicks his tail a few times, refusing to make eye contact with either of them. "Sorry for walking in on you."

George sighs. "Tell her I'll be there in a minute," He nods, then waits until Antfrost shuts the door and vanishes down the hall, before he turns back to Dream, disappointment curling in his gut. "I should really go check that out."

Dream nods, then glances at the clock and sighs. "I should probably get to bed." He reaches out to touch the glass one last time. "Sapnap and I will see you tomorrow before launch, right?"

"Of course," George responds with a small huff and an eye roll, pressing his hand against Dream's side of the glass and splaying out his fingers. He sighs when he has to turn away, and hears Dream murmur a warm, soft 'Night, George' as he leaves the room.

As his footsteps echo down the hall, George feels his chest tighten slightly, that loneliness creeping in, accompanied by… something else. Something he can't pin down. Something that makes him feel all weird inside. Almost like he's done something wrong.

George sighs as he runs his conversation with Dream over in his head, trying to puzzle out what it is, before something snags, and he lets out a shaky breath. "Sapnap and I will see you tomorrow before launch". That's what's making him feel weird, and it's… almost disappointing in a way. In a deep, longing, almost guilty way.

It's not that George doesn't care about Sapnap. Sapnap is one of his best friends, someone George loves in a way he can't explain, but Sapnap also… isn't Dream. He's different. He's Sapnap. There's something that's not the same for Sapnap as George's feelings toward Dream.

And that difference that George has for him… the way Dream doesn't notice it, or doesn't have it himself, or something, is what makes George feel so strange.

He's my best friend. George tells himself, as he steps into the control room for the rocket launch, and finds his seat to look over the code. Sapnap is my best friend too. I care about them both. I want to spend time with them both. It's important to me.

His shoulders prickle, though, and George lets out a heavy sigh as another thought hits him. Then why do they feel so different?

— — —

"T-minus 30 seconds to liftoff," Tina's voice echoes around the room and through the microphone she's speaking into, and George lets out a shaky breath as he stares at the rocket on the massive screen in front of him.

He's supposed to stay focused right now. He's supposed to be supervising the launch right now.

His brain, rebelliously, is refusing to do that. Instead it's demanding he think about what happened an hour ago. It demands he remember the feeling of Dream's arms around him, that goodbye hug, the solid five seconds spent encased in warm arms, the feel of crocodile scales pressing into his skin so softly, Dream's warm, strange smell, a mix of watermelon bodywash and some distant, earthy undertone, like the scent of summer moss.

"I'm gonna miss you so much," Dream had whispered into George's hair, and held him a little tighter. "We're still gonna sleep call once a week, remember?"

"I remember," George had mumbled into the embroidered patches on Dream's uniform, then let out a small sigh and dug his semi-retractable claws into Dream's back, his chest aching with the feel of scales beneath the fabric of Dream's suit.

Focus. George snaps at himself, staring at the rocket as the countdown continues.

There's a camera mounted inside the rocket, along with the one on the liftoff structures outside it, and George stares at the feed for what's honestly too long. He can't help himself. Watching Dream chatter excitedly to their friends, the way his eyes sparkle with excitement… it ignites something desperate and abandoned in his chest again.

I'm not in London anymore. George reminds himself. I know when they'll be back. I know when Dream will be back. This is going to be fine.

He deliberately shifts his focus to Sapnap after that, trying not to stare at Dream's smile and instead watching Sapnap grip the armrests of his chair and desperately try to look brave while also being obviously extremely terrified at the same time. George can't help but smile at that, wishing he could tease Sapnap until his friend calms down, but knowing that'll only distract him.

Bad is holding Sapnap's hand, though, and that makes George feel… at least a little better about this all. Even though that forces him to stop thinking about Sapnap and start thinking about Dream again.

Stop that. George tells himself, mentally smacking himself as he listens to Tina begin the final countdown until takeoff.

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six…" Her voice rings out, and George takes a deep breath, watching the smoke from the rockets billow out around them, watching the ship begin to tremble with the force of takeoff, watching the final moments before Dream leaves him again. For three months. To be 140 million miles away.

"…five, four, three, two, one." Tina's voice clips slightly on the last word, and George swallows, checking each monitor over again, just as the rocket slowly starts to climb into the air, to fight earth's gravitational pull, to fight the atmosphere, to fight their place on this planet.

…and to fight the sheer desperation and need in George's heart.

They're going to be fine. George tries to remind himself. He's going to be home in a few months.

Still, George wishes he could fight the power of the booster rockets, to abort mission, to drag them all back down and pick someone else to go on that flight. He didn't move all the way here from London just to lose his best friend all over again.

It's not fair. It's not fair.

But it's already happening. And he can't change it. All he can do is sit here, watch as the rocket gets farther and farther away, watch as it crests the atmosphere, listen to the sound of applause around him, and desperately, desperately try to ignore the tug in his chest, trying to pull him alongside the ship.

George leans forward against his desk, puts his head in his hands, and tries to think of something, anything else.

— — —

The rocket, Aries II, is impossibly fast.

Not really, actually, because they're in it right now, and it is in fact going that speed, but it still feels impossibly fast right now. They're going to be on the surface of Mars in 42 days. 42 days! A trip that, just a few years ago, was expected to take 3 years at the least is being completed in just over a month.

Dream therefore can't help the fact he's been so excited for this. The first manned mission to Mars, and he gets to be part of it. He's going to be one of the first people to set foot on another planet. It's exciting, it's wonderful, it's going to be awesome.

…and yet, something's missing from this trip. It doesn't feel right. Sure, Dream has three of his closest friends with him right now, but the ship still feels incomplete. It feels empty. There's another presence missing right now.

He still remembers his goodbye hug with George six hours ago, the pine marten hybrid's scent still lingers on the patches of his suit, and Dream can't stop himself from thinking about him. It's not fair that he couldn't come, it's not fair Dream had to leave him behind, and being separated like this again, after being able to see one another and live together for several years… it feels worse than Dream thought it would feel.

Which is why, the minute they're on their way to Mars and Dream can unbuckle himself and let Sapnap and Sam take over flying the ship, he immediately retreats to one of their other rooms to call George.

Most spacecraft don't have more than one or two rooms, for weight and space reasons, but considering that all four of them are some variant of "animal that doesn't need to eat for a long time" hybrids, there's room on the ship for separate sleeping quarters, as well as the enclosed bathroom all spacecraft have.

Bad has claimed the bathroom, probably calling Skeppy and getting a bit more privacy from the soundproofed walls, but Dream is too busy to care about soundproofing. He just wants to talk to George as soon as possible. He closes the door behind him, then pushes off it to find his sleeping bag, latched to one of the walls, and the small straps inside it.

Dream appreciates the freedom of floating in zero gravity, but he prefers to sit down on something (or at least be strapped down) while he dials into the right station, so he doesn't crash into walls. He has one of their radios with him right now, a small handheld device a little larger than his phone and quite a bit thicker, and he extends the antennae on it before turning it on and tuning the dial.

Playing with their radios in space is always interesting; Dream can still pick up on earth stations, and he can flip through channels to find pretty much anything he wants, from music stations to weather stations to even sports reporters, so he can keep up with football games while their screen-based transmitters are unavailable. The downside to that, however, is the one time he fell asleep to a Sooners game, and was violently jostled awake when a tornado warning started blaring through the radio.

Dream does not care about football games right now, though, he cares about George, and it only takes a few seconds until he's on the same frequency as Mission Control. "Aries II to Mission Control, this is Commander Dream WasTaken." He smiles as he asks the next question. "May I speak with Tech Specialist NotFound?"

"Mission Control to Aries II, this is Chief Officer Antfrost," Ant's voice crackles through the radio, though there's still a hint of amusement in his voice. "Do you want to talk to Tech Specialist NotFound through a public channel or a private one?"

"Do you even need to ask?" Dream asks, and Ant laughs at him.

"Good point, I'll get you set up with him in one of our empty rooms."

He goes quiet for a bit, long enough for Dream to unstrap himself from the sleeping bag so he can float around the sleeping quarters while he waits.

"Hi, Dream," George's voice is like a burst of warm moonlight on his skin, and Dream can't help the way he shudders happily at the feeling, shoving off from the wall with his tail and floating on his back. "Everything alright so far?"

"We're fine," Dream answers, unable to stop smiling. "I'm in the sleeping quarters right now - Sam and Sapnap are flying the ship."

George laughs. "It's not your sleeping shift yet, though."

"No," Dream shakes his head, remembering how he'd asked specifically to have the same sleeping schedule as George, so they could call together with a little privacy. "I just called you to talk, obviously."

George goes silent for a moment, as though that startled him (which it shouldn't, because they've been friends for over a decade at this point), but Dream elects to ignore that. George finally responds a moment later. "Everything's fine down here so far," He hums a little. "Your liftoff just broke international news, everyone's excited about it."

"That's good," Dream responds with a hum, doing a backflip around the sleeping quarters. "You're holding up alright?"

"Dream, it's been six hours since you left," George responds, with an amused snort. "I'm fine."

Right. Dream thinks to himself with a weird twinge in his chest, something he hasn't felt in a long time. It's only been six hours, but it feels like it's been years.

He resists the urge to bury his face in his hands at that thought. This mission was a stupid idea. Staying 6 thousand miles away from George was one thing, but this distance… this distance already feels impossible.

"How's Sapnap?" George asks after a long moment, changing the subject so smoothly Dream almost doesn't notice. "He was alright through the takeoff?"

"He's fine," Dream responds, and something inside him twists, remembering all his missions with Sapnap and George, the way George always demands to sit beside Sapnap, the way Sapnap looks to George for comfort despite the way they snap at one another all the time. Dream shakes his head to try and remove that thought. "Bad sat with him during launch, and he's calmed down now."

"Mm," George hums, before he sighs slightly. "That's good. He's always funny about takeoff and landing."

"Yeah," Dream nods, another feeling curling in his chest, some type of weird almost-jealousy. Why are we still talking about Sapnap? He coughs, feeling a little guilty for thinking that. "Do you still have access to the mission trajectory, or are you off the clock?"

"I'm still on the clock," George responds, and Dream hears the faint click-click-click as George types something into a nearby computer. "I've got it pulled up now. You guys should be…" He pauses, then sighs.

Dream frowns, looking out the small window of the spaceship, squinting into the distance and wondering just how far he is from earth. Just how far he is from George. He misses George, he misses him so much it hurts, and it's only been six hours.

"…almost a million miles away by now," George says as his voice slowly comes back online, a note of strange, desperate grief in his tone.

"Oh," Dream swallows, then blinks and looks away from the window. "Okay."

…it's going to be a long three months.

— — —

"Are you feeling alright?"

George turns slightly, looking away from the empty whiteboard he's been staring at to look at Tina, who's just walked into the conference room behind him. It's the same one that George has been using as a personal bedroom once a week for the past… god, has it been a month already? It's… an embarrassing bit of a mess right now. His bed's unmade, the clothing in his suitcase hasn't been folded in a while, and worst of all, the room just feels… lifeless.

It's just him in here. He's in a building surrounded by other people, and yet the entire world seems so empty, which only magnifies whenever he's in here.

"I'm fine, why?" George asks, coughing and clearing his throat, before he looks down at the clipboard beside him on the desk, and moves to start writing, broken out of his distant, hazy thoughts and brought back to reality.

"You've been acting off for the past few weeks," Tina sighs, crossing her arms. "I didn't want to say anything because you've been doing your job alright, but something is up, isn't it?"

"I'm fine," George stresses, writing a new figure on the whiteboard. "I've just been busy with the mission is all."

"You're not talking to everyone as much as normal," Tina responds, stepping toward him. "And you've been making little mistakes, stuff you normally don't do."

Well, maybe that's because my best friends are millions of miles away, I only get to talk to them when it's for professional reasons or when I'm sleep calling with Dream, and every time I sleep call with him, he always brings up Sapnap. George thinks, scowling in frustration instead of responding.

He's been trying not to let it bother him as much as it does. Sapnap is his friend. Sapnap is someone he cares about. But Dream never used to talk about him this much, and it's starting to drive George up the wall. Whatever happened to sleep calls just being about them? George doesn't know that. It bothers him, and he wants to say something, but he's not sure how to say it.

"I'm just tired, is all," He finally responds, erasing one of the numbers on the board and replacing it with the correct one. "I'm fine, Tina, I promise."

Tina looks like she doesn't believe him, but she doesn't press, either, just sighs again and shakes her head, turning to leave. "Let me know if that changes?"

"Sure," George calls back to her, looking back at the whiteboard instead of watching her leave. "Let me know when touchdown starts?"

"I will," She calls back, and then she's gone, and it's just George again, alone in the room with his thoughts spinning and his chest aching.

He circles one of the numbers he's just written, drawing a line between it and another, then grabbing his graphing calculator so he can add them together.

Why do I feel like this? He wonders, writing the sum on the board. Of course I miss him. I'll always miss him. But why does it hurt so much more.

He divides the sum by another number. I wish he were back here. I wish we could talk like normal. I wish he could smile at me with his silly crocodile smile and we could be us again.

George swallows. He writes down the quotient of that division, so he can multiply it by a new number, trying to use the calculations to force himself to focus. It doesn't work. And why does he keep bringing up Sapnap? What's so special about Sapnap? Sapnap is Sapnap.

He swallows again, looking at the product he's just made so he can divide it by one of the other numbers he's written on the board. Sapnap is simple. He's always been simple. He's my best friend. My other best friend. We're just friends, and that's all we are, and it's all we're ever going to be.

George sighs and moves to take the square root of one of his other numbers, so he can add it to the quotient he's just calculated. Surely Dream feels the same way, though? He loves Sapnap, but it's just the same way he loves his biological siblings. Sapnap is basically his brother at this point, right? He stares at the square root he's just taken, realizes he's squared the number instead, and erases it to try again. Does he think about me the same way? Does he love Sapnap and me the same way?

He takes a small, nervous breath of air. I thought it was different, though. I thought we were more… close than we are with Sapnap. I thought it was special. He swallows a third time, moving to wipe the sweat off his forehead. I'm George, and he's Dream, and we're a unit. It's special, it's important. That's who we are.

George can't imagine his best friend being anyone but Dream. His most important person being anyone but Dream. Maybe it's not a romantic kind of love, maybe, but it's the most important kind of love he's ever felt in his life, even if it's just platonic. Which means he'll be fine, someday, with Dream finding a kind, wonderful person to settle down with. Because they'll always be best friends. Right?

He pauses for a moment, and a sense of sudden, awful horror crashes through him when his mind brings up a thought he hadn't even considered until now. Something so terrible his brain refused to even think it, because it seemed impossible up until this very moment.

George stumbles back, dropping his whiteboard marker and sitting down roughly in one of the roller chairs behind him, a twisting, horrible feeling sent squirming through his gut.

Is Dream in love with Sapnap?

— — —

Sapnap has been friends with both Dream and George long enough to know that something is up.

It started about a week ago, just before they reached the orbit of Mars, when George didn't sleep call Dream like he's been doing every Saturday (well, every Saturday on Earth, there's not exactly a 'Saturday' when you're flying through the vacuum of space) since they left, and it's gotten worse today, because today is landing day, and Sapnap can smell just how nervous Dream is to talk to George before he's on the surface of Mars.

The way the communications from the actual surface of Mars to the command center back on Earth are structured means that Dream is absolutely going to miss his sleep call with George while he's on the surface, and he probably won't speak to him at all until he's back in the ship, a week from now.

Of course, Sapnap can receive messages from George and send them to Dream, seeing as he's staying to man the command module in orbit, while Dream, Sam, and Bad head down in a landing module to actually set foot on the surface of Mars, so his communications won't be as affected, but Sapnap really, really, does not want to be the DNF middle man with whatever sleep call nonsense they've been getting up to for the past month.

…especially when, by the way Dream's been pacing across the ship, there could be something more going on.

So Sapnap sits here, and waits to see if George will actually call Dream before he has to touch down on the surface of Mars.

"Aries II to Mission Control, this is Commander Dream WasTaken," Dream's voice is calm and professional, but Sapnap can detect a hint of anxiety beneath it. "We've reached orbit around Mars."

A cheer goes up that echoes through the radio, and Sam, Bad, and Sapnap grin at that, exchanging looks with one another. Dream smiles as well, then lets out a small sigh and touches the edge of the control panel

"We're standing by for landing clearance," He finishes, nodding to himself, then glances back at the three of them with worried eyes.

"Continue standing by, Commander," It's Tina again, her voice clear and calm through the radio. "We'll let you know when it's safe to land."

The radio closes off, leaving the four of them in silence for a long moment, before Dream looks around at all three of them, his face filled with a heartbreaking sense of concern. "Should I-"

He doesn't get to finish before his radio crackles to life, and a familiar voice comes through, clear and obvious, yet… empty somehow, like all of his words are melancholic.

"Commander WasTaken," George says calmly. "I'd like to wish you and… the rest of the crew… good luck on your landing."

The four of them exchange eye contact, and Dream looks absolutely crushed. Why did George say that like he was… about to cry? Sure, they're the rest of the crew and they're happy for the well-wishes, or whatever, but the way George said it was… odd, and deeply uncomfortable. Like he was choking it out instead of actually meaning it.

"Th- thank you, George," Dream finally says, after a moment, and then smiles, even though it's a little forced. "We'll, uh, all of us but Sapnap will talk to you again in a week."

"I'll talk to you then," George responds, his voice still the same tone of weird and wet, like he's deeply upset by… something, although Sapnap doesn't know what that could be.

The radio clicks off, though, and before any of them can wonder aloud what that meant, the actual radio crackles to life, and it's Tina again, interrupting their potential conversation. "This is Mission Control to Aries II. You're cleared to enter the landing module and prepare for your initial descent."

That doesn't leave any room for conversation either, just a flurry of activity as all of them prepare for the surface of Mars, making sure the landing module is ready, that the fuel is dispersed evenly, and that they have all the supplies they'll need for the week-long stay on the surface of Mars.

Dream looks so distraught, though, and before the doors of the landing module close, he gives Sapnap a pleading look. "Could you figure out what's up with George?" He asks, and his eyes are so wide and pleading and anxious that it would be cruel of Sapnap to say anything but yes.

"I will," Sapnap nods. He smiles at Dream, then looks to Bad and Sam as well. "Good luck, guys. See you in a week."

Bad and Sam say their goodbyes, and then the airlock door closes and seals shut. Sapnap feels the clank of the bolts releasing, the landing module detaching from the command module, and he waves as his friends slip away from the ship, and fall through the Martian atmosphere toward the surface.

Sapnap shakes his head once, then lashes his tail. Time to find out what's up with George.

— — —

Sam takes over the process of actually landing the module, which is a smart move, considering he's the one who designed it, although the fact that he now has nothing to do… does not bode well for Dream's current thought spiral.

George is all he can think about right now, all he can think about is the inflection in his voice, the weirdness of it all, a sound that made Dream think of miles and miles of ocean, a sound that makes Dream think of cold wind on his skin and the slight distortion of a phone call. It makes him think of those weeks where George was so depressed he could barely get out of bed.

It's consuming his thoughts, and he can't escape it.

"Brace for landing," Sam calls a moment later, which breaks Dream out of his thoughts just a little bit, bringing him to the present, where he's descending the the surface of Mars alongside Sam and Bad. This place is real, he tells himself, taking a deep breath and grounding himself in the warm, familiar smells of Bad and Sam beside him.

Which lasts for approximately five seconds before his mind is on George again. He couldn't sleep call last week because he said he wasn't feeling well, but that just makes Dream feel a little worse with worry. He should've pressed more, should've demanded to know what's going on with his friend, but he didn't, and he won't get to ask for the next seven days.

A harsh, sudden jolt snaps him back to reality, and Dream lets out a slow, anxious breath, feeling gravity suddenly weigh on him for the first time in over a month. They made it. They're here. They're on the surface of Mars.

Alright. Dream thinks to himself as he, Bad, and Sam pull on their spacesuits, and Bad slowly sets up their camera, ready for this event to be televised and broadcasted around the world. The first three people to set foot on another planet. Dream has to keep it to himself, then, has to ignore George for the time being. Here goes everything.

"The first step on another world," Dream says, feeling the microphone in his helmet crackle a little bit. "On a planet no human has ventured to before." He's rehearsed this script over and over again in his head, even though he didn't write most of it. "A welcome to the universe beyond our home."

He steps out of the landing module and lands on the surface, his body feeling a little shaky and strange after the month he's spent in zero gravity, but he forces himself to stay upright, watching instead as his steps send up little dust clouds around him.

The gravity here is different than on earth, a little weirder, a little less powerful, but it's close enough that he can safely step across the red martian soil. He stretches his tail out behind him as he does, using the long, heavy limb as a counterweight so he doesn't lose his balance.

Sam is much more steady as he steps out of the ship, his footsteps confident and his walk less shaky as they look at the world around them. It's a strange, beautiful sight, so odd and familiar, yet unfamiliar at the same time. It reminds him of the training they did in the red deserts of Utah, the way the sand and stone looks to him feels, in a way, like coming home.

Tears prick at the edges of Dream's vision, and he carefully turns his microphone off, his mind thinking about George while his body gazes out across this strange landscape. The sense of home here, the feeling of familiarity, isn't right in the way he wants it to be, because it doesn't have George here. It's not home. It's not his house with his best friends or the command center with their ground crew, and it's certainly not where George is right now.

He's 140 million miles away. Dream doesn't know if he's ever felt so lonely in his entire life.

"Dream?" Sam's voice crackles in over the radio, and Dream blinks, sniffling slightly and taking a deep breath before activating his microphone.

"Yeah?"

"I think you zoned out for a second," Sam responds, his voice accompanied by a small laugh. "I've been trying to get your attention for a minute and a half."

"Sorry," Dream sighs, shaking his head and turning back to look at Sam and Bad, who are carefully unloading tent poles and tarps from inside of the landing vessel, along with solar panels. Dream walks back to help them out, knowing that the solar panels are the most important part, followed by the tent. They need to charge the batteries just in case a dust storm blows in, and the tent will keep out most of the dust from getting into the crevices of the landing module.

It's a bit mind-numbing work, though, Dream and Sam and Bad trained for this over and over and over again back on earth, to the point that Dream could probably do this in his sleep, but it does not bode will for Dream's "try not to worry about George constantly" plan. His hands are busy, but his mind is 140 million miles away back on earth, wondering if George is alright.

Oh, please let George be alright. Dream thinks to himself, taking a deep breath as he helps Sam uncover the first solar panel and bolt it into the ground. Please let Sapnap figure out what's going on.

Above him, the martian sun shines down on them all, gleaming brightly through the slightly hazy sky and Mars's thin atmosphere. There's no way that Dream can see the large bright star that is Earth off in the distance, but he tries to see it anyway, squinting into the sky and thinking about George.

Oh, George. Dream thinks miserably. I wish you were here.

— — —

George does not want to talk to Sapnap.

Sapnap is the last person in the universe that he wants to talk to right now, because George knows that talking to Sapnap will make him miserable.

Well, more miserable than he already is, because George has been pretty miserable the past week and a half, his mind still reeling from the horrifying and awful conclusion he came to last week. He's been feeling sick, too, in his body, his stomach rolling with nausea and his chest feeling tight and aching, like a muscle that's been overworked. He's been feeling extra awful as well, because he knows that he should be happy about this, he should be happy for Dream in the way he's always expected he'll be.

He couldn't even sleep call with Dream, which on one hand helped a little, not hearing about Sapnap, but on another hand hurt way, way more than he was expecting, because losing Dream's voice that night… it felt like he was dying.

But as much as George doesn't want to talk to Sapnap, Sapnap has been relentlessly pinging them from 140 million miles away, every half hour, for the past three days, and it's starting to drive the entire site crazy.

He cracks when Tina shows up and begs him to do something about this and actually respond, and as upset as George is, he can see real concern in her eyes, and knows he has to do something, even just to get Sapnap to stop.

So George picks an empty room, sits down with some snacks and his phone, so he can watch TikToks he won't be able to remember later during the 20 minute delay between transmissions, and prepares to break his heart.

"Hi." Sapnap says, the minute he's finally on the radio call. "You finally picked up."

"Only because you've been driving the command center completely insane by calling me over and over again," George huffs, letting out an annoyed breath. His next words are clipped. "What do you want?"

The next 20 minutes pass in agonizing silence. What does he want? George wonders, drumming his fingers on the table and thinking about Sapnap and Dream and his friendship with them both. His gut twists. Is he going to make a big show of it? Am I just being paranoid? Is this really happening?

"Because Dream was really upset at your weird call before the landing," Sapnap huffs, annoyance in his tone. "And he told me to figure out what your deal is before he gets back and can actually talk to you."

"Oh, sure, because using you as a middleman between me and Dream hasn't ever had any negative consequences before," George has to hold the snap out of his voice. "Why do you care so much anyway?"

Is it because you're in love with Dream? He thinks irrationally, his thoughts spinning over the next 20 minutes. Is it because you see me as some kind of threat?

"Because you guys are my friends, idiot," Sapnap snips back. "And I still care about you, even if you're being a dick right now."

"I am not being a dick," George snaps in response, defensive anger flaring inside him at Sapnap's words. "Maybe I'm being reasonably annoyed at the fact you and Dream are doing whatever you want while I'm trapped here alone, again."

20 more minutes pass. George tries to eat some of the snacks he brought with him and they taste like sand. What is his deal? If he and Dream are a thing then why can't he just admit it?

"George," Sapnap sighs softly. "We're gonna be home in a month and a half, remember? And we all miss you, fucking obviously." There's a softness to him, uncharacteristic to their friendship. Is he… trying to let George down gently? "Dream especially misses you! Why are you avoiding him!?"

That makes something in George snap like a cut cord, and he growls into the radio. "Sapnap, I think you know why I'm avoiding him. You know because it's your fault! You're- you and Dream-" He heaves for breath, putting his head down on the table and fighting his anger and upset and hurt at the same time.

"…George," Sapnap says suspiciously 20 minutes later. "Did you think… how the hell could you even assume that…"

"Because Dream keeps bringing you up," George snaps again, hurt coiling inside him. "When we're on sleep calls. He only ever wants to talk about you. I know what that means, Sapnap, I'm not stupid!"

The next 20 minutes are agonizing.

"GEORGE!" Sapnap's voice is a stumbling shout through the microphone. "THAT'S NOT- I WOULDN'T- DREAM AND I-" His shudder of… disgust, maybe? Is obvious in his voice. "Oh, ew, George, in what universe would Dream and I ever date each other!?"

"In a universe where Dream keeps bringing you up during our time together!" George snaps back, still upset, especially at the fact he may have misinterpreted this entire situation. "And why else would he do that!?"

"He hasn't been talking about just me, dumbass!" Sapnap snorts, 20 minutes later. "Have you even been paying attention to those calls? He brings up Sam and Bad just as much as he brings me up! He probably thinks you want to know what all of us are up to, he thinks you want updates, not that he's desperately in love with me or something equally as fucking ridiculous!"

 "That's- you-" George splutters for a moment, before he takes a deep breath, swallows, and knows, in his heart, that Sapnap is right. Dream has been telling him about Bad and Sam, just as much as Sapnap. He's just been so fixated on whatever silly nonsense his stressed and lonely brain can come up with. George growls under his breath. "You- you're probably right." He snaps, letting out a puff of air.

 "If anything, he's probably in love with you," Sapnap responds after another 20 minutes. "You're the one he's always been obsessed with, how could you keep ignoring it, George, are you dense? Did you really think all of it was just a joke to him? You know Dream. You know how deeply he loves. You know he won't fall in love with me when he's still in love with you."

George lets out a deep, shaking breath, before he squeezes his eyes shut and opens them a moment later. "I… I didn't think…"

"Well, I think he deserves an apology," Sapnap huffs in response. "And a sleep call where you actually fucking talk to him."

"Yeah," George says slowly, his chest pricking at the tone of Sapnap's voice. "I- I should." He doesn't like admitting Sapnap is right, but Sapnap is unfortunately making too many good points for George to ignore. He buries his face in his hands. "Call me again, the minute he gets back. I'll- I'll talk to him then."

Sapnap snorts at him. "You better, George, otherwise I'm going to find you, and as soon as I possibly can, I am going to bite you."

Despite the anxiety in his chest, George can't help but be amused at Sapnap's silly insult. He's also not sure if Sapnap was being serious about biting him or not, and he's not exactly interested in figuring it out.

He lets out a long breath. Sapnap's threat doesn't matter to him, because right now, 140 million miles away, George wants nothing more than to talk to his best friend.

Who, if Sapnap is right, might not be his best friend anymore after that conversation.

— — —

"Dream?"

"George!" Dream's heart sings with relief and joy at the sound of George's voice, sending electric sparks and warm sunshine through him in a single moment, his entire body filling with sunshine and moonlight. He can't help but grin, delight and warmth pouring through him at the same time. "How are you? How's the base? Have you gotten better yet?"

Despite all his worry about George over the past week, Dream is just so, so happy to be back on this ship and calling his best friend. Their entire ship is currently a mess right now, unfortunately, but Dream has managed to leave the process of cleaning it up to his friends while he calls George, despite how much Sapnap has been whining about rock samples and demanding to know why they're bringing "half of Mars" back with them.

"I'm feeling way better," George finally responds, after 20 minutes have passed. His voice is warm and a lot calmer than it was a week ago, but there's still a hint of nerves there, enough to make Dream's spine prickle in concern. "We're all still fine back here." There's a short pause. "How was the surface?"

"Dusty," Dream responds, looking out the window as though he could somehow see earth from all the way out here. "And… kind of boring. The novelty wore off after like two days and then we had to spend a week collecting and categorizing rocks." He smiles. "It would've been way more fun if you were there."

Everything is more fun when you're there. Dream thinks, remembering their cozy home, his best friend's smile, that feeling of sheer relief that washed over him the first time that George walked in the door. It was love, he knows, mixing with that relief. Love and warmth and comfort and home.

"I think Sapnap had more fun than you guys," George snickers, 20 minutes later. "He was the one with all the games and TV shows and whatever." He pauses for a second. "But I'm pretty sure he just watched Death Note twice."

Dream holds back an amused snort at that, his mind clicking at George's words. Right. Sapnap. He swallows. "Um. Sapnap told me you guys talked, and that I should talk to you…?"

A 20 minute beat of silence follows him, before George can respond. "Yeah. We did. I…" He sighs softly, then he next words are deeply worried and anxious, as though he doesn't know how to ask them. "Dream. We've been friends for the last decade, and I…" He sighs again. "There's nothing going on between you and Sapnap, is there?"

"What?" Dream splutters, baffled and, he will admit, slightly horrified by that. "Ew, no, George, why in the hell would I…" He shudders. "Why are you even asking this? What the hell did you and Sapnap talk about?"

The next 20 minutes are agonizing.

"Oh," George finally says, sighing again. "That's… okay. That's what Sapnap told me. I…" He goes quiet for a minute before eventually continuing, though his words are a little forced. "I would have been fine with it though, by the way, it would've been okay if you and Sapnap were… together."

"Sapnap and I are not together, ew," Dream wrinkles his nose. "He's basically my brother, George, that would be gross, and I-"

He pauses, realizing what he's saying just before he says it, his thoughts rushing in around him like ocean waves pouring around his feet, drawing back through the sand and reminding him of the other side of the sea, of those 6,300 miles between him and George, of the longing and the desperation and the-

Oh, shit. Dream thinks to himself, the extremely obvious conclusion to those years and years of desperate yearning smacking him in the back of the head. I think I'm actually in love with him.

"And you…?"

Dream didn't realize how much time had passed until he hears George's voice nervously crackle over the radio. He swallows, looks down at it, and then finally responds. "And I wasn't joking, George, I wasn't joking over the past ten years, I was- I am- I-" He takes in a sharp breath and then lets it all out in one go.

"…me too," George responds, his voice soft and calm and nearly silent over the crackle of the radio. He's quiet for a long, long moment, so silent that Dream can feel his stomach tying itself up in knots, before he finally responds a second later. "I, um, are we still going to sleep call tonight?"

Abruptly changing the subject to avoid talking about the fact we've very obviously been in love with each other for the past decade. Dream thinks, a smile creeping onto his lips at the same time. How very, very George of you.

"Yeah," He smiles, hoping the fact he understands comes across in his voice, hoping that George knows that he's not mad, that even though there are questions and desires and a desperate, longing need inside him for George right now, he does still want to sleep call tonight, he does still want to be there with George the way they used to be. "I missed you, George. Of course we can sleep call tonight."

— — —

The process of landing the Aries II takes entirely too long, in George's opinion.

The most annoying part is that he doesn't get to be on the helicopters, he has to wait on the boat like everyone else. At least their astronauts are being retrieved before the modules, so they should be here sometime in the next 15 minutes.

15 minutes is still too long, though, and George is twitching with anxiety at this point, hoarding a pair of binoculars and completely ignoring the massive expanse of Atlantic Ocean around them so he can keep scanning the sky for the approaching helicopters.

It's not here yet. He can't even see it, which is driving him up the wall, but he's sure it's going to be here soon, he can see it on the ship's radar. The landing had been fine, fortunately, no injuries, no damage, just a planned crash into the Atlantic, but because the crew need their radio to communicate with the rescue helicopters, he hasn't gotten to talk to any of them, not even Dream, since they landed.

George isn't even sure he wants to talk to Dream right now, though, this hasn't properly hit him yet, the fact that his best friend (future boyfriend? current boyfriend?) is back on earth doesn't feel real, in the same way that him leaving for three months also didn't feel real. He doesn't want to talk to Dream. He wants to see Dream again, to hug Dream again, to feel him warm and solid and real against him.

He worries his semi-retractable claws against the side of the binoculars, thinking about the 5 sleep calls that have gone by since they actually talked. Those didn't have as much talking in them, they were too soft for that, too intimate, in a way, and Dream kept the updates on their friends to a minimum during it, so it could be just about them both. So they could have one another again in the way they need it.

I need you. George thinks, swallowing. You need me. We…

He sighs, then pulls himself away from the binoculars to rub his eyes. Dream will be here soon. He'll be here soon, it'll only be a few more minutes and then George can see him again.

During their last conversation two days ago, Dream had also told him about a surprise he was bringing back with him, which George is more excited for than he'd ever admit out loud. He had no idea what kind of surprise Dream could be bringing home from the surface of Mars, which is half the reason he's so curious, if he's honest with himself.

Come on, come on, hurry up. George thinks to himself, pacing up and down the viewing port of the ship. He pauses, then looks down at his phone, hoping that maybe if he pretends he doesn't care when the helicopters get here, they'll get here faster.

Apparently that works for more than just game loading screens, because the minute George opens TikTok, he hears the thwack-thwack-thwack of helicopter blades in the distance and looks up.

The helicopters, all four of them, are flying in formation toward the ship, and as soon as George manages to process that yes, those helicopters are indeed flying right at them, he's running down the stairs four at a time.

Most of his friends would certainly fall down the stairs if they did this, but George's semi-retractable claws and pine marten agility are designed to let him scramble down trees headfirst, so stairs are not an issue for him.

He skids as he reaches the door to the landing deck, running into it at full speed, his tail involuntarily wagging with excitement as he bursts out into the open air. George scrambles to a stop at the last second, though, right before he collides with Skeppy, who's watching the helicopters with just as much excitement as George is.

George can tell that Skeppy is restraining himself from flying up to meet them, by the way his lovebird-blue wings keep twitching, ready to see to their friends again as fast as possible. George is glad that he doesn't have wings too, otherwise he probably would've flown over and gotten caught in the helicopter blades by now.

It's too loud to talk out here, the four helicopter blades cutting off all possibility of coherent conversation, so George flicks his tail around to whack it against Skeppy's legs and get his attention. Skeppy glances back at him, then takes a step to the side so there's more space for him to stand and see what's happening.

The wind generated by the helicopters is so strong that George can feel his fur and hair ruffling with the force of it, and he shivers slightly, the artificial breeze a little chilly. It smells like ocean, which smells ever so faintly like Florida, like home.

A helicopter touches down gently, cutting the blades so they have less of a chance of throwing off the other three while landing. George can't make out who's inside the cockpit, but from the size of the aircraft he knows that at least two of the crew members are inside this one, and two are inside one of the others.

The last two are each carrying a component of the Aries II, one with the landing module and the other with the command module, however George is ignoring them in favor of watching the other passenger helicopter touch down, which it does with ease.

It's agony to wait for the last helicopters to touch down and the wind to calm, and George bounces on the balls of his feet, ears pricked, as he watches the reception team gather their wheelchairs, just in case three months in zero gravity have completely screwed up their astronauts' ability to walk in zero gravity. There's a treadmill aboard the ship, though, and Dream, Sam, and Bad all spent a significant seven days on the surface of Mars, where there's actual gravity, albeit different from Earth's, so if anyone has trouble walking after this, it's probably going to be Sapnap.

The doors of the first two helicopters finally open, and a cheer goes up among the gathered landing party, who can finally step forward to greet their returning astronauts. George bounces on his feet again, both nervous and excited as a crocodile hybrid emerges from the first helicopter.

It's Sam, not Dream, to George's slight disappointment, but he's grinning at the broadcast camera and at the welcome crew as he steps out of the helicopter, assisted by a nurse inside the aircraft and two medics on the deck. George waves to him and Sam waves back, too busy speaking with reporters and medics to walk over and talk to him, although he can walk, and as soon as he has his feet under him, he's stepping away from the doors to let the next astronaut out.

It's Bad this time, stumbling a little heavier, and with a little more obvious evidence of the three month journey on his body, particularly his Gila monster tail. It's normally larger, storing extra energy, but it's gone thin from three months with decreased food. He's smiling, though, and he's also walking, able to stumble over to Skeppy, who wraps his wings around him, holding him close while they both laugh.

The other helicopter is next, then, and George shudders slightly at the sight of it, waiting for the first astronaut to emerge.

It's Sapnap, who manages to climb out of the helicopter mostly on his own, before almost immediately tipping and nearly falling over, just like George predicted. The medics beside him catch him easily, though, and Sapnap leans into them, his eyes searching the gathered welcome party until he spots George and grins.

"Hi, idiot!" He mouths, and George rolls his eyes at Sapnap, though he can't stop smiling. Partially because he's missed Sapnap (even more since he learned that Sapnap and Dream aren't a thing), but also because after Sapnap is helped into one of the wheelchairs beside the helicopter, to be taken to the medbay, the last crew member to emerge is…

Dream.

George's mouth goes dry at the sight of him. Dream looks the same as he did before, maybe a little more tired, and he's grinning at the landing party with a smile so wide it outshines the sun, all his sharp teeth on display. George shivers again, just like he always does, and that feeling makes his entire body sing with warmth, the familiarity so wonderful he can't contain it.

Dream smiles to the press, answers questions, and while he has an arm slung over a medic for balance, he's walking fine (which is actually a little surprised, because half the time Dream has the balance of a stuffed animal that just barely learned what "walking" is), and the minute he sees George he somehow smiles wider, opening his free arm with a look of desperate, aching relief on his features.

George pushes through the crowd of people around him until he finally stumbles into Dream, crashing into him and feeling his hands meet scale-covered flesh again, his tail wagging so hard he can't help it. Dream laughs at him, using his free arm to hold him up, and leans down to press his nose to George's head. He drifts a little lower a minute later, which George momentarily assumes is Dream just resting his head on George's shoulder, before their necks brush and his heart stills.

Dream, not in public! Half of George squawks indignantly, because this kind of neck brushing is a common mating ritual in crocodilians, but the other half of him leans into it. God, I missed you.

They don't get a chance to talk. All too soon the medics are pulling Dream back and tugging him onto their shoulders to support his weight as they walk him toward the medical bay on the ship. George scrambles after him, shoving people aside so he can walk beside Dream, determined to not be left behind again.

He waited in agony to get to Florida. He waited in agony for the mission to Mars to end. He waited in agony to learn Dream loves him back.

He's not waiting anymore.

Beside Dream, in his presence and his laugh and his smile and his warmth, is the place George was made to be.

And he's never going to be away from that place ever again.