"You've got some explaining to do." Dream demanded, his voice lined with annoyance.

George looked up, startled, as he pressed against the side of his glass enclosure.

Dream marched into the room, an air of confidence circulating him, as he came to a stop in front of the merman.

George wasn't quite sure what the man meant, but his disgruntled body language was enough of a hint to tell George that he wasn't happy. That, and the fact that his mouth was pressed into a thin, annoyed line.

Dream sat on the floor in front of George, which caused him to subconsciously shift backwards.

"You lied to me." Dream stated, matter of factly, while George narrowed his eyes. What the hell is that supposed to mean? He'd only been here a day, what could he have possibly lied about? He hadn't even said anything to lie about- oh.

That made sense. He must have figured out that George was lying about not being able to speak English.

George peered up at the dirty blonde's face, wishing that stupid mask wasn't there so he could see what Dream actually looked like, so he could determine his levels of anger.

Hoping that he was incorrect in his assumption, he played dumb. George managed a small shrug, and tilted his head in (fake) confusion.

Dream noticed this and shifted closer to the glass box of water. Dream was too close for comfort.

"Don't play dumb with me, merman. I can see right through your tricks now," he stated. "I know that you can understand me, so just stop with the act and talk."

George growled in warning as Dream leaned forward, and the man took the hint, shifting backwards until he wasn't within arms distance of the merman.

"Just speak." Dream persisted, "I need to ask you things, and I can't do that when you play this make-believe game of 'see how long it takes to piss off Dream'."

George huffed slightly, options running through his mind at a rapid pace. If he didn't say anything, then he was in danger. He'd probably be tortured or something along the lines. But then again, if he did speak, he'd be admitting defeat.

He thought about it for a minute, as Dream sat there waiting, and finally made a decision. He'd rather admit a small defeat than being hurt.

He bit his lip, let out a sigh, and then murmured, rather quietly, "What do you want?"

Dream shifted slightly, whether it was in shock of being able to convince George to talk, or something else, he didn't know.

George saw him tap his knee, and then open his mouth. "So...you do talk?" he questioned, and George rolled his eyes.

"Of course I talk, you numpty." he snapped, "What do you think is coming out of my mouth right now, bubbles?"

That was rather bold of George to say, considering his hands were shaking and fear was strumming a melody through his heart, but it didn't matter, because Dream didn't seem to care, rather, he seemed to find it amusing.

The annoyance that had been circulating Dream since he'd walked in slowly dissipated and the blonde let a small smile slip onto his face.

"Right. Sorry, dumb." Dream coughed, and George had to refrain himself from rolling his eyes again.

"You needed me for something," George reminded him, "what is it?"

Dream snapped his fingers together, "Right! Um, well, I need your tears."

George saw this coming, of course, and already had an answer for him.

"No." he sneered.

Dream clenched his fists, "No? Why not?"

George glared at him and chose not to answer. This was definitely because he didn't want to give Dream the satisfaction of a conversation, totally not because he was so scared that he felt his words might not work if he tried to speak again.

Dream stood up, his arms swaying back and forth.

"Look, I know I asked it as a question, but it really was more of a statement." George flicked his tail in annoyance.

"I really, really need that tear, and I want to get it peacefully, but if you don't give it up, I'm going to have to resort to...other ways of getting it, and I really don't want to do that." Dream continued, biting his lip.

George gulped nervously, but a twinge of satisfaction stayed put. Dream couldn't get those tears even if he tried. He obviously didn't know that merfolk had to willingly make them, otherwise, he probably wouldn't be suggesting that.

George couldn't give Dream those tears. His healing tears...they were special. Tears were special to all merfolk. They weren't something they just threw around and gave away. They were sacred, only meant to be shared with those closest to their hearts, or those in desperate need.

And besides, they took a lot of energy out of merfolk to produce. They didn't just have an endless supply of them, they had to actually use their magic source to create those tears, so they were only meant for those who deserved them.

And as George looked up at Dream's towering figure, his anger on full display, he knew that Dream most definitely did not deserve those tears.

The man in green (or yellow, who knew at this point) stood there for a moment, before sighing and rubbing the part of his face that was uncovered.

"Listen, if it was up to me, I wouldn't have ever bothered you. " Dream admitted, "But...it's not up to me, okay?"

George stilled slightly. What does that mean? This man kidnapped him, he caught him in a net and caused him to get injured. He stuck him in a box and interrogated him. Now, George didn't quite know what it was like in the human world, but Dream certainly seemed like someone who bothered others.

"...What do you mean, 'it's not up to you?'" he asked after a moment, slightly breathless from his anxiety.

Dream paused, and sat back down, far away from George. He leaned against the wall and tapped his fingers on the side of his leg.

"I have to take you, and your tears, to the king. If I don't, he's going to do something bad." Dream confessed, his hands rubbing together nervously.

George sighed. "The answer is still no."

Dream grabbed onto his shoes for a small comfort.

"Please, my crew...they'll die. He'll kill them." George swept his gaze to his hands. Why should he care?

George paused, a sliver of guilt in his heart.

"I don't care if they die. They mean nothing to me." George muttered, causing Dream to stand up (again) and get mad.

"You don't care if innocent lives get killed?"

"How innocent can they be? They're pirates."

"Some of them are children." George winced at that. No child deserved to die, but what can you do? It was either his neck or theirs. George wasn't going to pretend to be a hero, he wasn't going to sacrifice himself for them, even if they were children. He just wanted to survive.

"You don't deserve my help." George muttered.

Dream sighed, clenched his fist, and stormed out of the room.

The brunette said there, suddenly alone, and sighed. He let himself sink back down into the water.

Guilt gripped at him from all sides, like it was trying to drown him. Which was stupid, because he's a merman, and literally cannot drown.

He bit his lip, and brought his hands to his chest. Why should he feel guilty? These people had probably just ruined his life. They'd taken him from the one place he was free, and had stuck him on a ship with little to no care about his feelings at all.

People like that were cruel. So why did it hurt so bad?

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IM SORRY I KNOW IT'S A SHORT CHAPTER!!!

I am currently in the library with my best friend and we are both writing our separate books, but we keep getting distracted by cute aesthetic people with books.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. Don't worry, the fluff will start to come within the next few chapters.

Also, I made an instagram account: - so go follow it if you want to see behind the 'scenes' of me doing some writing lol. I'll also post updates on the book and stuff like that so you don't miss a chapter.

Happy reading !!!

-Bee

(17/1/21)

Co-written on ao3