George sat idly as he played with a ball. Dream had his back pressed up against the glass, reading a book, while Sapnap sat against the wall (still not entirely welcomed here by George) as he wrote in a notebook.

This ball was different to the bouncy ball. It was squishy and provided him with some stress relief every time he squished it. He wasn't entirely sure why, but it seemed to calm him down, so he'd accepted it from Dream nonetheless.

Sapnap was okay. George had already decided that days ago. But he was always here now. George had no time to spend with Dream by himself anymore. It was always the two of them joking around with their stupid inside jokes or their talk of human things that George didn't understand. He wanted to understand. Oh god, he really really wanted to understand.

George wouldn't complain about this though. He couldn't be mean to Sapnap. The man meant a lot to Dream, so George didn't want to get on his bad side and accidentally do something to make Dream hate him.

George let his gaze wander over to Sapnap, as his brow set into a furrow. The only times those two would take a break from the chatter was when they were going somewhere or having some quiet time, and in neither of those times was George able to talk to just Dream.

This sucked.

This is what he gets for getting attached.

He let himself slip under the water with a splash, some of the droplets of water flinging out of the tank and falling onto Dream's book.

The man let out a groan of annoyance and looked back at George, only to see him underwater.

Through the water, George smiled at him, and the brunette could see the man sigh, rub off the water (or what he could rub off) and go back to reading.

George frowned. He resurfaced and laid his head on the glass, glancing over at Sapnap again. The man seemed to feel his gaze because he looked up, and when he saw it was George, he smiled and waved at him in silence. George waved a hand lazily, before looking away. Sapnap was a bit of a tryhard. He really wanted George to like him. He was okay at it, but he wasn't doing a spectacular job. If he were doing a spectacular job, he would have left him alone.

That would make George appreciate him much much more.

George glanced up at Dream again. From his angle, he could mostly just see the back and side of the blonde's head.

His dirty blond curls were flattened in one space underneath the leather band holding his mask on. George wondered, for the millionth time, what the man looked like. He wished to know what his eyes look like. Sure, he couldn't see colour, but that wouldn't change anything. He felt kind of like he was being left out.

Dream's smile was big. George wondered if his smile could be seen in his eyes.

Why did Dream even wear that mask anyway? What was the use? Sapnap didn't wear one, so it couldn't be a pirate thing. George assumed the other crew members probably didn't either, so then what was it?

George wanted answers.

"Hey Dream?" George called lazily, despite not being lazy at all.

"Yes?" Dream responded, not looking up from his book as he spoke.

"Why do you wear that mask?" George asked, causing Dream to tense up.

The blonde coughed slightly, his finger holding his spot in his book as he shifted around slightly to look at George.

"Pardon?"

George rolled his eyes.

"I said, why do you wear that mask?"

"Oh. Uh, just cause."

George narrowed his eyes.

"Try again. With a better response this time."

Dream bit his lip, scratching the back of his head with the hand not on the sentence in his book.

"Well, I don't know. I'm a pirate; it's for identity's sake I guess?" Dream said, although it was more of a suggestion or question rather than a statement.

Dream wasn't being truthful.

"Sapnap doesn't wear a mask. He's a pirate too." George insisted.

Sapnap let out a startled cough at being brought into the conversation. He'd been warily flicking his eyes between the two before then.

"Well- Sapnap's just weird." Dream forced a laugh.

"You're lying to me." George snapped.

Sapnap closed his book and clapped his hands, taking the other two's attention for a moment.

He adjusted his bandana and awkwardly backed away to the door.

"I'm just gonna- uh, sit this one out." he said quickly, before slipping out of the door.

They stared after him for a minute, before Dream turned back to the merman.

Of course, the only time George has time alone with Dream it's in an argument. Typical.

"I'm not lying George." Dream tried.

"Yes, you are." grumbled the brunette, causing Dream to let out an exasperated sigh.

"George-"

"Don't 'George' me. I've been nice to you, considering the circumstances, so why can't you just tell me? What, are you worried I'll tell Schlatt about it when he decides to cut me up into bits? I wouldn't even have the chance."

Dream winced at the comment.

So did George.

He didn't mean to say that.

"George...he's not going to cut you into bits." Dream murmured, quiet all of a sudden.

George huffed, trying to push the thought from his mind.

"You're changing the subject, Dream."

"Well, maybe this subject is more important." Dream argued quietly.

"No- no it's really not." George crossed his arms indignantly.

It had been an accident for him to say that. Really, he didn't want to admit that to Dream. He wasn't sure how to worm his way out of this one.

Dream rested his hand on George's arm gently, as it was leaned on the side of the tank. George's heart sped up at the sudden contact, but he forced the feeling down.

"George."

"Dream." he mocked back in the same tone.

Dream sighed slightly to himself.

"Okay. Fine. I'll tell you why I wear a mask if you admit that you're worried."

George sat there for a moment, looking down at the water rippling around him.

He looked up at Dream's mask, and then at Dream's hand that rested on his arm.

He let out a deep breath.

"Yeah, okay. Fine. I'm worried, happy now?" Dream bit his lip.

"You'll be okay, George. I'll find a way to convince you, and a way to keep Schlatt away."

George wanted to roll his eyes, it was so cheesy, but the genuine tone in Dream's gentle and honey-like voice made him refrain from doing so. Wait what? Honey-like voice? That wasn't what he meant.

"George?" Dream asked after George was silent for a while. The merman blushed in embarrassment and looked back up at Dream quickly.

"Yeah. Okay. Yeah." George said, in answer to Dream's statement.

Dream smiled slightly.

They sat there in silence for a minute, listening to the wind outside before George pulled his arm from Dream's grip.

Dream's shoulders slumped slightly, but he quickly corrected himself.

"So, Dream."

"So, George."

"Tell me about that mask, then?" George questioned, leaning his arms on the glass and resting his head on them, looking up at Dream.

Dream leaned back to be able to be at the same eye length as George (despite his the only eyes seen being the painted ones).

Dream shifted slightly before he let out a heavy breath.

"I wasn't necessarily lying earlier when I said it was because I'm a pirate," Dream started. George opened his mouth to retort, but Dream continued before he could "it's a benefit of the job. No other ships know what I look like, so if I decide to make a pit stop in some coastal town, it's harder to recognise me."

George looked at him, waiting for him to say more.

Dream scratched the back of his head.

"Truth is, I had an accident when I was younger." Dream bit his lip.

George cocked his head to the side (kind of like a confused puppy would).

"I wasn't always this skilled pirate captain. I trained to be like this. I was training under my captain, at the time. He was more ruthless than I was. I ended up leaving and creating my own crew, but that's a story for another time," Dream blew out some air, "anyway, we were in a battle. It was a bad one. Usually, we would do a sneak attack, and then take them down before they had the chance to react. But these guys were different. They were skilled. They fought just as well as us, some much better, too. And I screwed up." Dream murmured.

"I was just a kid. Nearly 16. I'd just left Sapnap, despite coming back for him two years later, and I wasn't so prepared for the fight."

"So you got attacked? One of them hurt you, or something?" George questioned, eyes burning with curiosity.

"No, George," Dream whispered, "we didn't win. I got out mostly unscathed. We only just managed to escape. We'd lost a lot of our stuff. And my captain...well, he got mad. And he blamed it on me. How could he not? I was the newbie. They hadn't failed much before my arrvival, so I was automatically the one at fault."

George gulped, horror slowly creeping up his spine.

"So he made an example of me. What would happen to the crew if they screwed up again. I remember being so confused. I'd looked up to him. And then he grabbed his sword, and he slashed it down my face." Dream gulped, rubbing his arm.

George bit back a gasp.

"It wasn't meant to kill me. Just to hurt me. They treated it straight away. But the scar stayed. It goes over most of my face, to the bottom of my lips." George let his gaze drop to Dream's lips.

There it was. Somehow, he hadn't noticed it. It was fainter at the bottom, sure, but it was there. A small scar running from under his mask over the side of his lip.

George gazed back up at Dream, sitting up now.

"It's worse under the mask," Dream muttered "so yeah. I didn't like it. It reminded me of my failure. So now...I wear a mask. To forget."

Silence hung heavy in the air.

"Dream. I'm so sorry." George murmured quietly.

"It's okay George. It was a long time ago."

"...Can I see it?" George asked hesitantly, already expecting the answer no.

Dream was silent. He fiddled with his thumbs for a minute, before looking up at George.

"Not yet, George. Soon, but not yet."

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!! I am so so so sorry for not updating in like two (?) days. My holidays ended today and I started school again so the past days were me getting ready for that and my usual schedule of updating was messed up because I actually had to be at school (gross).

I haven't even had the time to read at all, let alone update. Thank you for your patience though, my lovely readers!! Coming back after a couple days to see all the lovely comments definitely lifted my mood !! :)

My updating schedule might be a bit whack for a while, as I need to get used to classes and do homework first before I do my own personal writing, but I promise you friends that I will find time to upload chapters!! I will finish this book, so help me god.

Anyway, happy reading!!

-Bee

(28/1/21)

Co-posted on ao3