The first thing George thinks of when he wakes up is 'holy shit it's today'.

His head snaps up as he pushes himself into a sitting position, heart thumping with anticipation. He glanced out the window and suppressed a groan. It was mid-morning. He'd have to wait until a bit before midnight before he had the chance to transform.

He glanced up to the roof, looking at the small hatch in the roof that he'd never noticed before. Wilbur had mentioned it late yesterday before heading off to bed, he'd said that opening it would be the best way to get direct moonlight into the room. Even Dream had forgotten it was there, but Ranboo had gone up and opened it to make sure it worked.

George had no idea how this was going to go. It was such a crazy thing to do that he almost had a hard time believing he was going to attempt this. George bit his lip. He really really hoped it worked.

He wondered what having legs would be like. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't picture himself with them. He hoped he didn't look weird.

George turned over quickly at the sound of Dream yawning. He put his hands on the side of the glass and peered down at the man who'd been sleeping on the floor. Surely sleeping with a mask on was uncomfortable, but he wasn't one to judge.

That was a lie. He judged a lot. Just not much when it came to Dream.

Dream seemed to notice him and he sat up on his blanket, stretching his arms and letting another yawn fall from his mouth before he gave George a soft smile.

"You excited?" Dream asked, voice still deep from sleep.

George let out a hesitant nod, rubbing the back of his head with the hand that wasn't on the glass.

Dream grinned, placing his hand over George's, who flushed slightly.

"Me too." he murmured, and they shared a look before Dream coughed and looked away.

George let out a heavy breath, eyes flicking to Dream's hand on his, before he gazes in the direction Dream was looking.

"Dream?"

"Hmm?" the man answered, looking back to George.

"What's it like to walk?" George murmured, curiosity swirling through his dark chocolate eyes.

Dream pondered it for a moment, opening his mouth several times, unsure of how to answer.

"Well, it's not very hard, you just have to get used to it," Dream started, finally finding the words, "um, it's gotta be like...nowhere near as fast as you are when you swim, but it's pretty good for jumping or stuff."

George raised an eyebrow, and George could see Dream go red under his mask.

"I don't know how to explain it..." Dream groaned in mock annoyance and George let out a loud laugh.

Dream pouted at him, "Don't make fun of me!"

"Too bad." George mused, but let his laughter quieten.

They sat like that for a bit in comfortable silence, listening to the waves splash against the ship outside, and George let his mind wander.

What would happen if this went wrong? Would he be horribly disfigured? Would he be hurt? George frowned, what if it killed him? If it didn't work?

Dream must have noticed the frustrated look on George's face because he cut him off from his thoughts.

"Braid some of my hair?" he murmured, and George raised an eyebrow.

He knew what Dream was doing. Trying to distract him. Well- it worked.

George rolled his eyes fondly before guiding Dream to turn around.

The blonde did so, shuffling around till his back was leaning against the glass.

George felt a pang in his heart at the loss of contact of their hands but shook it off quickly.

He starts pulling bits of Dream's hair that's long enough into three pieces and works on braiding the side of his hair.

They sat there for a while, murmuring about random things as George braided, unbraided, braided, so on so forth. He could have just left it when he'd braided it once, but it was good at relieving his stress. And Dream certainly didn't seem to mind, rather, George thinks he may actually enjoy it.

A little while later, Wilbur barges into the room, Tommy, Phil and Sapnap trailing in behind him. George wonders for a moment where Ranboo is, but he doesn't question it. The boy probably had other things to do or didn't want to stress him out.

George smiles at them and murmurs a soft hello, his hands pausing in braiding Dream's hair. Dream lets a little grumble at that but welcomes the others despite it.

In Wilbur's arms are clothes and a rather large brown blanket.

The four of them come and sit around where Dream and George were, and George peers over to look at the articles of clothing.

There are some pants, quite similar to Dream's. Things that he vaguely remembers being called underwear, and a somewhat seethrough long white blouse shirt.

Dream lets out a breath of confusion.

"What're those for?" he questions, and Tommy snorts.

"What?" Dream repeats, staring at Tommy who continued to laugh at him.

Wilbur rolls his eyes, gently punching Tommy on the shoulder for him to shut up. Tommy grumbles at him but makes no further comment.

"Um, Dream," Wilbur says, "they're for George."

"Huh?" Dream asked, and Sapnap let out a groan, mumbling something about Dream being a dumbass under his breath.

"George needs clothes when he's going to transform." Wilbur states, gesturing to the clothes in front of them.

Dream goes red at not realising and lets out a cough as George feels a tingle of embarrassment creep up his face. As a merman, he'd never had to worry about clothes, but he knew it was a human thing, so he'd be doing it too. He wondered idly why he'd have to wear a shirt when he didn't have to now, but he decided not to question it.

"The blanket is to wrap around him before he transforms, so he has some decency before he gets dressed." Wilbur adds, giving the large blanket a gentle pat.

George hums in acknowledgement.

Dream stands up to get the clothes and blanket and he walks over to the small table in the corner, dropping them on it.

George caught Tommy's eye for a moment, and the younger boy meets him with a questioning gaze. George furrows his brow in confusion, but smiles when he sees Tommy switching his hand between a thumbs up and thumbs down. He does a thumbs-up back at Tommy, and the boy smiles slightly, before letting an uninterested look flick across his face when he looks over at Phil. He had to keep up his bravado, of course.

George's heart warmed at Tommy checking in on him. Tommy was easily becoming one of his favourites. After Dream, of course.

A few hours later, after hitting a ball between all of them and chatting a bit, they have dinner. It's starting to get late, and they want to be at the top of their energy for what was to come.

As usual, George has fish. This time, however, it's cooked. He's never had cooked fish before. He prods it slightly, before shrugging to himself and eating it.

Dream looks up at him, a smile on his lips.

"Like it?" he asked, and the others waited for George's decision.

The brunette chewed for a moment, before nodding with a smile.

Dream cheered quietly, and Phil chuckled at him.

George glances up to the open hatch and can see the sky darken. He'd have to wait until it was almost midnight though, so he still had a bit to go.

Wilbur noticed this and flashed him a smile.

"How about to pass the time you tell us a bit more about being a merman?" the other brunette suggested, and George shrugged, "Sure."

Wilbur clapped his hands, "How fast can you swim?"

George furrowed his brows in thought.

"Hmm, well, I don't know. I can go pretty fast, but I've never actually tested it before." Wilbur nodded to himself.

"Do you speak fish?" Sapnap blurted out, and George looked at him with a weird look.

"....No." he answered, and Sapnap pouted in disappointment.

Dream laughed at him, causing Sapnap to flip him off.

They continued to bombard him with questions. Dream did not, as he'd already talked about all of this with George before.

Phil held up his hands, "Guys, why don't we ask him stuff that's actually about himself, rather than his species?" Wilbur flushed, murmuring a 'sorry'.

"How old are you?" Sapnap asks, and George ponders it for a moment.

"Uhm, well, time is a bit different underwater, and it's harder to tell what part of the day it is, but I think....24? Maybe?" Sapnap nods to himself.

With George's really good merman hearing, he heard Sapnap mutter 'Dream's into older guys, noted.', and George flushed, pretending he didn't hear it. George knew Dream was 21, that was common knowledge.

"What's your favourite colour?" Tommy asked, and George blinked in surprise.

"Uh, blue. It's the only one I can see properly." Tommy's eyes widened, obviously having forgotten that fact.

Dream squeaked in surprise, turning to George quickly.

"That's right! I said I'd ask you about that but I completely forgot! You're colourblind?!" George nodded slowly, "all merfolk are." he said, and Dream pouted.

"That's so trash." George feigned offence, and Dream scrambled to fix his mistake.

"No, I mean, that sucks, because you can't see colour! It's nothing wrong with you!" George rolled his eyes, and Sapnap snickered.

"You're just salty that he can't see your green hoodie." Sapnap joked, causing Dream to whip around and stick his tongue out at him mockingly.

George rolled his eyes fondly.

- - - - - - - - -

It's ten minutes to midnight. They'd helped him out of the tank and had pushed it to the corner of the room, letting George dry off, just as the book had told him to.

Wilbur handed the moon heart crystal over to George, and the merman inspected it. A small hole had been put in it with a thick string to make it a necklace.

"Just more convenient..." Wilbur murmured when George thanked him.

George held it in his hands as they waited, sitting down on the floor underneath the hatch.

He was wrapped up in the blanket, which felt like the softest thing he'd ever touched, if he was being honest.

Moonlight started to shine through the hatch, and George's breath hitched in nervousness.

"Okay, now just hold the moon heart directly under it, and will yourself to charge it. It should take energy from the same magic source you have for tears." Wilbur said hurriedly, and George held it out in the moonlight.

For a few moments, nothing happened. Sapnap let out a sad hum, but then, it started to glow.

It glowed for a few minutes, until after midnight, and it started to dim.

George looked up at Wilbur, who then said, "Okay, now, put it on, and make sure you're touching it. Then just, try, I guess?"

George nodded slowly, glancing at Dream, who gave him a warm and reassuring smile. George smiled back, before slipping the necklace over his head. It was cold against his skin, but he found himself not caring.

Work. Please work. I want you to transform me. Please. He willed it to work, and slowly it started to glow again.

The glow grew brighter and brighter, causing the other's to shield their eyes from it, but George just kept on staring down at it. It was...beautiful.

George felt awe course through him at it, and then, well, pain.

A hot searing pain spiked through George's body, causing him to gasp at the feeling. The pain dulled after a moment, leaving a rather uncomfortable feeling rushing through him. It made him feel nauseous, like he was going to throw up.

He rested his hand on the floor, needing help sitting up, as he felt himself start to change under the blanket.

The moon heart continued to glow brightly for a few minutes before it dulled, and George let out heavy breaths, shaking like a leaf.

The other's uncovered their eyes and looked at him. George couldn't see his legs, as they were still under the blanket, but they were definitely there. He wiggled his toes, letting out a surprised squeak at the feeling.

"So..." Dream started, "Did it work?"

George looked up at them, nodding quickly.

Wilbur shoved the clothes into George's arms, and they all turned around to give him a minute.

"Um, I might be a bit. I have no idea how to do this." George murmured, his face growing red in embarrassment, glad that they had their backs turned to him and could not see.

"That's okay, Georgie. Take all the time you need." Dream said, voice breathless as if he was the one who'd just transformed.

George smiled warmly at that and got to work. The underwear was easy. The pants were weird. They got stuck on his feet at one point, but he managed to get them on, even as he was sitting. The shirt was easier, he just slipped his arms in.

He glanced down at the buttons and furrowed his brow in confusion. He didn't know how to do them. That was okay, he could get Dream's help later.

The material was soft against his skin, and George knew it would take a little getting used to, as he wasn't familiar with the sensation of being clothed, but he was ready for the challenge.

He coughed slightly, blanket discarded.

"You can turn around now." George murmured, still staring at his two legs.

This was so fucking weird.

What the fuck.

Holy shit.

They all turned around and Dream came over to him and sat next to him, hands resting on George's legs.

No one said anything for a moment.

"Oh my god. It worked." Dream murmured, and George glanced up at him, smiling tiredly.

"It worked." he echoed, and the others let out gentle cheers. George went to pat his legs and realised with a start that his hands were no longer webbed.

He stared at them, closing and opening his fingers, curiosity evident in his eyes.

This was crazy. Was he dreaming? Someone needed to pinch him.

"Your gills are gone." Dream noted, and George's hand flew to his neck where his gills were supposed to be.

Dream was right. They were gone. He knew how to use his lungs, of course, he had been doing so whenever his head was out of the water, but it was weird not to feel them there.

Dream grabs George's hands and inspects them too, just as surprised as George was. The brunette let out a gentle laugh.

Phil quickly murmured to the others to get up and give them their privacy.

"Aww..." Tommy groaned, and Wilbur flicked him on the head.

"It's bedtime for you anyway, Tommy." he said, and Tommy told him to shut up as they walked out of the room.

Dream and George barely noticed them go.

George's eyelids felt heavy, exhaustion seeping through his body at using so much magic energy.

Dream patted the pillow and blanket he'd been sleeping with, grabbing the extra blanket and wrapping it over George.

"You're tired. Go to sleep."

"But-"

"Sleep, Georgie. We can work on walking tomorrow." George wanted to argue with him, but the yawn he let out betrayed him.

He laid his head down on the pillow, looking up at Dream who sat with him.

The pillow was so comfortable. So, so, so comfortable.

"Stay with me, Dream?" George murmured, worried that the man would go somewhere else to sleep.

"Always, George." Dream whispered, running a hand through George's hair to lull him into sleep.

The last thing George saw as he was pulled into a soft slumber was the smile on Dream's face. That was a smile he always wanted to see.

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 - x - x -x - x - x - x

Hello friends!!! Ohmygod here's the chapter!! This is the longest one i've written in a LONG time and let me tell you, it was not fun to edit. I enjoyed writing it though, and I really hope you all like it too!

Thank you so so so so so so so much for your support, you guys are just so sweet. Your comments always make me laugh or bring me to happy tears, so thank you so so much for that!

Sorry it's like an hour after I generally try and update, my maths tutor came when I was editing it and I had to take a break!!

Happy reading

-Bee

(3/2/21)

Co-posted on ao3