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"Fortune and love favour the brave."

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[ 🤏😏💦]

[Memories are in italics!]

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Using two large hands, Dream gripped George by the waist and lifted him off his lap, getting to his feet. All the while, their lips remained connected and the air around them fluttered with love and lust, like the butterflies in George's stomach.

Dream backed the emperor towards the bed, hands still resting firmly on his hips. The backs of George's knees hit the bed, and he flopped backwards, his black toga splaying out around him like angel wings.

He reached his arms out in anticipation, smoothing them over Dream's shoulders as the blond stooped forward, placing a chaste kiss onto George's parted lips. Then, with ease, he grabbed George by the hips and pushed him up the bed, shifting the boy beneath him as though he was a doll.

George's head came to rest upon his copious pillows as Dream clambered onto the bed, nudging the emperors legs apart with his knees. He sat between George's widened legs, running his fingers up from the shins to the thighs, hiking the toga up as he went.

George felt his pulse quicken as the ex-gladiator sat back on his heels once George's toga had been lifted, fabric pooling against his stomach. Dream's eyes flitted over the emperors unblemished skin, right up to his face; smirking as he made eye contact.

"Well?" George mused. "Take it off."

Dream raised an eyebrow, not saying anything as he began to unwind the straps of George's sandals, discarding them by throwing them across the room. He then looked at the emperor expectantly, running his tongue along his bottom lip.

George blew out a frustrated breath. "Are you going to take it off?"

"Take what off?" Dream asked coyly.

"My... you know..."

"I'm not sure what you're talking about, your highness."

"My... oh my gods, don't make me say it out loud— I'm giving myself secondhand embarrassment."

"Hm? Come on now, domine. Be a good boy and tell me what you want." Dream bit his lip to hide his laugh.

This caused George to groan in... several different types of frustration. He shot Dream a challenging look, before whispering: "Take off my toga."

"Pardon?"

"Take my fucking clothes off or I swear to the gods above that I—!"

Dream cut George off, moving forward to crush their mouths together. Coaxing the emperors lips open with his tongue, Dream simultaneously reached one hand up, pushing George's arms up. George moaned into the kiss as Dream used one hand to grip onto his wrists, pinning his arms above his head in a strong, bruising hold.

With his other hand, Dream carefully began to unwind George's toga; stripping off the belt and pulling away the rest of the fabric. He tossed it across the room and George gasped against his lips, squirming.

"That is Egyptian silk! Karl will kill you if he knew that—!"

Dream reached his other, now free hand down, pinching George's thigh, before slamming his lips back onto George's, biting.

"Shut the fuck up, domine." Dream muttered against the emperors lips and George felt himself burn.

George kissed Dream back and, before long, the blond was beginning to make his way slowly south. George exhaled softly as Dream pressed open-mouthed kisses along his jaw and down his throat, sucking harshly for a moment on his Adam's apple, before coming to rest in the crook of his neck and collarbone.

As the gladiator nipped at the soft skin, George quipped: "I could have you executed for talking to me like that."

Dream laughed, mouth still attached to George's skin. This sent vibrations through George's chest, making him whimper.

"The only person going to be executed is you, when I shove my di—"

"—Shut up!" George gasped as Dream bit down harder on his collarbone. "Oh my... just shut up and take your damn clothes off."

"So bossy..." Dream mumbled, dragging his mouth away from George's now reddened neck and sitting on his heels again.

George took the opportunity to bring his arms back down, rubbing his wrists as he watched Dream in a trancelike state. The blond pulled off his leather skirt, throwing it behind him, then pulled his white tunic up and over his head.

George watched Dream's abdominal muscles flex as he lifted his arms. As though he had been waiting an eternity to do so, George reached out and ran the tips of his fingers up Dream's body; beginning at the navel, up to the collarbone, being careful to ghost his fingers over the tight gauze wrapped around the blond's chest. He then traced the long, jagged scars that were etched into Dream's skin like tigers stripes.

After flicking his tunic away, Dream leaned forward, using his arms to hold himself aloft over the emperor, who continued to run his warm fingers along the length of Dreams frontal scars.

Dream watched George, transfixed, blond hair brushing the emperors forehead. He continued to watch as George bit his lip, eyes lowered, tracing nimble fingers down, down, down Dream's scars.

George flicked his eyes up. "You're beautiful."

"I love you." Dream blurted out unexpectedly.

George's eyes lit up. "What?"

"I love you."

"Oh... say it again."

Dream smiled. "I love you."

"One more time for me please, baby."

"I—," Dream laughed, punctuating each word by placing a kiss on the emperors awaiting lips. "Love— you."

"And I love you," George whispered back.

Taking initiative, Dream kissed George with as much love and adoration as he could muster. George responded by kissing back equally as hard, wrapping his arms around Dream's shoulders, threading his fingers into the messy blond hair.

"So..." George pulled on Dream's hair, forcing the ex-gladiators lips away from his own. "Are you going to bend me over your knee now, or have your plans changed?"

Dream chuckled darkly. "Oh, George, I'm gonna make you scream—"

"—OH HELL NO—!"

The door had been opened and abruptly closed by Zephyr, who quickly retreated.

"THIS IS LIKE WALKING IN ON YOUR PARENTS FUCKING—! OH MY GODS, JUPITER GIVE ME STRENGTH—!" Her voice echoed hurriedly back down the hall.

George grew red, pushing Dream off of him and scrambling to his feet, hurrying to find his toga. As he frantically pulled it on, Dream slipped his tunic over his head calmly, tugging it back onto his body.

George brushed his hair down, smoothing it as Dream laughed, wrapping his leather skirt back around his hips.

George scowled as the ex-gladiator approached him. "This isn't funny! Poor Zephyr, she could have—!"

Dream silenced the emperor by kissing him softly for a moment, running a hand along his jaw.

Stepping away, Dream smiled. "It's okay."

George took a deep breath, letting Dream tie the fabric belt around his waist. After only a moment, Dream offered George his hand.

"Domine?" He prompted, and George smiled, taking his hand.

"Thank y—,"

"WHAT IN JUPITER'S NAME IS THIS?!" Zephyrs voice filled the imperial villa once again. "GEORGE!"

Yanking Dream along, George sprinted out of his bedchambers and down the hall, pulling Dream through the parlour and into the kitchen where Zephyr stood.

She was clutching the sides of her face, staring down at the ground in confusion. She whipped around to face George with eyes of fury as he and Dream came to a halt.

"What the fuck?" Zephyr pointed at the ground.

"Oh yeah..." George suddenly remembered Schlatt's motionless body laying cold against the polished floor.

"George," Zephyr began. "Why is there a dead man on your floor?"

As Dream burst into a fit of laughter, doubling over, George pulled his hand out of the blond's hold, taking a step towards Zephyr. "Zephyr, I can explain."

Zephyr raised her brows, crossing her arms across her chest. "I think we should all sit down and have a chat."

—•—

"So you're telling me that Schlatt waited for you in your kitchen so he could kill you, and when he was on top of you and about to stab you, he suddenly had a heart attack and dropped dead to the floor? Not to mention, he also murdered your mother, because he thought he would be getting you back for not giving Dream back to him? But, Schlatt could have just killed Dream since he's been recovering here in secret for the last two weeks... but Schlatt thought it was a better idea to kill your mother?"

"Yes."

Zephyr laughed dryly, leaning back in the chair she was sitting in. The warm sunlight lit up her body, her jewellery glittering like gold and silver stars.

Zephyr, George and Dream sat outside in the garden, perched at the table and chairs beneath the grand tree, which provided them with small, patchy bits of shade.

"You've got to be kidding." Zephyr said, causing George to shake his head.

"I swear to the gods, Zephyr, I didn't kill him."

Zephyr sent George a challenging look; her dark eyes skimming over the emperors slightly flushed face. That's when, from beside George, Dream cleared his throat.

"I... uh, killed him."

Silence. Both George and Zephyr turned slowly to look at Dream as though he had sprouted snakes for hair.

He flinched slightly under their harsh gazes, confessing quietly: "I killed him."

"Pardon?" George furrowed his brows. "What the hell? Are you serious?"

Dream nodded, and Zephyr slumped forward in confused defeat, resting her head in her hands and groaning.

"I..." Dream scratched the back of his neck. "I kind of, maybe, possibly... poisoned him?"

"Why are you saying it like a question? You either poisoned him or you didn't," Zephyr lifted her head. "So? What one is it?"

"I poisoned him, yeah."

George was in disbelief. "Explain. Right now."

Dream took a deep breath, and then proceeded.

Two weeks ago...

In captivity beneath the colosseum, Kristin had slipped Dream a small, mysterious vial. Upon entering his cell after intensive training, Dream grabbed it from where he had hid it beneath the concrete slab of a bed.

Inspecting it closely, the vial would have been barely an inch in length, sealed with cork and burgundy coloured wax. Sealed inside was a dark red, almost purple liquid, which sloshed and foamed in a thin, almost minuscule layer on the top.

Dream turned it around between his fingers, noticing the label around the bottle was peeling off. Ripping it away from the glass, Dream noticed it was a note, written in Kristin's small, delicate handwriting.

Dream squinted, trying to decipher the Latin. But he couldn't.

He couldn't read Latin. He had never received an education.

He exhaled angrily, about to throw the bottle across the cell, when a guard approached, and tapped his knuckles against one of the bars.

Dream enclosed his fist around the vial and turned to the guard, who smiled.

"You need help with that?" He asked and Dream internally cringed.

Dream, urged on by the guards menacingly sharp sword, handed the vial over. The guard took it, also taking the note.

"You need me to read this for you?"

Dream, surprised by the guards kindness, nodded, stepping towards the bars. However, he was withheld by the tight chains binding his ankle to the floor.

"Poison."

"Oh... is that it?"

"'Pour entire vial into drink and will work almost immediately'... who are you planning on poisoning, Mr. Nightmare?"

"Schlatt." Dream responded honestly.

The guard laughed. "Interesting. You need me to take this anywhere?"

Dream thought for a moment, running a hand through his messy blond hair. "I need you to give it to a... friend of mine. But first, what's your name?"

"Punz," the guard winked. "And sure, this 'friend' of yours gotta name?"

Dream took a nervous breath, thinking: I hope I don't regret this.

"Quackity," Dream mumbled. "His name is Quackity."

"So..." Dream proceeded, looking from George to Zephyr as he relayed his memory. "Quackity held onto the vial for me until this morning. He snuck in, which he is very good at by the way, and he gave me the vial. Then, I poisoned the wine which George hasn't touched since I got hurt, and waited."

"How...?" George blinked. "How did you know he was coming?"

"I got Quackity to watch him."

"I thought you hated Quackity!" Zephyr chuckled.

Dream nodded. "I do... I just needed someone who could sneak into one of the most heavily guarded places in Italia... without getting caught."

"Oh my gods..." George muttered. "I could have been killed."

He turned to Dream, smacking him on the shoulder. "I could have been killed! What if the poison didn't work! Dream, how could you risk that!"

"I knew it was going to work!" Dream reassured the emperor.

Zephyr interjected. "What kind was it?"

"Belladonna, I think."

Zephyr nodded. "If you used the entire vial, which you did, I presume, it would have acted instantly as competitive antagonists at the muscarinic receptors, and blocked the binding process of acetylcholine to the central nervous system."

"...huh?" George looked at Zephyr.

"Well, it would have definitely worked. Okay, now that we've cleared that up, can I ask you two a question?"

George nodded.

She smiled. "What were you two doing in your bedroom, hm?"

George groaned, burying his head in his hands as Dream laughed sheepishly from beside him.

George shook his head. This is gonna be a long conversation.

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Hey homies, this is an authors note!

Teehee I love interrupting seggsy scenes in my own writing <3

One more chapter to go!

This chapters question/statement: how are you?

Until next time,

Blue :)