#first hurricane

The past three days had been a blur of activity. Dream spent all day Monday stocking up on snacks and water (including a large bag of chocolate covered raisins), then charged his car and several power banks in case the power went out.

Yesterday was spent outside, boarding up windows, hauling sandbags and stacking them against the doors, just in case. The work left George's newly muscular arms more fatigued than they'd been in a year, but he did it.

Dream was proud, and as always George basked in the praise.

Now, as darkness descended on Florida and the wind whistled outside, George knew he should feel calm and secure in his office. He was safe. They were both safe. Dream had assured him several times that they'd be safe.

Then why didn't he feel safe?

Hurricane force winds, enough rain to leave George concerned about a flood washing them away, and now tornado warnings?

It was all too much.

George was on the verge of a full-blown panic attack when his phone started to ring with an incoming discord call from Dream. Frantically, he picked it up and answered it, expecting the worst.

“George, log into Minecraft. I need your help with something.” Dream's calm voice started to soothe his frayed nerves.

George clicked on the familiar green icon on his toolbar. “Ok, I'm logging in. What do you want?”

“I'm doing a stream and I want you to control my Minecraft avatar.” Dream explained. “I'm going to talk about the hurricane and I want to be able to point stuff out and it'll look cool if my Minecraft character is there but I can't control both. I sent you the skin so you can change yours. And you'll have to change your name, of course.”

“Um…yeah, sure.” George opened the file that Dream sent him and uploaded it into the game. He couldn't help the smile on his lips as he watched his familiar skin change from blue to green. Well, the face, hands and feet were green. The rest was a grayish-blue suit.

“Oh, and you can say hi if you want.” Dream said through their discord vc. “I figure it'll be pretty obvious after a while that it's you.”

“Maybe.” George said.

He didn't.

Not that he didn't want to. He was just happy being a silent participant in Dream's stream. Kind of like Callahan.

And he had fun. He memed around a bit, flying across the screen with a trident, using Minecraft cats to help Dream demonstrate hurricane safety, and even catching himself on fire.

It felt… normal. For that hour and a half, while he listened to Dream talk about the hurricane, it didn't feel so scary anymore.

“Love you guys, appreciate you guys. Bye!” Dream’s voice sounded through George's headset.

And then the stream ended.

With a sigh, George removed his headset, then leaned back against his chair. The stream had been a nice respite, but now, with the discord call disconnected, George could feel the uneasiness from before creeping into his bones.

He needed to get out of here, just for a minute or two.

“Oh!” George stumbled a bit after opening his office door, not expecting Dream to be standing there.

A concerned look softened Dream's features and he tilted his head to the side. “Are you okay?”

“Um, yeah, I'm fine.” George lied. “I just need to, um… charge my phone before the power goes –”

The lights flickered, then went out.

Before George knew what he was doing, he practically threw himself at his best friend, burying his face in Dream's hoodie and gripping the soft fabric like a lifeline.

Dream tensed for a moment, then a light chuckle shook his chest as he reached his arms around George and patted his back. “Didn’t peg you as the type to be afraid of the dark.”

“I'm…I'm not,” George straightened, warmth rushing into his face as he fumbled with his phone and turned on the flashlight. “I just… I was… I wanted to make sure…”

“It’s ok,” Dream replied, a similar blush on his own cheeks. A familiar fluttering stirred in George’s chest. “Anyway,” he reached out to lay a comforting hand on George's shoulder. “I wanted to thank you for joining me on my stream. It was fun.”

“Yeah… yeah, it was.” George replied. “We should do it again sometime.”

“So,” Dream shuffled his feet. “What do you want to do? I know there's not much with the power being out.”

“Well,” George chewed his lower lip nervously. “We could play chess for a bit, but I'm still feeling a little nervous about the storm and everything.”

Dream held out his hand, gaze tentative but hopeful. “Wanna bunker down in my office then?” he said. “We could, um, cuddle on the bed in there for a while, if you want. At least until the worst of the storm passes.”

George looked up into Dream's eyes, etched in sharp lines of light and shadow, yet soft as always. Without hesitation he nodded, then placed his hand in Dream’s and followed him down the stairs to his office.

A few minutes later, George snuggled into Dream, nestling his head into the soft spot between Dream's chest and shoulder.

The spot that felt like home.

“Comfy?” Dream said, holding him close.

George sighed, heart slowing to a steady pace inches from that of his best friend. Slowly, Dream started to run his fingers through George's curls. He'd repay the favor later, when Dream’s hair was longer again.

“Yeah, I’m good.” George replied, then tipped his chin and looked up. “And Dream?”

“Yes, George?”