Warm, like Starlight - Chapter 2 - Simplysmitten (2024)

Chapter Text

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚　Space　˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

"Pebble, knife…what?" George questioned, inspecting the motion of Dream's hands, trying to make sense of why he was punching his palm with his fist.

"No, baby-rock,paper,scissors," Dream corrected with a laugh, letting his hands fall to his lap. Cautiously, George held up his own hands, trying to replicate what Dream was showing him.

"And this- thisgameis how we pick what planet we spend our break on?" George tilted his head to the side, still rather unconvinced about the charades. Dream didn't seem worried though, but he was acting rather… strange.

"I would suggest we could flip a coin, but I didn't have any reason to bring human currency with me, and no one else has-never mind, look- on Earth, this is a perfectly reasonable way to make impossible decisions," Dream assured him, fidgeting in his seat.

They were in George's cabin after he complained that Dream's quarters wereextracold the last few nights. Dream had made sure to voice his unhappiness about the heat, but that didn't necessarily explain his sudden shift in demeanor.

"Fist for rock, flat hand for paper, two fingers for scissors. Rock beats scissors, scissors beats paper, and paper beats rock," Dream explained again, cupping his fist with his other hand, like he was about to start hitting it again.

"Rock." George pointed at Dream's hand, making Dream smile but let out a sigh.

"Yes, Georgie, this is rock- but the point of the game isn't to identify what the other player threw. It's to-"

"You don't mean you're going tothrowa rock at me," George interrupted with a horrified expression, suddenly not liking the sounds of this game at all.

"Notliterallythrow, I meantchoose, I guess," Dream relented, still holding out his hand in anticipation, like he was waiting at the start line and ready to go.

"I'm going to say 'rock, paper, scissors,shoot' and when I say 'shoot', that's when you choose your wea- uh, choose rock, paper, or scissors," Dream nodded, flicking his eyes down to George's hands eagerly.

"Okay, I guess." George adjusted the way he was sitting, his tail pulling away from Dream's torso and wrapping around his own body instead. Even his tail didn't like Dream's sudden rush of nerves.

Following Dream's lead, George moved his fist in sync with Dream's, while Dream chanted the four words. When Dream got to 'shoot', George completely forgot to pick one of the choices, and he could see on Dream's face how upset he was.

"Best two out of three," Dream rushed, pulling away his two extended fingers to make a fist again, furrowing his brow as his gaze narrowed on George's hand.

"Uh, okay?" George said with much less confidence, repeating the exact same motions as before.

"You're f*cking with me!" Dream exclaimed after the second round, apparently equally as dissatisfied with George's inability to remember to make a choice as he'd been the first time.

"Sorry, I'll- let me try again," George muttered, resetting his fist in his palm, mentally going through the options pebble- no,rock, paper, or scissors.

"What? No, George- youwon… twice," Dream admitted, sinking back in his seat, all the adrenaline leaving his body. George looked down at his fist, increasingly confused.

"But I forgot to pick one." George looked up at Dream, watching the moment it clicked in Dream's head and he burst into a full-blown laughter. Without warning, Dream reached forward to wrap his arms around George's waist, pulling him onto his chest when he laid back in the bed.

"By not picking, you chose rock, which beat my scissors-twice. I thought you were messing with me about not having played the game before, but knowing you beat me literally without even trying- orknowing, for that matter- I can't be mad at that." Dream continued to chuckle softly, scratching behind George's ear as a reward.

"Why were you so tense before? I thought you were upset with me," George mumbled through his growing purr, arching his back slightly when Dream petted down the length of his spine,rudelystopping just before he grazed the base of his tail.

"I'm uh… I'm, like, alittlecompetitive," Dream answered reluctantly, clearly using petting George as a means of distraction. George would've been sucked into it, had the admission not been over something as stupid as what he was told is a 'playground game for children'.

"Competitive about pebble, scissors, paper?" George leaned away, fighting back a laugh when he saw the embarrassed look on his mate's face.

"Whatever," he grumbled in return, pulling George back down to his chest, resuming his petting. "Anyway, so this means we're going to your planet for our break then? Zoragi- Foraki- no…Lu… Luora-"

"Ceres," George interrupted, holding back his laugh at Dream's increasingly wrong and complicated guesses.

"And no, I choose Earth," George let his eyes fall shut, relaxing into the warmth of Dream's chest, only to have his peace ripped away from him.

"You- you chooseEarth?" Dream asked in complete shock, propping George up by his shoulders so he could look at his face. George whined pathetically- it was bad enough Dream had made him miss the first ten minutes of his nap hour to play his stupid hand game, but this was getting ridiculous. Despite his growing annoyance, he nodded his head anyway.

"Sorry- sorry, baby, I just wasn't expecting you to pick Earth… I thought, I don't know, I figured-"

"Well, youfiguredwrong, so shut up and pet me," George complained, earning a scoff-like laugh from Dream, followed by Dream blowing air against one of his ears, making it flick repeatedly.

"We'll talk when you wake up," Dream said much more softly, dragging his hands up and down George's back, causing his purr to return.

Despite the stress coursing through George's body- the last few days of an expedition were usually guaranteed to be the worst- he still fell asleep with the same ease he always did when he and Dream were together. In the last month, there had only been a handful of nights they couldn't sleep together, and those following mornings wererough.

Even if George wished Dream had thought of it earlier, he appreciated that Dream had started combining his lunch break with his two shorter breaks designed to be taken throughout the day, that way he could spend one of George's nap hours with him.

Although, it certainly wasn't a naphourthat day.

"Stop making biscuits on my ass," George grumbled into Dream's neck.

"I feel like your ass is getting bigger- gonna have its own gravitational pull soon… maybe it already has one, and that's why my hands are constantly drawn to-hey!" Dream cut himself off with a laugh when George reached around aimlessly until he found a pillow, promptly using it to smother Dream's face.

"I could've slept for twenty more minutes," George whined after checking the time, giving up on his attempt to murder his partner. "I'm literally going to be falling asleep on my feet because of you."

"I can think of a couple things that might…wake you up," Dream suggested, returning his hands to George's back, petting a bit lower on each downstroke.

Now that was just unfair.

"Sleep, or sex? Your call," Dream mumbled against the top of George's head, slipping his hands beneath the waistband of George's sleep shorts, going from petting his back to massaging his hips.

"We're going to bed at twenty hundred hours tonight," George grumbled once again, but lifted his hips enough for Dream to push his pants off, spreading his legs to straddle Dream once his shorts were discarded.

"Eighto'clock? You're crazy," Dream laughed softly, moving to kiss George's neck.

Ever since George had to spend four days wearing long-neck sweaters under his uniform- after receivingmanyinquiries about the odd bruising on his neck Dream left during their first time mating- Dream had been banned from sucking on George's neck in that way again. Honestly, it was a much crueler punishment for George than Dream, considering how much he craved the feeling of Dream's dull fangs scraping across his neck.

"Get inside me before I fall asleep on you again," George got out through a broken moan, rolling his hips in the air when Dream grasped the base of his tail.

"Really think you could fall asleep right now? Withthis?" Dream taunted, taking his hand out of George's hair to stroke his dick, which had started to drip pearls of precome onto Dream's stomach. His dick also wasn't the only thing dripping.

"Want me to beg?" George asked back, untangling one of his fists from Dream's hair, reaching down to push off his pants. "Expect me to beg for the matingyouwoke me up for? Not happening- now get inside-f*ck-" George gasped going slack on Dream's chest, whimpering from the feeling of two fingers entering him. Usually Dream started him with one, but George wasn't mad about the stretch in the slightest.

“Always sobossy,” Dream laughed under his breath, thrusting his fingers harder into George, making him purr louder. “Should I call youadmiraltoo? Would that make you feel more in charge?”

Damn Dream and his perfect ability to remember every last thing George had ever evenhintedhe enjoyed.

“Am-f*ck- ‘m in charge,” George struggled to argue, his hips grinding down, chasing the pleasure from Dream’s fingers and the rub of their dicks brushing together.

“You don’t wanna be in charge,” Dream lowered his voice, turning his face to the side so he could whisper in George’s ear. “You want to be a good kitty.”

Yeah,damnDream and how easily he saw through him.

“Dream- f*ck,f*ck-“ George gasped, ready to whine when Dream pulled his fingers out, but was quickly satisfied by Dream pushing his dick inside of him.

Dream hiked George up by his thighs, pulling them further apart to make room for himself between them. George’s tail was desperately wrapping itself around Dream’s arm, trying to pull his hand closer to its base.

“You might not beg with your words, but your body gives everything away,” Dream chuckled, letting go of George’s thigh, allowing his tail to take his hand exactly where it wanted him. George struggled to lift his hips any higher without causing Dream to pull out, but his body was desperate to chase more of the soft touch Dream was teasing him with.

“Listen to thatpurr,” Dream hummed, rocking his hips in slow drags, stealing George’s breath away each time he pushed all the way back inside.

“Sh-shut up,” George moaned, his tail already beginning to shake.

“Come on, baby. I know you want to be a good kitty for me. Use your words- tell me what you want, you know I’ll give you exactly what you ask for,” Dream murmured into his ear, sucking and biting his ear lobe while he waited for a response.

“f*ck- please just-please, need you,” George gave into both Dream’s demand and his own desires, letting himself be at Dream’s mercy.

“Good, so good, baby,” Dream said through an airy breath, already picking up the pace of his thrusts. “Let me show you what you get when you behave.”

The feather light touch of Dream’s fingers at the base of his tail turned into a solid grip, stroking his tail like an extension of each thrust. With his other hand, Dream traced over George’s chest, rolling his nipple between his thumb and pointer finger.

“More,” George whimpered before Dream had even pulled his hand away. His chest had been more sensitive than ever lately, like every time Dream touched him it made the sensation stronger.

Dream pushed his own hips off the bed with the force he thrust up into George, causing George to surge forward just enough for Dream to get his mouth on George’s breast, sucking on the nipple his hand wasn’t already teasing.

George had one hand tangled in Dream’s hair, guiding the movement of his mouth, with his other holding onto the headboard, causing the bed frame to thump against the wall even louder.

“Come on, baby- show me how good I make you feel,” Dream mumbled against his skin, releasing George’s nipple to stroke his dick instead.

“Know- youknowhow good-f*ck- good I feel,” George whined, rolling his hips in time with Dream’s thrusts. Even the loud squelch of his slick was barely audible over his heavy purring.

“Tell me any-anyway,” Dream groaned in the middle of his sentence, dragging George down to lay flush against his chest again.

“Only one thing that could make this better…” George panted, his tail tightening where it was coiled around the arm Dream had continued to massage its base with.

“Tell me what it is, baby,” Dream requested. George swore Dream somehow discovered a way to grinddeeperinside him for the sole purpose of making George unable to speak.

“If-if you- oh f*ck,yes- came in me.” George slipped his hands under Dream’s back, kneading his skin as his org*sm barreled towards him. “Wan’ you to come in me.”

The moan that escaped Dream was one of George’s favorites- it was the one he let out every time George asked him to fill him up, which happened more often than not. The sound of Dream’s voice was almost as good as the feeling of his come pouring inside him.

“Gonna come now? Gonna come for me, like a good kitty? Isn’t that right?” Dream asked, riding George through his org*sm, swirling his wrist with each pass over George’s tip and continuing to thrust into him, even as his come spilled out around him.

When George’s body was twitching with waves of aftershocks, Dream eased up on him, guiding George to relax back down on his chest. The feeling of laying in his own come was enough to bring George at leastsomewhatback to his senses.

"Did you seriously-Dream," George groaned, butting his head against Dream's collarbone, still struggling to catch his breath.

"Wha- you literally told me to!" Dream defended, but his laugh exposed that he knew he was just as much to blame.

"I have to report back to duty in-sh*t- seven minutes, and now I'm filled with your come. Youknowhow long it takes me to clean up- I don't have enough time," George whined pathetically, sinking back down on Dream's chest. Just to give Dream a taste of his own medicine, George clenched around him, making the latter suck in a sharp breath and tighten his grasp around George's waist to a bruising degree.

"You're not going to report backat allif you make me think about you walking around with my come dripping out of you for the rest of the day, followed bythat," Dream moaned, rocking his hips slowly. George knew he was playing with fire, considering he was just as likely to get sucked into round two as Dream.

"You have to report back soon too," George reminded him, tightening the grasp his tail had on Dream's thigh, while Dream moved down his hands to aid the roll of George's hips.

"Maybe we got food poisoning, or-or I got stuck in that stupid chamber again and you had to get me out," Dream begged, his breath as shaky as the trembling grip he had around George.

"They'd send medical down if we said we were sick, and there are security cameras in all the chambersbecauseyou got yourself locked in there once," George chuckled, his own breath hitching when Dream whined in such a wonderfully desperate way.

Dream rolled them over, burying his face into George's neck once his back was flat against the mattress. His legs were practically numb already- he may have overestimated his ability to return to work after being f*cked once, let alonetwice.

"Baby," Dream murmured, shuddering when he drew his hips back further, only to slam them forward.

George grabbed onto Dream's back, desperate for something to knead. The overstimulation wasa lot, but it was nothing they hadn't done before- though it was the first time they'd gone for it when there was a time limit on their hands.

"So pretty," Dream whispered against his chest, licking and sucking on George's nipples, which were still swollen and bright pink from their first round. After having his privileges of sucking on George's neck taken away, Dream had been finding as many hidden spots as possible to leave colorful bruises instead.

"H-ah- halt!" George pleaded, taking the moment Dream spent chuckling at him to catch his breath.

"Baby, how many times do I have to tell you it'spause, nothalt?" Dream asked sarcastically, but stopped his movements nonetheless.

"Still works every time," George did his best to shrug, reaching up one hand to cover Dream's mouth and the other to his earpiece.

"Gr'g-" Dream mumbled against George's hand, starting to retreat his hips.

"Halt means don't move, not done- sodon't move," George instructed, his purr still heavy and his gaze nowhere near as stern as it usually was. He waited until Dream nodded his head, even if the horrified expression on his face remained.

George closed his eyes, trying to get his purr to lighten- but only slightly. He'd need it for his plan.

"Captain, do you copy?" George asked into his earpiece, making Dream look all the more terrified, realizing it was theirbossGeorge was trying to talk to in the middle of them having sex- specifically having sex when they were both meant to have returned to work several minutes ago.

"This is the captain speaking. Everything alright, admiral?"

"I think, uh-" George paused, but kept the connection going, letting his purr rumble through the microphone before forcing out a cough. "I think that cough came back. Last time all medical said I needed was some rest, so mind if I-"

"Stay in your cabin- absolutely. You- uh, you stay there," he rushed, interrupting George.

"Sir, I'm sure I could come back around-" George's eyes met Dream's, solidifying his decision that hedefinitelyhad no intention of returning to work. George let out another purr, this one a bit deeper. "Sorry, I was saying-"

"Don't- don't be ridiculous, admiral. I'll have Tobias come up and complete the afternoon rounds on your behalf. Are yousureyou don't want medical to come down? It sounds worse than before, if anything," he interrupted again, sounding distressed just from hearing George's purr over the line.

"Not necessary, captain. I'll check in with them tomorrow before reporting for duty. Over." George smiled up at Dream, his purr increasing in volume when Dream shook his head disapprovingly (veryapprovingly) at his lie.

"Get well, admiral. Over."

"You are an evil,evilkitty, you know that?" Dream asked once George uncovered his mouth, nodding to show he disconnected the communication with the captain.

"Ask me if I care- nowunpause." George attempted to roll his hips, guiding Dream's face back down to his chest, eager to feel his mouth on his nipples again.

"If you're not leaving this cabin for the rest of the day, I suppose there's no need for you to be able to walk," Dream mumbled so sweetly, it almost made George not realize what was about to happen.

Dream pulled away from his chest, sitting up on his knees. He had his arms hooked around George's hips, lifting them off the mattress, and draping them over his spread thighs. George nearly cried out from the way the pain felt so good, like his body had never been pushed to that limit before, and he was more than eager to surpass it.

"Hope you sent your laundry out this morning, because you're going to need some new sheets," Dream teased.

George groaned, not even wanting to know what the mixture of slick and come leaking out of him must've done to his bedding.

"Gonna need a bath too- your tail issoaked," Dream mumbled less teasingly, letting go of his hip with one hand to reach down and stroke the base of his tail. George felt a slight sense of embarrassment when he could literallyhearthe wetness when Dream squeezed it, also resuming his thrusts into George.

"Pet-pet," George whimpered, feeling himself inch closer and closer to his org*sm, knowing a scratch behind his ear was the final thing he needed to push him over the edge. Not to mention he could feel Dream's thighs trembling, which he'd figured out long ago meant Dream was about to finish.

"God- I love you," Dream said breathlessly, leaning back over George's chest. George wanted nothing more than to say it back, but Dream brought both hands to the base of his ears and began scratching them. To make matters worse (better), Dream brushed their noses together with each thrust, causing George to make borderline aggressive biscuits on his back.

"f*ck, f*ck-f*ck," George said as his best attempt at a warning, arching his back off the mattress when his spent dick dribbled out as much come as he could produce, and his tail flicked against Dream's back with each wave of its quiver.

"More in? More come in me?" George asked with a tremble in his voice, his head dizzy and his body giving in to the effects of being f*cked out of his mind twice in one hour.

"Always asking for me to come in you," Dream connected their lips, kissing George as best as he could, while his hips stalled and George could feel each twitch of come pulsating inside him.

Dream pulled out almost immediately that time, which George was grateful for, opting instead to lay on his side next to George, hugging him to his chest.

"How are you so f*cking perfect for me?" Dream asked, his words mumbled into George's hair, while Dream pressed kiss after kiss onto his head. George melted from the praise, his purr slowing to show his contentment.

"Don't know how I lived before this- beforeyou," George admitted, nuzzling his face against Dream's chest in between head butts. Dream appeared amused by his action, seeing that George wasn't usually the one desperate for affection after mating.

"f*ck, I’m so late. Think there's a place on this ship thatdoesn'thave cameras that I can say I got stuck in?" Dream asked with a soft laugh and a groan, pulling himself away from George, despite George's adamant protest. "Baby, I don't have a purr that can get me out of finishing my work day, I'm sorry."

"You're… you're already late though. Just a little longer- least 'til I fall asleep?" George requested, giving Dream his best pleading look- Dream called them 'doe eyes'- going back to purring once Dream lowered himself to George's side again.

"You feelin' okay? After sex, you normally point out all the dumb faces I make when I come, but the last few days… you just want this." Dream stroked the back of his head softly, pressing a few light kisses to George's forehead, letting his lips linger, as if he were checking for a spiked temperature.

"You're my mate- I'm showing my mate how much I love him. Is that suddenly acrime?" George asked sarcastically with a laugh, which quickly turned into a pleased hum when Dream scratched behind his ears a little harder.

"'Course not. Love when you show me love," Dream said a bit too sweetly, even for George's increased need for affection. To prove to Dream just how fine he was, he pretended to gag at Dream's comment, earning a scoff (and another forehead kiss) for his reaction.

"If I come back tonight and you're still laying here, like,extracovered in come…" Dream trailed off with a sigh. "Just, please don't subject me to that."

George chuckled, rolling over in the bed when Dream climbed out, sprawling across it like a starfish while lying on his stomach. He listened with closed eyes and a resting smile on his face as Dream paced around the room in search of all the pieces of his uniform, cursing under his breath, and washed himself off in the sink.

“Bring me back food!” George called out just as Dream was leaving. He smiled to himself, not needing to look up to know Dream flipped him off as he left.

There were only three days and two nights left of the expedition, which were unfortunately nowhere near as relaxing as that evening had been. Tobias did damn near all his counts incorrectly, so George had double the work the next day. There were also the rest of his end-of-mission duties waiting for him, which he was not looking forward to.

Dream was also acting weird, well, not necessarilyweird, but he was doting on George differently than usual. Most of the time, Dream would be carefree and calm, acting as the epitome of ‘human’. Lately, he’d been more cautious, often holding George as if he were something fragile that could break.

“Are you sure you want to visit Earth? I know you chose it, but it’s okay if we go to Ceres this break. My mom has been watching Patches and I know she-”

“Wha-?” George mumbled, struggling to keep his eyes open. It may have only been eighteen hundred hours, but George was down for the count.

“I think you’re stressed about going to Earth and it’s making you sick, like, dinner hasn't even been served yet and you’re falling asleep.” Dream paused his task of packing his clothes, making his way over to sit beside George in bed.

“I’m a little nervous, but I’m notsick, Dream.” George furrowed his brow, groaning when he rolled over, his body begging for a break. In his defense, in addition to his increased workload for the last week or so, he and Dream had been mating atleastonce a day- usually per his own request. If anything was making him sick, it was just all the work and sex finally catching up with him- he wasn’t the same fit soldier that he used to be in boot camp. Truthfully, he couldn’t even remember the last time he did his daily sets of crunches and push-ups.

“It takes threedaysto fly to Earth from the main station, but it’s only twohoursto fly to Ceres. I just… I’m worried about you,” Dream mumbled towards the end, gently caressing his hand against George’s cheek. It was so soothing, George nearly fell asleep right then, but that would only further Dream’s point.

“We’re going to Earth, I’m meeting Patches, and you’re going to take me to the sand… land? The place where you said your star shines, and the ground is soft, with-with all thewater,” George explained, flapping around one of his hands, using the other to tap his fist against his forehead, wishing he could physically rattle his thoughts into place.

“This is another thing I’ve noticed- it’s like you have brain fog or something. Earth words you had memorized are gone almost like you never learned them in the first place. Baby, it'sokayto be sick-“

“Beach!” George interrupted, letting out a relieved sigh, like recalling the singular human word made up for the fact hehadbeen having a much harder time retaining all the new information Dream attempted to teach him.

“That’s right, baby. I’ll take you to the beach.” Dream sighed in resignation, offering him a small smile. Even though Dream was petting his head, George would be a fool to not see the blatant worry Dream couldn’t suppress.

“This job is just really stressful towards the end of missions,” George mumbled, no longer able to keep his eyes open with the continued petting of his head. “Promise ‘m fine. Tomorrow’s our last day, then we go to Earth.”

“Okay, just… get some rest. I’ll bring you back some dinner and put it in the fridge, in case you wake up hungry in a few hours.” Dream leaned over to brush their noses together, but George didn’t even get the chance to relish the sweet feeling, because he was asleep before their noses even touched.

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚　Earth　˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

Since becoming mates with Dream, George may have gotten over most of his prejudices against humans… but that didn’t mean he was happy about being wrong if it meant a human was right.

“Again?” Dream asked worriedly, halting his pacing around their small living accommodation for the time being.

George was in fact sick withsomething, which meant Dream was right about him coming down with an illness during the tail end of their expedition… but that didn’t mean he had to admit it to Dream.

“I mean, eventually I have to run out of things to vomit, right? Either that, or by the time I finally get used to flying at this speed, we will have reached Earth,” George said with his best attempt at a laugh, continuing to blame his nausea on anythingbuthim being sick.

First, he claimed it was claustrophobia from their ridiculously small cabin, seeing that it was barely large enough to fit two twin beds stacked on top of each other- Dream said they were called something like ‘bunker beds,’ but George thought that was a stupid name. That excuse didn’t last long, since Dream immediately pointed out that George actuallypreferredsmall spaces.

Then, he used the excuse that it was because of how tired he was, seeing that he and Dream couldn’t comfortably share a bed. That excuse covered him for the remainder of the second day of travel, but that night Dream managed to align their mattresses together on the floor, providing them each with the good night’s rest they’d desperately needed.

His last ditch attempt was saying the cause of his nausea was because they were flying at warp-three speed. His ship only traveled as fast as warp one- about the speed of light- and warp three was twenty-seven times faster than that. George wished he’d thought of that one first, seeing that it was probably the most believable, but Dream didn’t seem to believe a word he said anymore, already having made up his mind about George being ill.

Even if George felt like he was about to expire, he still thanked the stars and whatever gods were maybe out there in the universe, because the one thing that always made him feel better was starlight… and Earth didnotdisappoint.

“Welcome to Florida.” Dream kissed the side of George’s head, walking alongside him down the runway.

He felt a little silly, genuinely unsure if the stray glances he received were because of the fact he had furry ears and a tail… or if it was because Dream refused to let him carryanything, leaving him pushing multiple suitcases and wearing three bags over his shoulders. George looked down at the small bag of candies he’d bought from the first shopping center inside the spaceport that he saw, unsure if carrying the one small bag made him look more or less like a bad mate.

“More like welcome to starlight… town.” George cringed, looking over at Dream to see him smiling brightly, shaking his head.

“Earth's starlight is called sunshine, and Florida’s nickname is ‘the sunshine state’. So,yeah, Florida is essentially starlight town.” Dream tilted his head from side to side, like he was working extra hard to make George's logic applicable. It was stupid, but George appreciated it all the more.

“It’s also starlight town because this is wheremystarlight is from.” George offered Dream a smile, knowing how much he enjoyed the seldom term of endearment George used for him. George hooked his tail around Dream’s forearm, walking a little closer to him through the crowds of humans.

Land ships werefun.

Okay, well, once George's stomach was fully settled,thenthey'd be fun. George had spent the majority of his life on various ships that soared through the galaxy at multiples of the speed of light, so every ship was designed to combat the momentum created from moving at such great speeds.

Land ships didnothave that.

Every acceleration, brake, turn- all of it- sent them flying in their seats. It was so exhilarating, and they even had to wearsafety restraints. Well, they had a different name, but Dream hadn't corrected him enough times for it to actually stick in George's foggy brain yet.

"First time in a car or somethin'?"

"Car?" George asked in a whisper, making a slightly embarrassed face at Dream, but unable to rid his face of his idiotic smile.

"Land ships- they're called cars," Dream chuckled, gesturing to the space around them before making George flinch when he laid his hand to rest on his thigh. Dream pulled away, the smile George worked so hard to get back on Dream's face already falling.

"Sorry, forgot being on Earth means, you know,thisis okay," George mumbled, glancing up at their driver more than a few times while tugging Dream's hand back to his lap. Dream let out a small exhale, turning his hand over to intertwine their fingers. George was still getting used to that one- the human equivalent of linking tails.

"First time on Earth, so yeah- definitely his first time in a car," Dream answered for him, leaning forward to give the driver directions for an alternate route to take, claiming it would be faster. Saving time didn't mean much of anything to George, because once the heavy traffic slowed to winding back roads (George tried asking what they were behind that made them 'back' roads, but Dream just laughed and kissed his head), George was fast asleep.

"Thanks, man, appreciate the tip."

George woke up slowly, his entire body exhausted, and his stomach somehow feeling worse after the perpetual motion of the land ship stopped being… perpetual. He went from groggy to wide awake when he saw Dream reach his hand out to their human driver- they slapped their palms together once before tightly grabbing onto each other's fingers.

Maybe holding handswasn'tlike linking tails, considering Dream was initiating it with a complete stranger. George didn't feel the best about that, which in turn only made his nausea grow tenfold- or maybe that was because of the spaceport snacks, which were unlike most food he'd ever had.

"Hang on, baby- let's get you inside. The bathroom is just to the right. I'll bring in our bags," Dream rushed, doing his best to usher George into the house before heading back to get their belongings.

George found out very quickly that vomiting on Earth was just as bad as vomiting anywhere else in the galaxy- at least one thing stayed the same.

By the time Dream finished making his trips in and out of his home, George was fully laid on the bathroom floor. For once, he actually appreciated the way the cold tiles felt against his unpleasantly-warm skin, eventually falling asleep in the fetal position. Despite the fact Felis Catonians were known for their stoic personalities and ability to appear unphased in even the most dire of situations, George was admittedly ahugebaby when he was sick.

And George was finally ready to admit that he was sick.

The next time George woke up, he was laying in a comically large bed, surrounded by items that looked somewhat familiar, but mostly foreign. Also, there was a stranger in the room with him.

"Oh, you're awake." She raised her eyebrows, looking eerily similar to Dream in the way her expressions were completely unable to be hidden. George liked that Dream wore his heart on his sleeve- or, well, hisface- but it was easy to say the feeling elicited was much less fond when it was coming from a stranger.

"Uh,starli-"

"Don't try to sit up yet, just stay laying down, baby," Dream hushed him, appearing from the other side of the room holding a bowl and a few rags, apparently unbothered by the addition of a stranger in his home. "I just checked and your temperature is still a little over ninety-nine, so you have a low grade fever."

"Ninety-nine?" George asked, horrified, sitting up despite Dream's protest.

"He means about thirty-seven and a half.Metric, Clay," the woman standing off to the side of the room chimed in. This time George was thankful for her presence, seeing that she wasn't trying to convince him that his temperature was almost triple what it should be. It was definitely confusing that she called Dream by his government name though, seeing that he said his friends referred to him as Dream… but why would someone he wasn't friendly with be in his home?

"That explains it," George muttered, gathering the blankets that had fallen off of him, grimacing when he peeled away a few damp andfreezingwashcloths from his arms.

"Wait a sec, Georgie, you gotta keep these on. I know you feel cold, but it's just the fever-"

"We getfeverson Ceres, Dream- I know what they are. My baseline temperature is supposed to be between thirty-eight and thirty-nine degrees," George whined, continuing to gather the blankets closer to his chest. He felt increasingly embarrassed for his actions- especially considering there was still a stranger in the room- but again, George was an emotional baby when he got sick.

"I didn’t- I didn’t realize it’d be so much higher than humans.Oh- George, this is my mom. Uh, I probably should've started with that. She just came here to drop Patches off, but I asked her to stick around and give you a check-up. She’s a nurse." Dream looked between them with an awkward smile, realizing a minute too late that there would be no redoing their first impressions of one another.

"Ialsowanted to meet the person dating my son, goodness, Clay- making this sound so transactional," she laughed softly. George thought it was strange the way Dream could be the spitting image of his mother, yet have his demeanor, personality, and laugh be so different.

"What do you mean- what'sdating?" George asked, looking between Dream and his mother. The look on her face instantly fell, but Dream simply chuckled, climbing into the bed to sit beside him.

"It means we're in a relationship- that we'remates," Dream essentially translated. The second Dream was in the bed with him, George was basically in his lap, curling up against Dream's side. He was already feeling seconds away from falling back asleep now that he had Dream’s body heat to warm him up.

"Oh,wow- you weren't kidding,"

George's eyes shot open, his torso springing back to create distance between him and Dream. It took a few seconds of excruciating silence, but George managed to stop his purring. Dream was sporting a bright blush when George looked over at him.

"Sorry- sorry! Ignore me, I'm just- let me give you two some-oh!" Dream's mother paused, opening the bedroom door, only for the sound of a high-pitched bell to come jingling into the room. "Guess she also heard you."

Without giving him any time to process what was about to happen, a creature of a different species than the two humans in the room jumped onto the bed, freezing the second her eyes landed on George.

George wasn't positive, but he was pretty sure their ears flattened in sync. Patches crouched down in slow motion, and- honestly- if George weren't already sitting, he probably would have done the same thing.

"Patches- stop that," Dream tsked, leaning forward to pick her up. She let out a high-pitched sound, almost like the universe's tiniest scream, and began wiggling in Dream's grasp.

The sight before him made George question if he was actuallyrightall along about humans enslaving other species to be their pets, and that Patches was being held captive against her will.

"Is she… injured?" George asked hesitantly, keeping his own ears back, even after Patches had perked hers up again, intently sniffing in his direction.

"Injured? Why would she be injured? Wait, can you- do you understand her? Is something-"

"Mom," Dream interrupted with an embarrassed groan. "George has never evenmeta cat- he doesn'tspeakcat." Dream turned back to face George with a bit more confusion in his eyes. "Issomething wrong… that you can, like, tell?" he asked more quietly.

"Uh, shescreamed," George said, phrasing it more like a question. Dream's slight panic instantly melted, being replaced with a bit of amusem*nt.

"That's her meow, it's kinda squeaky, but it's just her voice- it’s the only sound she can really make." Dream lifted her up by her tiny arms, bringing her to his chest, and placed kiss after kiss on her small head until she eventually let out another minuscule battle cry. "See?" he asked.

George wasn't proud of it, but… yeah, he was definitely jealous of a cat.

He'd been awake for all of ten minutes and hadn't gotten a single pet, kiss, nose bump-anythingfrom Dream, but when his belovedPatchescame in the room, she got all that and more.

"George,youstop that," Dream scolded with a much fonder laugh, reaching out to ruffle George's ears, making them perk up from their flattened state. "Okay, I've gotta- she is clearly more interested in you than me- which isrude, Patches- so are you ready?" Dream asked, setting her down on the bed between them, but holding her in place until George gave his answer.

"Uh," George hesitated, pushing himself up to a more comfortable sitting position with his legs outstretched in front of him. "I… I suppose?"

Whatever hesitance Patches had when she first jumped onto the bed had disappeared, fully replaced with a sense of curiosity that- needless to say- George didn't quite have the bravery to possess yet.

"Oh, um, hello… cat. I am George." He did his best to introduce himself, talking to her the way Dream did- maybe humans couldn't learn their pet's language, but pets understood their human's? Based on the way Dream and his mother chuckled softly at his introduction, he had a feeling he wasn't off to a great start.

"That's- uh, I don't think cats go there." George froze, unable to move away fast enough to avoid her climbing onto his legs. When George turned to Dream for support, the look of adoration for the both of them on Dream's face was enough to make his heart slow down a tiny bit.

"You can pet her! She's a really sweet girl," Dream's mom chimed in from her place in the doorway, signaling to her son that she would be back in a minute after looking at her communication pod.

Before George had the chance to decide if petting Patches was something he wanted to do, she seemed to make that decision for him, flopping herself over in his lap, generously rubbing and butting her head against his stomach. Dream actually made a giddy little sound when she did that, helping George relax a bit more.

This was… good, right? This was clearly the desired outcome Dream was hoping for, and once George got over the absurdity of her small size and desire to be pet to the point of using George's body to pet herself, he decided he was okay with the situation.

"She'spurring- it's so quiet compared to mine, but it's definitely there!" George said with a wide smile, turning to face Dream, only to have the sharp pain of claws kneading against his stomach bring his attention right back to her. "Ow."

"Oh, she probably needs her nails trimmed- sorry," Dream rushed, reaching out for Patches, who had started to knead her paws on George's lower stomach. George held out his hand to block Dream's arm, wincing again when she made an especially hard biscuit.

"This is whatIdo to you- and youlikeit?" George asked with a furrowed brow, doing his best to be gentle with her small, furry arms, pulling them away from his stomach. She thankfully took the hint, going back to rubbing her face against his abs instead of clawing at them.

“Well, your nails aren’t pointy little daggers, like hers.” Dream scooched closer to George, laying on his side. George took note of the way Dream’s gaze softened the longer he looked at the two of them.

Taking a leap of faith, George ran his hand along her spine. She seemed to enjoy it about as much as he did, which led George to see more similarities between them than he could tell from the pictures and videos Dream had shown him. Granted, there were still plenty of differences, but those were primarily physical. With each passing day spent on Earth, George was learning just how much he truly was like an Earth cat.

Part of that definitely had to do with the fact Patches was borderlineobsessedwith him. While George briefly felt jealous about the affection Dream gave to Patches during their introduction, Dream was now constantly jealous over the bond the two shared. Patches followed George around all day every day, George- according to Dream- treated her like she was his own child, and her new favorite spot to rest was on George's stomach.

"I just don't get it," Dream moped, resting his head on George's shoulder, seeing that that was about as close as he could get to George these days. George was sitting slumped on the couch with Patches kneading his stomach intently.

"Don't get why she's working so hard on her day off? Because these biscuits aren't going to knead themselves, starlight," George laughed softly so as to not disturb her work, turning his head to the side to kiss Dream's temple.

"I mean all of it- shehatesnew people, like, I've been friends with Nick foryears and she still hides whenever he comes over. Not to mention the fact she only wants to lay on your stomach- she's always preferred to lay on my chest and hide her face in my neck." Dream furrowed his brow, scratching behind Patches' ears to get her attention.

"Ever think it's because-" George paused, a sudden wave of nausea washing over him. It was almost like Patches sensed it first, because she jumped off his lap and started letting out a series of high-pitched meows, as if she were leading George to the bathroom.

"Baby," Dream said under his breath in a worried tone, helping George off the couch.

George gagged once, holding his arm out to instruct Dream to stay where he was, then jogged to the bathroom. It had been like that every day- sometimes every other day, if he was lucky. The sickness was nowhere near as bad as it used to be, since George no longer felt nauseous for the entirety of each day, but it was still very unlike him to get ill so often.

Sometimes it had a direct cause, like whenever Dream cooked meat- that was a big one. Maybe it had to do with the chemical makeup of Earth's atmosphere changing his sense of smell, but even meats that were similar to the ones he'd eaten all his life were now repulsive to him. On the other hand, things George had never liked before were now his favorite foods. He swore there were times where he'd hear Dream talk about a food he'd never even had before, but it was like he craved it so badly he could cry.

And he did cry, on occasion. Even Dream, someone who- granted, had been spending all day every day with him- had only known George for about three months picked up on the fact George crying overfoodwas out of character for him.

"I'm sorry, I just… I don't really understand what acerlaegg is. Chicken eggs are wrong, quail eggs are wrong, fish eggs are wrong- Georgie, I swear I would make those eggs for you if I could, but I just don't think we have an equivalent on Earth," Dream sighed regretfully, wrapping his arm around George's shoulders, pulling him closer to his chest.

"Can I- can I talk to the internet again? Maybe I'll be able to find it this time," George sniffled, holding out his palm for Dream's communication pod, only to have it filled with Dream's warm hand instead. Dream used his grasp to pull George fully on top of him, letting George curl up on his chest and cry into the crook of his neck.

"I know you don't want me to say it, but I have to… I'm really worried about you, George. You're- you're getting sick all the time, there's barely any food here that you can keep down, you're crying overeggsright now- I just, I want to help, but I don't know what to do." Dream traced his hands slowly up and down George's back, occasionally reaching up to scratch behind one of his ears.

"I know… and I hate it. I've never- I don't know what'swrongwith me," George groaned, trying to sit up, but Dream held him closer.

"This is the first time all day that you haven't had Patches laying on you, so it's your turn to lay on me for a while," Dream said softly, angling his face so he and George were eye-to-eye.

"Okay," George answered at the same quiet volume, brushing his nose against Dream's.

Once George leaned down enough to connect their lips, Dream scratched behind both his ears, making George's entire body somehow tense and relax at the same time. Even if Dream was probably trying to give him a short kiss that mirrored the gentleness of George brushing their noses together, the combination had a much different effect on George.

"George-" Dream gasped his name, breaking the kiss when George moved to straddle him, immediately grinding down.

"Want you to make me feel better," George said against Dream's lips, rolling his hips with a bit more intent once Dream's hands were greedily tugging at the hem of his shirt.

"Nowthat- that I know how to do," Dream smiled against George's lips, making George laugh when he rolled them over so George was beneath him.

Of all the new things he- and Dream for that matter- were learning about Earth-George, it was needless to say that George's sky high sex drive and constant desire to be smothered with affection were probably the only things thatdidn'tworry Dream.

Back when they were still on their expedition, it wasn't until their final week when they started preparing to stay on Earth for their break that George's increased need for Dream's undivided attention began. That was the primary reason that Dream started combining his three breaks for the day into one- because George literallyneededDream beside him.

“How do you want me?” Dream mumbled his question against George’s lips, trailing down his neck until he got to George’s collarbone.

“In me- just want as much of you in me as possible,” George whimpered at the feeling of Dream biting down on his shoulder, tangling his fingers in Dream’s curls.

“You sure? I don’t want to push you too far.” Dream's hands had already traveled up George's shirt, cupping his breasts in each hand. They were more tender than usual, leaving George wondering if Patches had been making biscuits on them while he slept.

"I'm sure," he confirmed, stripping himself out of his shirt before laying his back down on the bed again.

Dream leaned back on his knees, his hands weighing heavily on the waistband of George's shorts, but then he paused.

"I didn't say halt," George whined, working a bit harder to raise his hips, trying to encourage Dream to continue his task of undressing him.

"Is this from me?" Dream asked, taking his hands out of George's waistband, sliding them back up to his chest again. George furrowed his brow, looking down at what Dream was referring to.

"Oh," George mumbled once his eyes landed on Dream's hands. His chest wasn’t just tender- it was considerably swollen. His nipples were also a darker pink than usual, but that could've been residual bruising from Dream, seeing that he did quite enjoy sucking on them.

"Does this hurt?" Dream asked, palpating his hand on the perimeter of George's breast- which, admittedly, was a tad bit uncomfortable, but George wouldn't go as far as saying ithurt.

"No, it's fine. I've just, I don't know, I think I've gained some weight since being on Earth." George shrugged, turning his face to the side. "Sorry, I didn't think my body would look-"

George cut himself off with a gasp at Dream's tongue swirling around his left nipple, while his hand gently flicked and rubbed his right one. Dream was usually rough when it came to George's chest- which George liked- but he was grateful for the care Dream took with his body, even if George denied there being any pain.

"Don't eventhinkabout apologizing for the way your body looks. I love it and I loveyou. Plus, I mean, if my boyfriend randomly grows tit*, I'd consider that a win in my book." Dream smiled at him, hovering over George to gently brush their noses together.

"You're writing a book?" George asked, pulling away from the soft nudge of Dream's nose once the statement registered in his head. Like Dream had been doing more often those days, he laughed softly at George's question, opting to kiss him instead of answering. That didn't bother George, since the kiss came accompanied with Dream dragging his pants down his hips.

"God, I love everything about you," Dream moaned against George's neck, taking him in his hand, instantly causing George to squirm. Foreplay was usually appreciated, but he was so worked up from the nipple play, followed by Dream's loving praise- he was already on the brink.

"Starlight-please," George murmured, sinking his nails into Dream's shoulders the closer his org*sm got.

"Oh, are you that close already? I swear I barely have to do anything these days to make you come," Dream teased, his voice polluted with amusem*nt.

"Want you inside before I-f*ck-" George broke off into a moan when Dream spread his legs, continuing to stroke his dick at an excruciatingly slow pace. "No fingers- don't need them."

"You know that's not going to happen," Dream chuckled, rubbing against George's rim before slowly pushing his middle finger inside. "You're already not feeling well, I'm not going to add to that," he added on much more sympathetically.

"Gonna come though-f*ck- please, I'm really gonna come," George whined, biting down on his lip when Dream pushed in a second finger, doing everything in his power to postpone his org*sm.

"Then come," Dream said simply. "Come now and I'll just make you come again."

"Don't know if-nngh- don't know if I can today," George gasped, wrapping his legs around Dream's hips to the best of his ability, giving his best attempt at pulling him forward. It was both a blessing and a curse when Dream removed his fingers, seeing that he didn't immediately replace them with what George had been begging for.

"That's not like you," Dream said softly, all the tease and desire stripped from his voice. The look of worry on Dream's face made George feel sick to his stomach in a way that was different from the nausea that had been plaguing him.

"Please, just- feel this? It’s because of you. You don't want to put all this to waste, do you?" George asked, reaching down to touch himself, gathering some of the slick he'd made across his hand, then reached that same hand out to Dream's dick, which had remained achingly hard.

The worry on Dream's face dissolved as a look of pleasure took its place. The sick feeling George had lightened when Dream's entire body shook above him, his hips desperately rutting into his grasp.

"You're gonna be the death of me, you know that?" Dream chuckled, pulling George's hand away so he could tug him closer by his hips, causing his tip to already rub against George's hole.

"I’m okay with that," George said with a slightly smug tone, tilting his head back into the pillows the further Dream pushed inside him. George's breathing started to get faster and more shallow, his body welcoming Dream in like he'd been incomplete without him.

"How's it possible for you to somehow feel better every time?" Dream asked, and whether or not it was a rhetorical question, George lost his ability to answer when Dream started thrusting in long and slow drags. "Like-f*ck- baby, you know how pathetic it is that I've never had this much sex in my life, yet I'm comingfasterthan ever before?" Dream admitted with a laugh broken up by moans.

"Tha's 'cause I'm for you," George slurred his words, no longer fighting off the pleasure that felt like a coil tightening in his lower stomach. "Was made foryou."

"George," Dream said his name in an airy whisper, leaning over to bury his face in George's neck, immediately sucking the skin into his mouth and scraping his dull fangs across it. George had missed the feeling so badly that he couldn't bring himself to remind Dream he'd been banned from bruising his neck anymore. If anything, the tight grasp he had on Dream's hair guided him closer, silently asking for Dream to cover him in colors.

"Love you-love you," Dream moaned against his neck, running his tongue over the area he'd just marked, only to sink his teeth into another spot adjacent to the first.

"Mine," George murmured as best as he could, rolling his hips with each of Dream's thrusts, making Dream pull away from biting his neck to whine and whimper from the pleasure.

"Yes, yours- 'm yours," Dream nodded into the crook of George's neck.

George could feel Dream's thighs starting to tremble, and without warning Dream shoved his hand beneath George, gripping desperately at the base of his tail, making George's back arch and his dick pulsate with each streak of come that instantly began shooting out of him. Both of their chests were coated in his release, and George was damn near close to letting out a second wave when he felt Dream's dick twitching inside of him, filling him with his favorite type of warmth.

"Wait- wait," George rushed, scrambling to pull Dream back in.

"Baby, you said you weren't up for two rounds today." Dream kissed the side of his head, propping himself up on his elbows so he and George could be face-to-face.

"Stay in me anyway, just for a bit. Promise- promise I'll be good." George nodded his head, tilting his chin up to brush his and Dream's noses against one another.

"Okay," Dream said quietly, dipping down to kiss George's lips.

Then George's world went upside down. Well, not quite upside down, but Dream rolled them over abittoo quickly, making it so George was the one laying on his chest.

"Ow," George mumbled, resting his head on Dream's shoulder, trying to blink away the fuzzy black dots that clouded his vision.

"Pfft, that didn'thurt," Dream chuckled, kissing George's forehead and moving to rub his hand up and down his back. "Unless- am I on your tail?"

"No- not that, my-"

sh*t.

"Your what, baby?" Dream asked, stalling the rub of his hand on George's back.

George had been doing his best to keep his growing list of random symptoms a secret, seeing that every time he admitted to something being wrong, it made Dream's anxiety grow. If there was nothing Dream could do about it, George saw no point in willingly sharing that information.

"My… head," George relented, closing his eyes in hopes the spinning feeling would go away sooner.

"Yourhead? Did you hit it?" Dream asked, his voice already in a panic, making George groan.

"No, I didn't hit it, Dream. I just… lately when I move too quickly, or stand up too fast, I get- I don't know- I get dizzy, I guess," he admitted, butting his head against the side of Dream's neck with as little movement as possible.

"I'm-" Dream cut himself off, letting out a sigh. Worse than that, he also pulled out of George.

"What are-"

"I'm taking you to a doctor. We're- I'm going to clean you up, and then we're leaving." Dream shook his head, sitting up with George still pulled to his chest.

"No, Dream I-"

"Yes," Dream cut him off, already standing from the bed and walking them into his bathroom. "I amscared, George. You're not acting like yourself, your body is literally failing you, and I can't just sit back and watch- so I'm sorry, but I have to dosomething."

"Starlight," George said more softly this time, successfully getting Dream to at least slow his haste. "A human doctor isn't going to be able to do anything for me, so what's the point of me being poked and prodded at?"

"I'll give you two options," Dream said after starting up the shower, which already made George feel like he wasn't going to like either of them. "You can let me take you to a human doctor today, or we get on the next ship to Ceres- which I looked up yesterday after you got sick, and it leaves tonight."

"You- you looked up flights to my planet- without even telling me?" George asked, taken aback.

"Yes, George, because I'mscared. I don't- Ican'tdo nothing anymore. So these are your options. Human doctor now, or start flying back to Ceres tonight and see a Catonian doctor in a few days." Dream leaned back, looking George in the eyes. Once George saw the genuine fear in them, he couldn't say no.

"Human doctor." George nodded softly, gently kissing Dream's lips when he sighed in relief, letting the tension from his shoulders drop.

"Let's get you cleaned up then, and uh… maybe into something modest," Dream said, cracking a smile for the first time since their conversation began.

"Modest? What are you-Dream! I look like I got mauled by an Ursidae!" George gasped, catching a glimpse of himself in the quickly-fogging mirror. Across his neck, shoulder, and collarbones were deep purple bruises, all of which were tender to the touch.

Dream laughed, walking George into the shower to prevent him from continuing to dissect his reflection. George did his best to drag out the length of their shower, even if it was just his vain attempt at pushing off seeing a doctor for as long as he could.

"Where did you even find this place?" George asked under his breath. He had his hand clasped tightly onto Dream's, and his tail wrapped around the overcoat Dream had let him borrow.

They were at some type of clinic and the waiting area was filled with humans and various other species alike. Some were kinds of people George recognized from expeditions, but others were new, even to him.

"The internet." Dream shrugged, bringing up George's hand to his mouth, kissing the back of it. George flattened his ears and his cheeks grew in color. In his two weeks on Earth, George had only really been around other people a small handful of times, and even just one or two people seeing him and Dream be affectionate was hard enough… let alone an entireroomof them.

Thankfully, Dream did all the talking to the human woman working at the front desk. She seemed kind enough, but George wasn't sure how he felt about the way she looked at his ears in the same longing way that Dream used to. It was one thing for Dream to have wanted to pet his ears back then, knowing now that he always wanted to be mates, but for a stranger to have the same desire… It was odd.

Based on the constantly moving crowd, George hoped it would take a while before he'd be seen, but luck was not on George's side. They hadn't been seated for more than half an hour before his name was called. Dream urged him to stand immediately, but George was admittedly dragging a bit behind. They left the room filled with strangers, only to be placed in a room smaller than the cabin they flew to Earth in.

"I strongly dislike this," George muttered, looking suspiciously around the room. The fluorescent lighting hurt his eyes and the sterile stench burned his nose.

"Hopefully, it won't take long. The doctor's gonna come in, you're going to tell themallyour symptoms, and then maybe they'll have an answer- or at least be able to point us in the right direction… which might be to your planet- I just want you to be prepared for that." Dream looked a bit worried about bringing up the subject again, and truthfully George wished he hadn't said anything.

"We can't take the ship to Ceres tonight. I didn't say goodbye to Patches properly, and-"

"Hello, I'm Doctor Turner, and I'll be… your provider today," she trailed off a bit at the end, her eyes drawn to George's ears and the tail he still had tightly wrapped around his waist. She wasn't looking at him like she wanted to pet him, which for some reason made George feelmoreuncomfortable.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Clay, this is my partner, George," Dream said quietly, but extended his hand out to hers. George watched with a furrowed brow as she accepted his hand into hers, grabbing it in a similar fashion to how their land ship driver had after Dream tipped him.

"I see on my chart that George is the patient today, so what brings you in?" she asked, diverting her attention off of Dream and onto George as she took a seat.

"I've been alittleill, but it's nothing serious, so we-"

"Nausea and vomiting on a daily basis, brain fog, dizzy spells, changes in appetite, mood swings, his chest is swollen, increased sex drive-"

"Dream," George interrupted in a harsh whisper, staring at him with a cross between horror and embarrassment. Dream only interlaced their fingers, offering George's hand a soft squeeze before continuing.

"Sorry, we've- we've only been together for a few months and this is just… in the last two or three weeks, it's like his body has started to shut down. He's from the planet Ceres, and he's uh- his species is Felis Catonian, but the majority of his DNA is human, and-"

"Okay," Dr. Turner cut in this time, offering George a sympathetic smile. "Let's slow it down for a second, yeah?"

"Of course, my apologies." Dream cast his gaze to the floor, which drew George's eyes there as well. Maybe it was because of the alarmingly bright lighting, but George saw things about Dream he hadn't previously noticed. His cuticles were destroyed, his leg was shaking, and he was counting on his free hand by tapping each of his fingers to his thumb.

"What wouldyousay is going on, George?" she tilted her head to the side, trying to see him around Dream.

"Everything he said is true," George admitted softly, relieved to see at least a small amount of the tension that Dream carried in his chest relax. "I've also gained weight- not much- maybe five or so pounds, and my chest isn't just swollen- it's tender to the touch as well. I don't know if this um, if this matters, but he has a pet at home that he said started behaving differently when I arrived," he continued, squeezing Dream's hand.

"Maybe it's just because there'ssomeresemblance, but my cat follows him around constantly, she always has to be laying on his stomach- which she's never done to me before- and it's as though she freaks out whenever he gets out of bed, like she can tell something is wrong." Dream looked between George and Dr. Turner, almost likehewas the one who was going to be sick.

"I'm sorry, but I really do just have to ask… is there any chance you could be pregnant? I'll be completely transparent here, I haveverylittle experience treating patients who aren't human, but what you're describing sounds like fairly universal pregnancy symptoms across different species." She raised her eyebrows, looking between the two of them.

George's first instinct was to laugh, but he cut it short when Dream turned to stone beside him.

"No-no. Male Felis Catonians don't carry litters, so no, I can't bepregnant." George shook his head, not quite grasping why Dream was so rigid all of a sudden when that was information he already knew.

"Baby… tell the doctor the- the uh," Dream paused, leaning a bit closer to George and lowering his voice. "Tell her the reason we don't need lube."

Some time ago, George thought he would be the first Felis Catonian to ever die from too much pleasure. Now, George wascertainhe'd be the first Felis Catonian to ever die from embarrassment. Regardless, since it was the only way to get Dream's mind out of the gutter, that way they could get onto figuring out theactualthing that was wrong, George explained.

"My species, we… all of our bodies naturally produce, uh, that thing-lube, right. We make that." George tried his damndest to keep his head held high, even if his cheeks were burning, his ears were completely flat, and his tail had lowered to coil around his leg.

"You're saying that your genitals are self-lubricating," she paused, waiting for George to confirm she was on the right track, so he nodded his head. "But that males of your species don't have the necessary reproductive organs to actuallyachievepregnancy?"

George started to nod his head again, but it was noticeably more hesitant the second time. He wasn't sure if there was a gap in translation, or if he was being plagued by his perpetual brain fog again.

"Well, I mean, the internal anatomy for my kind is the same. There'ssomevariation appearance-wise between our genders, but not very much… I thought- but isn’t that true for humans as well?" George paused when he noticed the confusion present on both Dream and Dr. Turner's faces. "Can you give me the internet?" George sighed, holding out his hand for Dream's communication pod, searchinghuman word for has both male and female organs, tilting his head to the side when the first term that popped up wasintersex.

"Uh, intersex. I guess on Earth I'm not male, I am intersex." George shrugged, rolling his eyes at their shock. "But that does not matter- I already told you that male Felis Catonians cannot get each other pregnant. That is also a fact- you can internet it." George pointed at Dream's device again, genuinely hoping one of them would take him up on his challenge, just to put the entire conversation to rest.

The look Dream and the doctor exchanged made a pit grow in George's stomach.

"Well, males ofyourspecies may not be able to impregnate each other… but Clay is not from your species," the doctor said cautiously. Now George was the one who looked dumbfounded, prompting her to continue. "You may be biologically mostly human, but how about we skip the urine and blood tests for now, since I don't personally know how accurate they'd be. Let's just get you set up with an ultrasound, and that should let us know for sure whether or not pregnancy is the cause of your symptoms."

"Ultra… sound? Is itthatloud?" George whispered to Dream, making his partner chuckle despite the anxiety written all over his face. Dream stood up first, assisting George out of his seat and then onto the exam table.

"No, baby, it's not loud. It's just a machine that lets us look inside your body without actually performing surgery- I'm sure you have something like it on Ceres, just with a different name." Dream kissed the side of George's head, helping him to also relax a small bit.

"Like sky puffs and starlight?" George asked, just to confirm.

"Yes, just like clouds and sunshine." Dream smiled, encouraging George to lay back on the table.

George's tail had returned to being wrapped around his waist over the overcoat he'd borrowed from Dream. As soon as Dr. Turner's hands reached towards his tail, it tightened around him to a concerning degree, and he swore his heart was beating out of his chest.

"Stop-" Dream interjected, holding out his arm to prevent the doctor from touching George. "Sorry- sorry, uh, physical contact isn't accepted on his planet aside from between mates or mothers with small children. Can I just…" Dream trailed off when the doctor retracted her hand, nodding for Dream to continue.

"I've got you, Georgie, it's okay," Dream whispered sweetly, coaxing George to unwrap his tail from around himself, offering his arm for it to wrap around instead, which George gratefully accepted. George wasn't sure what to expect when Dream started lifting his shirt, exposing his abdomen.

"Rough biscuits," George murmured, furrowing his brow with a scoff-like laugh, pointing at faded claw marks on his stomach from Patches' excessive kneading.

“Like she’s trying to dig something out,” Dream whispered under his breath, offering George a brief but apologetic look when he realized the ominous undertone of what he’d said.

“George, I’m going to apply this gel to your stomach and then use this device to look around inside you, okay? I won’t be touching you, only the transducer will." The doctor waited until George nodded with a bit of relief, agreeing to the test, before she continued.

A few tense seconds passed and then Dream was the first to suck in a breath. George had no clue what he was meant to be looking at on the grainy screen, but it was clear that both Dreamandthe doctor were seeing something.

"Oh my god," Dream whispered, squeezing George's hand a little bit tighter. Before George could ask, Dr. Turner was alerting his attention back to the monitor.

"George, if you look here, you will see that you have…twoembryos in your… uterus?" She questioned herself a bit at the end, seeing that no one in the room truly had any clue what George's anatomy consisted of- let alone the Earth terminology equivalent to it.

"That… that means babies, right? There are two babies inside of me?" George questioned, straining his neck to look at the monitor.

"Yeah- uh, yes… embryo means baby," Dream answered a second later, his eyes also unmoving from the unclear image of what was apparently inside of George.

"I know you mentioned you've only been together a couple months, so correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm guessing this pregnancy wasn't planned." Silence followed her question, so she let out a sigh. "The state of Florida is not themostprogressive when it comes to the different options for family planning, but this certainly qualifies as an extraordinary circ*mstance and I believe exceptions would be made- if you were to choose to terminate the pregnancies that is. Based on this ultrasound- which again, I cannot be the most confident in reading, since I'm unfamiliar with Felis Catonian anatomy- I'd estimate you're around five to seven weeks along."

“Oh my god… you’re, you’reactuallypregnant,” Dream whispered again, but his teary eyes clashed with his smile. Even as he brought George’s hand up to his lips, kissing his knuckles, George was still left in a stupor.

"I don't get it," he admitted under his breath.

"I don't exactly understand how all this is possible either, but I can certainly refer you to-"

"No- I mean where are the rest of my babies? Why do I only have two?" George asked with a bit of panic, continuing to stare at the screen in search of the embryos she must've missed. When neither of them reacted to the realization with as much fever as George expected, he finally peeled his eyes away from the monitor, only to see Dream and the doctor looking equally confused.

"Sorry, do uh- do multiples run in your families?" she asked, glancing between them. George was taken aback when Dream shook his head no to her question.

“My kind- our litters arealwaysthree to five. Did I- did I do something? I didn’t know and- and I’ve beensosick-“

“Easy,easy, baby.” Dream hushed him, wrapping his arm around George's shoulders, while the doctor took away the probe. She offered Dream a cloth to wipe off the gel from George’s stomach, which he quickly got to work doing.

“Have you experienced any strong cramping or bleeding?” The doctor asked, but George’s eyes were still fixed on the frozen image of the two embryos.

“No, nothing like that. Just sickall the time,” George groaned, resting his head on Dream’s shoulder

“That’s likely just morning sickness. I don’t think you’ve miscarried an embryo- I saw no damage to your uterine wall on the scan. Once again, I’d like to repeat that I haveverylittle experience treating patients outside the human race… but maybe there are only two because humans typically have one child at a time. If your kind usually has three to five, we only have one… two kind of evens it out,” Dr. Turner suggested.

“Oh,” George mumbled, his panic briefly stalling.

"Look, I understand this is an extremely sensitive situation, one that neither of you knew was possible. Just because Florida has some outdated laws, doesn't mean your options disappear. I have a pamphlet for some of the closest clinics that can provide you with alternative options, just in case you decide this isn't the right time for you. George, I wouldhighlysuggest seeing your primary care physician on Ceres, since they will hopefully have more insight to give you than I can." The doctor gave them a saddened smile, rummaging through one of the cabinets in the room until she found a small pile of pamphlets.

"Thank you," Dream said quietly, still a bit shell-shocked from the news- as was George.

"Much thanks." George nodded his head at her, reaching out to hold onto Dream's shoulders as he helped him off the exam table.

There was a buzzing in George's ear, a sinking sensation in his stomach, and an even scarier feeling all over his body when Dream accepted the pamphlets from the doctor before leading him out of the room.

“So,” Dream said, drawing out the word.

They were about halfway back to Dream’s home, the traffic growing less dense as they traveled further away from the city. Neither of them had yet to say anything up to that point.

“So,” George repeated back to him, albeit much more softly. He didn’t mean to frighten Dream with his quietness, but he was still too wrapped up in his own head to express what he was thinking to Dream.

His entire life, George was raised to not show his emotions, to keep his reactions to a minimum, to not burden others with his inability to self-regulate. It was odd the way his upbringing was at war with the physical changes going on in his body. His brain told him he needed to handle this alone, but the hormones coursing through him were begging to lean on Dream for support.

“If this is…” Dream let out a shaky breath, reaching over to hold George’s thigh with an even shakier hand. “If you don’t want this, I understand, and we can… we can look into the places that the doctor-“

“What?” George interrupted, flinching back from what Dream was about to say. “You don’t… you don’t want to keep the litter?”

“No- no! That’s not what I’m saying at all!” Dream rushed, looking around the land ship before pulling off the side of the road, making the ship bounce. George held onto his stomach, as if it would protect the babies from the rocky conditions.

“All I want is what’s best for you- whatyouwant. I don’t… I don’t want you to put your body through something you never imagined just to make me happy,” Dream explained once the car had stopped.

George noticed that Dream was looking at his abdomen in the same way he used to look at his ears and tail before he’d been given permission to pet them, like he wanted nothing more than to hold George’s stomach.

Maybe it was some kind of sign, or maybe Florida really was the starlight town, but Earth’s star came out from behind a sky puff, basking George’s lap in its warmth. It gave George the courage to say what he’d been holding back.

“I want this…Iwant them, but I would understand ifyoudidn’t. I’ve realized that human relationships are more different than Catonian mates than I initially thought- that you progress rather slowly. Not that this was my intention, since I didn’t even know it was possible, but it’s around this point into being mates that Catonians typically start having litters together. So I… I really want to have the babies.” George looked down at Dream’s hand on his thigh, reaching out to guide it up to his stomach.

“Really?” Dream whispered, his voice sounding thicker than usual. When George turned to face Dream, nodding his head slowly, Dream let out the happiest sounding cry George had ever heard. “Oh my god, you’re going to have ourbabies, Georgie!”

George felt the panic and fear riddling him to his core finally leave his body, his own shaky laugh escaping him when Dream scooched over to be as close as possible.

“Hi, babies,” Dream said under his breath, rubbing his thumb on George’s stomach.

George smiled as softly at Dream as Dream was smiling at his stomach, relaxing against the back of the seat. Their entire lives were about to change and- shockingly enough- George realized he just might be looking forward to it.

With only two months left of their break, decidedly only one and a half months left on Earth, George had too many things he needed to check off his Earth bucket list before heading to Ceres.

First on that list-

"Baby, becareful!" Dream called after him, but George couldn't be bothered to slow down, stumbling through the hot sand that shifted beneath his feet with zero predictability.

"It's the bea-oh!" George cut off with a laugh when Dream had apparently caught up to him, lifting him off the ground before he could fall. In George's defense, he was certainly more agile than Dreammostof the time, but Dream had the advantage of experience running through sand before…. and wasn't pregnant.

"I said to slow down," Dream said quietly, bumping his nose against George's cheek a few times. "You're carrying very precious cargo."

"Did you just refer to the babies ascargo? You do realize that means you essentially called me aship, right?" George asked, narrowing his gaze.

"I wouldn't- youknowI'd never- uh, look! There's Nick!" Dream quickly changed the subject, setting George back down on his feet as another human approached them. He was about George's height, but more similar to Dream in build. He was also wearing something Georgehatedabout Earth fashion, since they made his ears ache just to look at them- Dream called them baseball hats… or maybe basketball hats- Earth had alotof sport-balls. Their real name didn't matter, since George would forever think of them asear restraints.

"Oh,brother! Look at you- space aged you, man!" Nick shouted a bit too loudly as he approached, practically throwing himself into Dream's arms. "And you must be George- so nice to finally meet… you?"

As soon as he broke away from his embrace with Dream, he started charging at George with his arms also open. George was left stumbling backwards with his heart racing- startled to the point he nearly tried to strike Dream out of panic when he wrapped an arm around his waist, preventing him- once again- from falling.

"Bro, I told you not to try touching him," Dream said over his shoulder to his friend (maybe brother?), but kept the majority of his attention focused on guiding George back over to where he'd dropped their belongings. "Come on, you're fine- no need for that,there you go," Dream mumbled toward the end, encouraging George to unwrap his tail from around his thigh.

"Sorry- but in my defense, you said I couldn't pet him, not that I couldn't touch him at all." Nick extended out his hand, only to immediately retract it, staring aimlessly at his hands before deciding to give George theworstsalute he'd ever bore witness to.

"Your hand and wrist should be straight when you salute an officer who outranks you," George corrected before he could think better of it, but thankfully the other human simply laughed, nudging Dream in the process.

"Not sure if your jurisdiction carries to Earth- or whatever you guys say out in space." He continued laughing under his breath as he reached down to grab some of their beach bags, helping Dream carry them over to the spot Nick had already set up for himself.

"Does he know?" George whispered, slinking his tail around Dream's waist to bring him in closer, while they walked a few feet behind Dream's friend. George held one of his hands over his eyes, trying to block a little bit of the starlight.

"That you're an admiral?" Dream furrowed his brow, making George roll his eyes.

"About yourprecious cargo," he mocked in return, instinctively bringing a hand to his stomach. "Which, by the way, are requesting snacks."

"I packed some-"

"Ew- are these pickled onions? That's f*cking vulgar, man." Nick pulled the jar out of one of their bags, apparently fine with rummaging through their belongings. Dream held George's hand after setting down the chair he was carrying, giving it a squeeze.

"Andwhymight we have pickled onions as a beach-day snack?" Dream looked at his friend expectantly, eventually gesturing to the way George had continued to hold his stomach over his short-armed shirt.

"Oh- right, this is what you guys… like to eat in space?" he questioned, making a pained face.

"I was in space forthreemonths, you idiot- stop acting like I'm a completely different person," Dream scoffed, but immediately started laughing. "They're just one of George's cravings…pregnancycravings… because he's pregnant… which I already told you about." Dream raised an eyebrow, speaking rather slowly, like he was waiting for Nick's brain to catch up.

"Oh- right! Man, I have so many questions about-"

"No," Dream interrupted with a serious expression.

"Notthosekinds of questions, you pervert. I just wanna know what they're gonna look like. I mean, will they have ears and tails, just ears, just tails,neither?" Nick explained, immediately turning his attention back to George, figuring he would know better than Dream on the matter.

"They will look just like me- Felis Catonians have rather dominant genes. Dark hair, dark eyes, pointed ears, and tails are to be expected." George shrugged, looking up at Dream, who had just finished setting up one of their beach chairs.

"Well,Ifor one don't care what they look like, as long as they're healthy," Dream said sweetly, wrapping his arm around George's waist, encouraging George to take a seat in his lap. "Is this okay with you?" Dream whispered at the end, sensing the way George tensed up.

"Yes, stay," George murmured over his shoulder, relaxing into Dream's embrace so his back was flush against Dream's chest. The warmth from Earth's starlight on his front, whilehisstarlight warmed his back was quite possibly the best feeling George had ever experienced.

Nick seemed less than impressed by their public displays of touching, staring directly over George's head at Dream. That was slightly concerning to George, since Dream had continually assured him that humans touch in front of each other all the time.

"Fix your face, Sap- and stop staring at his ears. I already told you he doesn't want you petting him," Dream warned, making Nick break his stare, lifting his hands in defense, and mumbling something along the lines of 'I didn't do anything' under his breath.

"What does sap mean?" George asked, grimacing at the feeling of Dream smearing some terrible type of half-liquid on his forearms, insisting that Earth's starlight was radioactive or something. Dream mandated that George comply with wearing thegooif he was going to spend any prolonged amount of time outside.

"Short for Sapnap- that's my gamer tag, so a few of my friends call me Sap from time to time." Nick shrugged, pointing at Dream. "Clay's tag is Dream, which is why most people call him that."

"Your… yourfriendscall you Sapnap?" George asked, perking up a bit. He smiled when Nick nodded, followed by tilting his head to the side, as if he were silently asking George why. "CanIcall you Sapnap?" George requested.

Dream's hands stalled on George's forearms, no longer rubbing in the white anti-starlight cream. Just when George was about to take it back out of embarrassment, Nick gave him a big smile.

"Hell yeah, sure you can!" He let out a laugh, but his brow remained slightly furrowed.

"We don't have friend-names on Ceres, so I find them interesting," George explained without being prompted.

"Nicknames," Dream chuckled from behind.

"Yes, Nick's friend-name is Sapnap." George looked over his shoulder, giving Dream a puzzled look. Dream and Nick-Sapnap- both started to laugh.

"No, baby- I mean,yes, but no. 'Friend-names' are called 'nicknames'. The fact Sap's real name is Nick is just a coincidence. In fact,Nickis a nickname- his full name is Nikolas. Clay is a nickname too, it's short for Clayton," Dream explained, kissing the side of George's neck lightly before resuming the task of rubbing the gross starlight-block on his skin.

George had all but given up trying to remember Earth terms for the time being, so he didn't pay much attention to Sapnap's detailed explanation about the 'history of nicknames'. Instead, George focused his attention on more important things, like how perfect it felt to be sitting in starlight,onhis starlight. George hadn't felt that good in weeks.

Not that his health problems suddenly disappeared, but knowing the root cause- and how much they bothlovedthe two little root causes- made the symptoms of pregnancy much more tolerable. Plus, George got the free pass of getting out of whatever he didn't want to do, telling Dream things like,sorry, I can't. I'm busy growing a tail right now. Even when their time on Earth was wrapping up and Dream was left packing both of their belongings up for the trip to Ceres, Dream didn't complain once.

Truthfully, George was enjoying being pregnant. Dream had always been an affectionate person, sometimes to the point it slightly overwhelmed George, but now that George had an excess of hormones in his body, helivedoff the undivided attention Dream gave him. Even the changes in his body that should've been terrifying were adored by Dream,especiallyhis newly acquired breasts.

In reality, they were hardly different from before- 'one cup size bigger' according to Dream- but that didn't stop Dream from treating them like a gift from the stars. George found it amusing that there was a very obvious ulterior motive in mind whenever Dream laid his head on his stomach. First Dream would claim he was talking to the babies, then he'd push George's shirt up to 'hear them better', and finally he'd inch his way up George's body until one of George's breasts ended up in his hand or mouth- mumbling something like'well, how did that get there?'

Without a doubt, the worst part about leaving Earth was saying goodbye to Patches. George had grown attached to her in a way that couldprobablybe explained by his pregnancy hormones, but he believed it was deeper than that. In George's mind, Patches had become the third baby to his litter, and he couldn't stand the thought of being separated from her. Alas, Dream reminded him of the rules of the galaxy, which forbid pet ownership beyond Earth's borders.

The trip from Earth to Ceres was just as miserable as the first time. George's nausea hadn't been severe like that in a few days, but Dream did everything in his power to keep George comfortable. They were able to be upgraded to a larger cabin that time, which at least meant there was enough room for one full-sized bed, instead of two stacked bunker beds.

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚　Ceres　˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

Ceres was… exactly the way George had left it.

George had no disdain for his home planet, but there was a reason he chose a career in galactic affairs. Same dim sky, same blue ground, same glowing-red trees, same everything.

"Oh,wow."

"Hmm?" George hummed, looking longingly at Dream's shoulder from his side of the hovercraft’s backseat. Similarly to the land ship that picked them up from the spaceport on Earth, a hovercraft picked them up from the one on Ceres. Hovercrafts were designed like miniature ships, so they floated above the ground instead of driving on top of it, which Dream foundfarmore interesting than George imagined.

"It's just… from what I can see, this place isbeautiful," Dream mumbled, his eyes glued out the window. "I thought we were flying in at twelve like noon though, not twelve like midnight- I wasn't expecting it to be so dark. I can’t wait to see everything in the daylight."

"Itistwelve hundred hours right now. 'Midnight' is zero hundred hours," George corrected, looking at Dream sadly when he turned his attention back to him, searching for some sympathy. All George wanted was to curl up in Dream's lap and purr his heart away, but not being on Earth meant all the idiotic rules George used to live by were back in place- which unfortunately included humans not being allowed to touch other species.

"But it's basically pitch black outside- how isthisthe middle of the day?" Dream questioned, tilting his head to the side.

"Why do you think I love starlight so much? We don't get much of it on my planet- this is what the sky looks like the majority of the time. We get the occasional comet once every few years, which lights up the sky for a couple hours, but it's nothing like Earth." George shrugged, sulking back in his seat when Dreamstilldidn’t acknowledge his sad expression.

"How does anyonesee?" Dream asked with a laugh, looking around at the people on sidewalks, walking without any type of light beam to guide them.

"Felis Catonians can see well in the dark, I suppose," George answered, successfully getting Dream to notice his moping that time. Dream gave him an empathetic look, silently telling George he wished he could change the rules too.

That was when it hit him.

"Excuse me!" George chirped, suddenly filled with a new hope, leaning forward to catch the attention of their temporary captain.

"Yes, was there something you needed, sir?" he asked, a bit taken aback by George's bluntness. In all fairness, George had been around humans for weeks on end,plushad spent nearly every waking moment of the last few months with a human by his side- sue him if he'd taken on a few of their characteristics.

"I need to inform you that this is my mate… and I am currently carrying his litter," George stated, gesturing to Dream beside him, making Dream cough and stutter from surprise.

"George, why would you tell him that?" Dream whispered, clearly embarrassed, offering a very awkward and forced smile in return to the captain's gaze, which was now fixed on him.

"It’s accepted for mates on Ceres to touch-especiallywhen they're expecting," George said to inform Dream and act as a reminder for their captain. He smiled softly, scooching closer to Dream, while hesitantly reaching out for Dream's arm.

As much as George was dying for a bit of affection from Dream, he understood that it was Dream's first time on Ceres, and adapting to the way another species lives could be a lot to take in. He didn't want to push Dream too far just because he was feeling a bit needy.

"Come here, baby," Dream murmured, bypassing George's modest attempt at holding onto his arm, opting instead to fully wrap it around George's shoulders. "I missed my babies too," he added, reaching a hand over to rest on George's stomach.

George started to purr quietly, feeling similar amounts of comfort from Dream holding his stomach as he did from scratches behind his ear. The rest of their trip back to George's home was spent with mumbled promises of all the cerla eggs George could eat and a long back rub, which George hoped would turn into something else.

"You know- your quarters on the main ship are starting to make alotmore-ow- sense to me," Dream said through a groan, rubbing his shoulder. "I figured you never turned the lights on because you were hardly in there- not because you don'tneedlights."

George couldn't help but laugh under his breath at Dream's grumbles. On one hand, George better understood why he thought Dream was such a clumsy creature- apparently, humans hadawfuleyesight. George figured that was likely an evolutionary development caused by their star- if they were blessed with such wonderful starlight that often, it would make sense why they became dependent on it for vision.

"We'll be visiting my parents later this week and my mother has a weird obsession with collecting lamps- granted, I have no idea whether or not any of their bulbs illuminate substantial light, but I can ask her to turn some on for you when we get there. Maybe we can even bring a few back here with us." George reached out, taking Dream's hand in his own to show pity, offering to guide Dream over to where he'd left his communication pod. Dream had previously been using the light on the back to shine his way through George's home, but apparently was struggling to find where he’d set it down a few minutes prior.

"Lamp collection?" Dream muttered under his breath, tripping on one of the shoes he had kicked off when he first walked in.

"Some Catonians are more attuned with their human side- my mum has been one of them since we did that DNA test… but only when it comes to lamps, I guess," George shrugged, giving up on trying to escort Dream and opted instead to retrieve the device and bring it back to his human.

"That's cute… I think," Dream questioned, sighing in relief when he turned on the flashlight built into his communication pod.

"Well, if it's any consolation, this is why we're raising the little ones on Earth. Knowing our outlandish luck, they'll probably be as blind as you are," George teased, surprised to find Dream clutching onto his hand when he tried to leave the main quarters, even though he had his light to see. "What's wr-"

"You want to raise our kids on Earth?" Dream interrupted, his voice in disbelief.

George was equally as shocked, seeing that he figured raising their litter on Earth would've been a given at that point. Earth had Patches, it had starlight year round, and he would certainly lose his appetite for cerla eggs once his pregnancy was over, seeing that they were a food he always hated prior.

"Don't you?" George asked in return, squinting when Dream pointed the bright light directly at him.

"I-of courseI do, but that's because Earth is my home planet. I thought you'd want to raise them here! Or at least split the time between the planets," Dream laughed, but George was more focused on the light emanating from Dream's communication pod getting closer, until Dream lifted him off the ground in a tight hug.

"Easy on the babies," George groaned, more so requesting to be set down for his own comfort and not their litter's.

“Sorry, sorry-” Dream rushed, setting George down. He dropped to one knee, pressing his face against George’s stomach, and kissed his yet-to-show bump a few times in a row.

“You should say you’re sorry with that massage you promised me,” George suggested, carding his fingers through Dream’s hair. More than wanting to relax, George just wanted to enjoy the simple pleasure of Dream’s touchfreely- no stupid galactic laws acting as a buffer.

“And what if I have something better than a massage that I could use to say sorry?” Dream asked, adjusting to be on both knees instead of one.

“Then I’d say get up so you can show me.” George rolled his eyes, but his smile gave everything away. Well, it was either his smile, or the bulge quickly growing in his pants.

“Actually, I'm exactly where I’m supposed to be.” Dream reached forward and began unfastening George’s belt, eagerly tugging his pants to the floor.

There was a cross between arousal and embarrassment coursing through George, seeing that Dream was literally at eye level with his dick.

“What are you doing, starlight?” George asked through an airy breath, running his finger through Dream’s hair to get it out of his face.

“Saying sorry,” he murmured before leaning forward, wrapping his lips around the head of George’s dick, and swirled his tongue around his tip.

“Dream!” George said somewhere between a gasp and a moan.

During their last mission, George had thought it was unfathomable that humans would stick their fingers inside one another- but this waseasilyten times better than that feeling.

“Yes or no to keep going?” Dream asked, pulling away and letting out a cough. George desperately grabbed onto Dream’s hair, trying to tug his face closer again.

“Come on, use your words, kitty.” Dream rested his cheek on George’s v-line, while nosing at the base of his dick.

“Yes-yes, keep going- need that again,” George pleaded.

Once Dream hummed in satisfaction and started lining himself back up, George braced his arms on the countertop behind him, seeing that he'd nearly collapsed after the first time Dream put his mouth on him.

The feeling of Dream's mouth around him was quite possibly the best feeling George had ever-

"f*ck!"

Scratch that- Dream's mouth around him while stroking the base of his tail was quite possibly the best feeling George had ever experienced. George's hips started to twitch and thrust, desperate to meet Dream on every downstroke.

The most torturous part was when Dream would occasionally pull away and just use his hand instead, either to cough or catch his breath. If George had more self control, he'd fight off his climax for a little while longer so he could enjoy the feeling for another minute. But alas, George was at the mercy of Dream's mouth, and there was no postponinganythingwhen he was against the way Dream's tongue swirled around his tip perfectly.

Even as he came, Dream stayed around him, swallowing in sync with each stream of come George produced.

"Starlight, that was- that's ah-" George paused, struggling to catch his breath, despite doing nothing but standing while Dream did all the work.

"A blowj*b," Dream answered with a smile, rising from his knees.

"Amazing," George corrected, draping his arms around Dream's shoulders. Dream leaned down for a second, tugging George's pants the rest of the way to the floor, then lifted him into his arms.

"We have lots to do tomorrow, so even though it's only, like, two o'clock, let's just head to bed." Dream adjusted so he could support George's weight with one arm, using his free hand to pick up his light.

"Promise we won't go to sleep right away?" George mumbled into Dream's neck, alternating between butting his forehead against it and laying light kisses.

"What else did you have in mind?" Dream asked, turning the corner into George's bedroom.

"Think you know," George said in the same tone, kissing Dream's neck a little harder to get his point across.

"You're insatiable, you know that?" Dream chuckled, lowering George gently down to the bed. He was already stripping himself out of his shirt before his back made contact with the mattress.

"Youmade me this way- with all yourwarmth, and yourhands, and now yourmouth." George wrapped his legs around Dream's waist, urging him to come closer. Much to George's relief, Dream was began stripping himself out of his own clothes.

"What other things about me made you this way?" Dream taunted, climbing over George.

It didn't take George's apparently-enhanced sight to see how hard Dream was. He reached one hand down, wrapping his first around Dream's shaft. Even though Dream was clearly pleased by the contact, George pulled away.

Maybe it was cruel that he liked hearing Dream get all whiny, but in his defense, it was because he had something better in mind. George dropped his hand between his legs, gathering some of his slick that had accumulated onto his fingers, then returned his hand to Dream's dick.

The whimper Dream let out was glorious- George would never tire of seeing the way Dream's entire body would tense up from such a small touch.

"Another thing would bethis- how it feels in my hand, how it stretches me, how it feels when you come inside me," George lowered his voice to a whisper. He was guiding Dream closer, while aligning him with his hole. George pressed Dream's tip against his tight ring, while continuing to stroke it with one hand. "How about you show me the other two things on that list."

Dream laughed softly into George's neck, keeping one arm wrapped around George's waist, and dragged his hand up to George's breast. George arched his back at the touch, unintentionally tightening the fist he was still holding Dream's dick with. It seemed to work in his favor, since it caused Dream to instinctually thrust forward, pushing inside George.

They took a shaky breath in sync, while Dream began thrusting into him with long and slow drags. George could already feel Dream's abs tensing, while the grip he had around George's waist tightened.

"Starlight, are you already going to come?" George teased, clenching around Dream just to elicit another whimper out of him.

"Y-you soundedsogood when-when I was on my knees for you. Got me kinda worked up, I guess," he laughed through his stuttered breathing, while his hips began snapping forward with more urgency.

"You make mefeelgood," George answered, egging Dream on with each roll of his hips. He'd been purring like crazy, nearly struggling to talk through the vibrations.

"Kiss- kiss me," Dream requested with his lips already brushing against George's. George tilted his chin up as best as he could, connecting their lips in a rather uncoordinated kiss. Even though the kiss was more like Dream panting into his mouth with whimpers and pleas, George loved knowing that he was making Dream feel so good he couldn't even kiss him properly anymore.

"Want my come, yeah? Want me to put some more babies inside of you?" Dream asked, desperately trying to find a way to be deeper inside of George, even when he was already buried to the hilt.

"Please," George moaned, already feeling Dream's dick twitching inside of him.

It was warm, it was wet, it was wonderful. Dream murmuring beautiful praises and love-filled confessions into his hair wasn't half bad either.

Despite being the one who insisted they didn't sleep right away, George was out before Dream had even finished cleaning him off.

After a very lazy day- and night- spent lounging in bed and eating all the comfort foods he missed, George found himself already in the unfortunate position of being examined byanotherdoctor the following morning, but this one looked at him like he had three tails.

"While you are the firstmaleFelis Catonian I've heard of getting pregnant by a human, you're not the first Catonian in general to get pregnant by one," the doctor explained through a sigh, looking up from the documentation they had brought with them from his Earth doctor, while they waited for the test results to come back.

"He's not? What happened with the other pregnancies? Were they successful? Did they-"

"Starlight," George interrupted in a whisper, reaching over with his tail and wrapped it around Dream's forearm. Dream's breathing slowed a bit, his fingers instinctively moving to slowly trace through his fur. "Let the doctor talk."

“Sorry, just… I’m a bit worried about all three of them, if that’s not obvious,” Dream apologized, offering the doctor a timid smile.

“Worrying can be good- shows you are invested- but don’t spread that worry to your partner, or you may cause something thatactuallywarrants being worried about,” he looked over his monitor, one of his mostly-grey ears flicking at the sight of Dream’s continued toying with the tip of George’s tail.

“Right, sorry,” Dream apologized again. George pictured that if Dream had ears like his, they would be completely flattened.

George hardly focused on anything else the doctor said, since he wasn't going to be his doctor for much longer. Dream, ever the polite human, still thanked the man profusely for his time and for squeezing them in on such short notice.

“I’m requesting a different doctor,” George whispered on their way out, keeping his tail wrapped around Dream’s arm on their walk back to his home. Personally, George wanted to take his hovercraft, but it was admittedly rather endearing to see how amazed Dream was by the things he'd grown up seeing every day.

“Why?” Dream asked, also reaching out to intertwine his and George’s fingers. George was glad that at least Dream wasn’t as hesitant about touching him in public places anymore. Although there wasn't much of a visible bump yet, George liked to hold one hand on his stomach, even if it was just his silent way of telling those around them that Dream's touch was okay- it waswelcomed.

“I didn’t like the way he spoke to you. I don’t need to be feeling judged by my doctor. Plus, he’s the same doctor who delivered me and my litter mates, so I think it might be time I got a new one anyway.” George shrugged.

"Just focus on howyoufeel, don't worry about me." Dream lifted their intertwined fingers to his mouth, kissing along George's knuckles. "We'll only be on Ceres for two weeks, let's not stress about finding a new doctor in that short a-"

"I'm going to ask my sister for the name of the doctor who oversaw her last litter, and that'sfinal. I will see Zola's doctor for the rest of my appointments on Ceres, they will transfer my records to the medical team on our ship, andyoucan stop being a nervous wreck all the time." George tugged on Dream's hand, pulling him closer, while giving him a slightly-disappointed scowl.

"I'll be better- promise." Dream smiled, wrapping his arm around George's waist once they turned the corner to his property.

The following morning, even after switching to a much more open-minded doctor who gave them good news of a healthy and on track pregnancy, Dream's nerves were still sky high the entire appointment. George decided to give him the benefit of the doubt that those nerves were actually for their impending dinner plans with his family.

At least George still had time to sneak in a nap before they had to leave.

"No," George whined, trying to bury his face harder against the crook of Dream's neck, not ready to be awake again so soon.

"I gave you an extra ten minutes- five for each baby- come on, Georgie," Dream said softly, kissing George's hairline. George was somewhat upset about the fact Dream wasn't petting behind his ears, but he also figured that was because Dream knew it'd make him fall right back to sleep.

George groaned when Dream maneuvered him into a semi-sitting position. He sat up so he was leaning against the headboard, with George's back resting against his chest. As much as George knew he was capable of falling asleep in any position, so long as Dream was nearby, there was onetinything they needed to discuss.

"So," George started, leaning his head back onto Dream's shoulder.

"So," Dream repeated, taking one of his hands away from George's stomach, using it to scratch behind his ear instead now that he seemed more awake. George purred at the touch, thankful for the chance to relax a bit.

"Aside from Zola, who won't be at the dinner, my family doesn't know… anything," George admitted, his anxiety growing when Dream immediately froze- both the scratching behind his ear and the soft rub of his hand on his stomach. "They're really open minded about humans, though- I told you my mom collects lamps!"

"Baby, your mom having a weird thing for lamps and being okay with her son getting pregnant by and being mates with a human areverydifferent things."

George let out a shaky breath, wiggling a bit in Dream's hold until he resumed his gentle pets. It wasn't until Dream kissed his cheek and offered him a tight squeeze that George felt brave enough to continue.

"My parents have very high expectations of me as their oldest son, and even though they won't view you, our relationship, or ourlitteras me falling short of those expectations… I'm afraid they're going to start treating me like my sisters- that as soon as they know that we're not just mates, but mates who areexpecting, they're going to try to dictate my life all over again. Once I have the babies, they're going to want me to stop working- stop going on expeditions- so I can stay home with the children. Either that, or I'll be shipped off to some academy to be reminded that I'm aman," George admitted.

"I hope you know I'm not going to let that happen."

"Dream-"

"No, I mean it," Dream cut him off, adjusting his position so he could look at George's profile. "You're their son, yeah, but I'm yourmate,and I'm always going to fight for what you want. If they're concerned about a parent staying home with our litter, then- f*ck it-I'llstay home with the kids." Dream shrugged, shaking his head.

"That isn't how Felis Catonians do things, starlight," George sighed, cupping Dream's cheek with his hand, leaning forward to bump his nose against Dream's jaw.

"Well, I'm not a Felis Catonian, and neither are our babies- notfullyat least. On Earth, it doesn't matter which parent stays home. Some families don't have either parent stay home- they use childcare during working hours. Baby, I just want you to know that we have options-especiallyif we're raising our kids on Earth." Dream turned his face to the side, kissing George's forehead.

"I love you," George mumbled, rolling back onto his stomach to hug Dream.

"Come here, baby," Dream said under his breath, enveloping George in a hug. He wrapped his arms around George's back, shuffling them both down in the bed. "I changed my mind- you can have five more minutes."

"You just want me to make biscuits, don't you?" George laughed softly, getting comfortable on Dream's chest, and tucking his hands under Dream's back.

"Guilty," Dream practically whined, immediately dragging his hands up from George's back to his ears, brushing his nose against George's until his instinct kicked in. "I'm gonna need more noses… and hands… if I'm going to have the kids give me biscuits too," Dream mumbled blissfully.

"I'm sure my sisters can lend you some hands- they've got plenty." George purred through his mumbled sentence, nuzzling in closer to kiss Dream's lips between nose brushes.

"How many, uh, how many sistersdoyou have?" Dream asked, sighing in relief when George resumed his biscuits.

"Five," George mumbled, pulling away to hide his face in Dream's neck as sleep creeped back up on him, getting closer and closer. "And two brothers."

"You're- you're one ofeight?" Dream asked in shock, making George grumble at the way Dream flinched beneath him.

"Pet me so I can go back to sleep- the babies are tired," George requested, pulling the baby card to ensure he'd get what he wanted. Dream immediately resumed his pets, hushing whispered apologies against the top of George's head.

George fell back into a wonderful sleep thatdefinitelylasted a bit longer than five minutes, even if it was clear that Dream didn't share the same fate.

"Do I look okay? I swear togod, we are stealing at least ten of your mom's lamps," Dream groaned, fussing with the fur on his head for what had to have been the hundredth time since they woke up an hour ago.

“You look as you always do, very nice,” George answered, wrapping his arms around Dream’s shoulders. Dream hugged him back, his hands cupping him by his ass instead of his waist.

“Someone’s grabby this evening,” George scoffed, laughing under his breath when Dream’s steady hands turned into biscuits.

“I like when you give me compliments. Plus, if I can’tseeyour ass, I should at least be allowed to hold it,” Dream murmured in response, diving down to kiss George’s neck.

George began purring, letting his head fall to the side so Dream had more room to explore. Before he knew it, one of Dream’s hands had traveled to the inside of his waistband, with curious fingers massaging the area around the base of his tail, but distinctly avoided touching it.

“We haven’t had sex in a few days- between traveling and doctor appointments, feels like it's been forever since I've gotten my hands on you,” Dream whispered between kisses, nearly making George go limp when his fingers finally did brush against his tail.

“And you choosenowto change that- when we’re about to leave the house?” George asked sarcastically, already pushing himself closer to Dream.

“We’ve got time… or we’llmaketime.” He shrugged, turning them around so George’s chest was pressed against the wall, while he eagerly tugged George’s pants down to his mid thigh. George did his best to spread his legs, arching his back until his ass rubbed against the bulge in Dream’s pants.

The sound of Dream unfastening his belt and unzipping his fly was only ramping George up with more anticipation. Just when he expected to feel the familiar press of Dream's fingers, he was met with somethingverydifferent.

“Dream! What are you-f*ck-“ George cut himself off with a gasp, pushing his face and chest harder against the stability of the wall, and pressed his ass back further on Dream’s face.

His knees threatened to give out at the feeling of Dream’s tongue swirling around his hole, teasing with a push inside of him every few seconds. It was new, it was unexpected, it was also about to make him come.

“Halt, halt, ha-“ George struggled to catch his breath, as did Dream. He could hear his mate panting from behind him, and Dream’s forehead fell forward to rest on one of his ass cheeks.

“Sorry, I should’ve asked first. Sorry,” Dream mumbled, kissing the back of George’s thigh.

“Didn’t say halt because I didn’t like it- said it because I was about to come and you’re not even in me yet,” George explained through one breath, leaning more heavily against the wall again.

“You could do that? No tail petting, no ear scratches- not even my dick in you… just my tongue was going to make you come?” Dream asked.

George couldn’t tell if his voice sounded amazed, or like he was proposing a challenge.

“Well, I saidhalt, didn’t I? You wanted to have sex and we can’t do that if I-Dream!” George gasped again, reaching his hand back to tangle his fingers in Dream’s hair, while he went to work on George’s hole with his tongue again.

“Mm, wanna see it- wanna see you come from my tongue,” Dream moaned, his breath hot against George’s sensitive skin.

“But, starlight, we’re late and I-please- f*ck, we don’t have time for two-“

“Don’t give a f*ck about the sex right now- just wanna makeyoucome,” Dream interrupted, going back in with more ferocity that time, causing whimpers and pleas for more to spill freely from George’s lips when Dream flattened his tongue against his hole.

George was left panting, his jaw slack, with both his legs and tail quivering mere seconds later. Dream had a hand on each of his cheeks, spreading him open to free up more space to work.

“Be a good kitty and show me how you can come with no hands, you can do it, baby,” Dream murmured, followed by pushing his tongue inside George again, doing some insane motion that felt like his tongue was one of the waves on Earth’s beaches.

The words and sounds that escaped him were new for both of them, as was the feeling of George’s untouched dick twitching with each spurt of his release, the substance dripping out of him in a much larger quantity than he usually produced.

As soon as Dream retreated his tongue, his arms wrapped around George’s hips, guiding him to sit down in his lap on the floor, while Dream ran his fingers through George’s hair.

“You did so good,” Dream whispered, brushing his nose against George’s cheek, showering him with gentle touches and sweet praises the way he always didaftersex.

“Butyou,” George whined, trying to move his arms to reach Dream beneath him, but all his limbs felt like electronic static. His body was literally still buzzing from his org*sm.

“Let’s just say we’rebothgoing to need to change our pants,” Dream chuckled, tucking his face into George’s neck, gently kissing his skin.

“Grooming my-myassmade you come?” George asked, completely astounded by the admission. In return, Dream burst into a fit of hysterical laughter- the struggling to get out a hairball kind of laugh.

“Oh my god, pleaseneverrefer to me eating you out asgrooming your assagain,” he begged, struggling to breathe through his continued laughter.

“Oh, I’m sorry, were younotjust licking my ass?” George scoffed sarcastically, putting in minimal effort to stand up from Dream’s lap, only to be held onto more securely.

“I was, but- you know what? I’ll explain- maybe give you anotherdemonstration-when we get back, yeah?” Dream offered, roaming his hands over George’s stomach as a peace offering.

“I could be agreeable to that,” George mumbled, kicking off his soiled pants the rest of the way down his legs. He leaned further into Dream's embrace, savoring every moment of it.

He wasn't sure how he was going to survive the next few hours at his family's home without it.

"My mom is pretty flat affect, so don't be surprised if she's not very expressive… and my dad- I wouldn't be shocked if he tried to intimidate or interrogate you, like, he was Sergeant Major of Ceres's military foryears," George explained through a nervous ramble, walking up the path to his childhood home with Dream by his side.

"Oh,great, that really helps calm my nerves," Dream joked, gently nudging George's bicep before wrapping his arm around his waist. "At least your mom already has some lamps turned on- maybe I'll actually be able to see for once."

"Focus- I want you to be prepared!" George groaned, leaning into Dream's side to rest his head against Dream's shoulder.

"As long as the four of us make it out alive at the end of the night, that's all I care about. I promise," Dream mumbled into his hair, kissing the top of George's head before pulling his hand away from where he'd been cupping George's 'only-noticeable-to-them' bump, and stepped forward to knock on the door.

"Don't tell me you threw away your house key the minute you moved-oh. Uh, hello… human?"

Ah, what a wonderful start.

"Mother," George said after clearing his throat, stepping out from behind Dream with his tail wrapped defensively around his own thigh, squeezing it to an uncomfortable degree. "This is Dream. I, um, I brought him with me today because, well, uh-"

"Don't tell me that's my son, theadmiral, I hear stumbling over his words like some-oh. A human," George's father chimed in, stopping in his tracks when he caught sight of Dream.

"You weren't joking when you said you told themnothing, I see," Dream mumbled under his breath to George, standing up a bit straighter right after, offering George's parents his signature white-toothed smile.

"Hello! My name is Dream, andyes, I am a human. I worked with George on his last expedition. It's an honor to meet you both, thank you for hosting us." Dream kept up his smile, somehow even getting George's mum to crack one herself as she gazed up at him. Dream looked down to George, his smile softening to something more genuine.

"Dream and I are mates," George blurted out, managing to gain the attention of not only his parents, but also a few of his siblings who had started to swarm the door.

The small amount of chatter that had been a constant in the background since the front door first opened came to a stop, making the croakers in the nearby watering land audible. The sinking feeling in George's stomach was so intense, it made him wonder if the babies could feel it too.

"Ha! And no one believed me- pay up!"

George groaned, stepping forward to glare at his youngest sister, who was walking around with one of her hands held out, requesting currency from their other siblings.

"What are you-"

"George- you should've told us you were bringing your mate! My goodness, the house- the house is amess. You'll have to forgive us, human, apparently our son wants to embarrass us. Please, please- come in!" George's mum fussed, but she was smiling wider than George had seen in years.

"That's not even true, George- mum made us clean the whole house, you know, since youactuallyagreed to come for dinner this break," another of George's sisters called out from somewhere in the crowd that had quickly formed. Even with one of his brothers at bootcamp and two of his sisters moved out with new litters, there were still far too many people in the house.

"So, you work on George's ship? What's your designation?" his father asked, eyeing Dream up and down. Even more terrifying than that, George was fairly certain he could see the hint of a smile on hisfather'sface.

"I'm the ship's thermomechanical engineer, sir. I was brought on with the intention of being a one-time crew member, but the captain offered me a recurring position once the mission was completed, which I accepted." Dream smiled, immediately offering George his arm when he started to step out of his shoes. George grabbed onto Dream's hand instinctively to balance himself, smiling up at him before both their faces fell and they turned back to their growing audience.

Shockingly enough, all that was waiting for them were smiles and a few giggles from his younger siblings.

"Therm- ah- thermomechanics, very impressive field. You must've studied for many years to achieve that." His father nodded with his delayed response, the same shadow of a smile resting on his lips. If anything, it was growing to be more than just a shadow.

"Wait right here- I have a few things I'd love to show you!" George's mum encouraged, gesturing for them to stay put, while simultaneously shooing away the rest of George's siblings with her other hand.

"This is going well… I think," Dream whispered, clearly still focused on the stray glances his siblings were throwing in their direction as they filed out of the main hall one by one.

"Lilith," George called out, making his youngest sister freeze. She looked much different than the last time he saw her a few years ago- she was starting to look eerily like Celine, the sister closest in age to him.

"Yes, George?" She tilted her head to the side innocently, as if her pockets weren't padded with the crumpled currency their siblings had begrudgingly handed over to her.

"What the hell is going on? Why is everyone acting soodd?" George furrowed his brow, expecting his cold stare to intimidate her, but all it resulted in was a small laugh and her eyes flicking downward. "What are you-"

"Baby," Dream whispered, coughing to poorly conceal his own budding laughter. George turned his head to the side, catching the way Dream was flicking down his eyes in the same way his sister had. As soon as George looked down, everything clicked into place.

His tail had switched from being wrapped around his own thigh, to being wrapped aroundDream'sthigh. Now that he was aware of it, he immediately unraveled it from Dream's leg.

"Well, if you truly require I spell it out for you, mum and father are actingdifferentlybecause for the first time in your forty years-"

"Twenty-sevenyears," George cut in with a scoff. Leave it to his fifteen-year-old sister to make him feel like a fossil.

"Same difference." She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest in a way that felt like George was looking in a mirror. "You've never had a mate, like,ever. Pretty sure they had come to terms with the fact their eldest son would die alone- soyeah, they're excited."

"Oh," George mumbled under his breath, refusing to let his ears flatten from something his kid-sister said, but wasn't as successful at stopping the heat that rose on his cheeks.

"Wait 'til they find out whatelseyou've been hiding," Dream whispered, kissing George's ear when he noticed them starting to flatten. Lilith perked right back up at the mention of a secret, uncrossing her arms to hold her hands behind her back, like she was standing at attention waiting to be let in on their unrevealed information.

"Scram, pest." George was the one to cross his arms that time, successfully making his sister groan and sulk off.

"So," Dream started, squatting down to untie his own shoes once they were alone in the main hall for the first time. "I'm guessing this isn’t how you expected your family to react?" he chuckled, leaning forward to press a kiss to George's stomach while he was down there. George shook his head with a fond smile, rolling his eyes playfully when Dream reached a hand up to rest on the spot of his stomach he’d just kissed.

"Oh my stars."

After hearing the whisper, Dream dropped his hand from George's stomach as quickly as he could, scrambling to finish taking off his shoes before he stood up again. Standing in front of them was George's mother, one lamp in each hand, having come back to the entryway to show them off to Dream.

"Mum," George started with a shake in his voice, nervously looking between her and Dream. To make matters worse, his father had also returned, looking much less enthused to be carrying a lamp.

"Are you- how is that-" She couldn't finish her question, rushing to set down her prized lamps before she dropped them. His father followed her lead, though he was much more confused than her, since he didn't witness the affectionate act.

George looked up at Dream, his facial expression somewhere between 'help' and 'here goes nothing.'

"Dream and I aren't just mates- we're also expecting.I'mexpecting Dream's litter," George said with his bravest face, not fighting back his tail’s instinct to curl around Dream's forearm for support. Much like when they first arrived, all the background conversations fell silent after his admission.

"Son," his father said, being the first to step closer. George straightened his posture, making himself just barely eye level with him. "Congratulations."

"What?" George asked under his breath, completely taken aback by his father's response. George thought it would be more likely that his father threatened to send him back to bootcamp before he told himcongratulationsof all things.

"It's certainly different- not the way we thought it would happen- but we're just happy it's happeningat all," his mum chimed in, walking up behind his father to place a hand on his shoulder. The sight was enough to nearly startle George.

Despite it being socially accepted for mates to touch on Ceres, George hadrarelyseen his parents initiate any kind of physical contact with one another. His family was about as stoic as they came regarding upholding rigid values.

Seeing his mum hold his father's shoulder, while his father held a hand over hers, it made him realize just how big a moment this was for them. It also made him feel immense guilt for assuming so poorly of them.

"Come, come- I want to show you my lamps before dinner finishes," his mum insisted, briefly using her apron to dab her under eyes, before beckoning for Dream and George to follow her over to where she'd set them down.

George looked up at Dream with a relieved smile on his face, leaning against Dream's side when he hooked an arm around his waist, using his hand to rub the portion of George's stomach that he could reach.

"Oh wow, I thinkanyonewould get pregnant from touchingthatmuch."

"Lilith," their mum scolded, causing his sister to run away down the hall, giggling with some of his other sisters as they fled the scene.

With nothing left to fear about being on his home planet, it made the time go by almost as quickly as it had on Earth.

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚　Space　˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

"I miss our Earth bed," George mumbled, rubbing his back on his way to the flimsy mattress in Dream's cabin. George could tell Dream had done his best to make the bed as close to Earth's as possible, which he appreciated, but it also didn't change the fact George's body was essentially attacking him, leaving him exhausted all hours of the day.

George started showing a few weeks prior, leaving him in a perpetual state of looking bloated from a heavy lunch. He felt about as crappy as he looked, finding the feeling of the babies kicking to be far less magical than his mother and sisters described. The subtle movements made Dream happy though, and seeing his excitement made the discomfort a little more worth it.

"You don't miss the bed, you just miss Patches.I'myour bed, no matter where we are in the galaxy, so mattress quality doesn't even affect you," Dream laughed lightly, sitting up on the edge of the bed with open arms to prove his point.

"Shut up," George mumbled, accepting the warm embrace Dream wrapped him in. "Plus, you won't be my mattress for much longer," George complained in a grumble.

"What are you talking about?" Dream scoffed, maneuvering them.

"Thisis what I'm talking about," George groaned, pushing himself off of Dream's chest as soon as Dream pulled him up, collapsing on his side next to him. "Too uncomfortable to sleep on my stomach with the bump- supposed to be sleeping on my side now that I'm five months along."

"Oh," Dream said regretfully, turning on his side so he and George could be face to face. On instinct, he reached out to cup George's bump.

"Dream," George grumbled, rolling onto his back to push his head back against the pillows. As much as George loved when Dream rubbed his stomach, the babies loved it too, meaning they started to kick his insides.

"Sorry, sorry- I just know how much you like it," Dream lowered his voice, inching his way closer. "You're still purring."

"Don't tell me you're trying to mate on ourfirstnight back on the ship when I look like a colossal breed of Cetacea," George said blankly, furrowing his brow when Dream immediately laughed.

"Baby, you donotlook like a whale, don't say that." Dream shook his head, lowering himself down to brush their noses.

George groaned again- much less annoyed that time- when Dream's hand went from rubbing his belly over his shirt to under it, slowly pushing it up. Dream pecked George's lips once before kissing down his neck.

"Personally, I don't see a problem with christening the new cabin on our first night," Dream said with a chuckle against George's shoulder. "But we don't have to if you-"

"Wait," George interrupted, grabbing onto Dream's wrist before he pulled it away from his stomach, encouraging Dream to continue petting the babies.

Dream took his hand off George's stomach anyway, but only to tug on the hem of George's shirt, effectively pulling it over his head. George instinctively lowered his arms, using one to cover his chest and crossed the other over his stomach.

His physique had never varied much, the intense exercise routine he'd maintained since his first training camp the main reason, but that wasn't the case anymore. His stomach was distended, his breasts were soft and pudgy, and his general muscle definition had deteriorated from lack of exercise.

"I don't know how I got so f*cking lucky," Dream mumbled, encouraging George to uncover himself with gentle hands. Once George's arms were at his side, Dream returned his hand to George's stomach, using his other arm to keep himself propped above George.

George let out a small whimper when Dream took his breast in his mouth, sucking on it softly. The area had been increasingly tender, but Dream never failed to make accommodations for every change. George started to squirm when the feeling of Dream's tongue flicking over his nipple went straight to his core, making it feel like his entire body was heating up.

"Off-off," George whined, struggling to push down his pants. Dream pulled away from George's chest with a line of spit connecting his bottom lip to George's nipple, driving George that much closer to insanity.

"You sure?" Dream asked, kissing his way down George's stomach, while his hands tugged on the waistband of George's sleep pants.

"Positive." George nodded, grunting when he lifted his hips in the air, annoyed by the energy something so small took out of him. Once his pants were off and Dream had already started to knead his ass- probably the only thing George didn't mind getting bigger- his purr returned.

"You need to rest- let me take care of you," Dream lifted himself off of George's chest when he'd started to grab at Dream's clothes, making it clear he didn't want to be the only one naked.

"I wanna try that thing you showed me," George mumbled, propping himself up. Dream pulled his hands out from beneath him, opting to help George sit up instead.

"I've shown you a lot of things," Dream answered with his head tilted to one side.

When George guided Dream to lie on his back, he complied, and George made quick work of taking off Dream's sleep pants. Of all the things Dream had taught him about how human mates explore each other's bodies, having Dream's mouth on his dick was by far one of his favorites. If he could make Dream feelhalfas good as he did, he'd call that a success.

"Baby, what are-oh, f*ck-" Dream sucked in a breath, and immediately reached out to hold George by the hair on the back of his head. He'd barely wrapped his lips around Dream's tip and he could already feel Dream's hips struggling to stay in place- something he remembered happening to himself when he really started to enjoy the act.

"Your f*ckingtongue- god," Dream gasped, his hand tightening in George's hair, while he let out a series of moans. "Just like that-nngh."

George remembered not feeling a difference between their tongues the first few times they kissed heavily, but Dream had made a comment on it. It wasn't until he met Patches that George realized what Dream was talking about. He could tell that his ancestors probably had tongues similar to hers, but after Felis Catonians and humans mated for hundreds of years, it became an unneeded gene, since his species no longer had fur over their bodies that needed to be groomed.

Patches' tongue was spiky though, like little claws designed to brush through hairs. George's tongue had dull bumps on it, making it glide smoothly, as opposed to scratching.

The tighter Dream held onto the back of his head, the more George was desperate to push himself further. With so many changes happening in his body, Dream had become extremely gentle. While George greatly appreciated the shift, he also craved the intimacy that accompanied Dream losing himself in pleasure.

"P-pause," Dream stuttered, causing George to stop. As soon as he pulled his mouth away from Dream's dick, it was like Dream could take in his first full breath, and the white knuckled grip he'd had on George's hair slipped away.

"You don't like my mouth?" George asked, sitting on his knees between Dream's spread legs.

"f*ckingloveyour mouth," Dream let out through a painful groan. George watched with piqued interests at the way Dream's dick twitched and bobbed against his stomach, clearly in search of stimulation. "I just- I feel useless," Dream chuckled, wiping away the sweat that had accumulated on his forehead.

"Don't be dense." George rolled his eyes, settling back down between Dream's thighs, running his tongue up the full length of Dream's dick. He watched in awe when Dream's entire body tensed and he desperately grabbed onto fistfuls of the sheets. "I'm having plenty of fun learning the things you like."

The next time Dream moaned, he wasn't as successful at keeping his hips down, bucking them up until the tip of his dick brushed against the back of George's throat. One time was all it took for George to determine that he liked the feeling of Dream being deeper in his throat, leading him to push down until he'd taken in over half of Dream.

In the same breath, Dream swapped tangled sheets for dark fur, pushing on the back of George's head to keep him down.

"Wanna know what I like, huh?" Dream murmured, rocking his hips in smooth drags with his hands still anchored in place. It was far less uncomfortable than George anticipated it would be, considering when Dream had done this to him, he paused to cough several times.

"Mhm." George did his best to hum his confirmation, but the act in itself set Dream off further, pulling airy whimpers and panting breaths out of him.

George had no clue if it was Dream's intention or not, but the tight grasp he had on George's hair slipped away, and Dream moved his hands to scratch behind George's ears. Immediately, George started to purr heavily, which greatly pleased Dream. Between his purr and the continued deep thrusts, Dream was spilling into George's mouth in a matter of seconds.

Nowthat… George was less fond of.

The flavor was bitter and the texture was a nightmare, leaving George pulling away to spit out the substance into one of their discarded shirts as quickly as he could.

"Come 'ere," Dream slurred, his chest still heaving, and his hands making biscuits in the air as some form of beckoning call.

"Oh-ew!" George fought to push himself away when Dream tried to pull himself in for a kiss, feeling overwhelmingly aware of the lingering flavor on his tongue. Dream- disturbingly- found his attempt to get away endearing of all things, actively fighting for George to kiss him before brushing his tongue.

Afterthoroughlycleaning his mouth, George found himself in the bathroom with Dream, pinned against the vanity. Dream held George's jaw in one hand, ensuring he'd continue watching them in the mirror, while using his other hand to finger him. George was still dripping from the way Dream acted while having his dick sucked, so George came faster than ever before, while Dream mumbled praises into his ear.

The two redressed and climbed back into bed, falling into a deep sleep after a minute of brushing noses and biscuit-making. George could've stayed in that perfect moment forever, but unfortunately their jobs resumed at oh-eight hundred hours.

"Hi, baby and bab-oh," Dream cut himself off, walking into the cabin to find a very miserable looking George wearing one of Dream's overcoats over his uniform, despite it only being George’s midafternoon nap. "What's wrong?"

George still had his arms crossed over his chest when he made his way over to the bed, but they weren't crossed in his usual 'testing the limits of his patience' way. If anything, George felt like he was simply trying to hide himself.

"My uniform doesn't fit me well anymore, like, you can see my bump," George muttered, letting the tension melt away when Dream sat down beside him, wrapping one arm around George's back, while resting his free hand on his stomach.

"We thought of this, remember? You've got two more sizes of uniforms in the closet." Dream kissed the side of his head.

"You're missing thepoint," George groaned, turning enough to show Dream he wanted to have his legs draped over his lap. Thankfully Dream picked up the hint and swung George's legs over his thighs, making quick work to start massaging George's swollen feet and ankles.

"Enlighten me," Dream said with a soft smile. He leaned forward in a way that lookedextremelyuncomfortable so he could place a kiss on George's stomach, followed by brushing their noses together before he sat up normally again.

"I couldfeelthe stares I got this morning- and I don't think anyone even realizes I'm pregnant, they can just tell I look… different," he muttered towards the end.

It was true- much more than just George's stomach and breasts had changed. His face was rounder, his features softer, his hair longer than he usually kept it (he swore it was growing faster than a ceroot weed), and the wideness of his hips was becoming more prominent with every pound he gained.

"You look beautiful," Dream said softly, letting out a long breath. "I know exactly what you're feeling though. It makes you feel exposed- like you're a spectacle or something. You know I have those big scars on my body, but I don't think I've ever told you why I have them."

"Your stripes?" George asked, completely taken aback. "You weren't born with those stripes?"

"No, baby," Dream chuckled, pausing his massage to pull George in closer, keeping him on his chest when he laid back in the bed. "I used to weigh much more than I do now, around three times as much. I used to get stared at a lot back then- I thought that would change when I lost weight. If anything, it felt like people were perceiving my bodymoreand I hated it. But you know what I realized?" he asked.

"That you… wanted stripes?" George furrowed his brow, unintentionally pulling another laugh out of Dream.

"No- no. I realized thatIwas the one who was hyper-aware of my body, and that everyone around me wasn't payinghalfas much attention to how I looked as I thought they were," Dream explained, clearly insinuating that George was the one focused on the changes in his appearance and no one else noticed.

Considering he was a pregnantmaleCatonian, George thought the two situations weren't as comparable as Dream made them out to be. But alas, George hardly got any rest during his first nap break, and Dream had started to pet behind his ears. George briefly wondered if Dream was trying to get him to fall asleep on purpose, that way he wouldn't poke holes in the point Dream was making.

"I'm still confused why you have stripes," George mumbled, his words muffled into Dream's chest, almost getting drowned out by his purring.

"Oh, right. I just had a lot of extra skin when I lost weight, so I got surgery to remove it. The lines on my hips, arms, and pecs are scars, not stripes," he explained in a whisper.

"You should just tell people they're stripes- way faster," George said through a yawn, falling asleep before Dream even got done laughing at his response.

Waking up from his nap was hard. Parting ways with Dream was hard. Pretending that crew membersweren'tstaring at his body was hard. Standing without holding his stomach and/or back constantly was hard. Finishing the rest of his rounds before he could head back to his cabin was hard.

The one thing thatwasn'thard was collapsing into his bed after taking a shower, knowing Dream would be back soon with dinner.

Then there was a knock on his door. At first, George was excited, but then he remembered Dream had a keycard to enter his cabin, meaning whoever was at the door wasnotDream with his peanut butter sandwich and strawberry ice cream.

George grumbled under his breath, forcing himself out of bed. Stupid cabin checks, stupid fire codes, stupid orderlies with their stupidchecklists-

"Captain?" George questioned, opening the door to see none other than theoneperson on the ship who outranked him… while he was wearing sleep shorts and one of Dream's overcoats.

"Were you-I'm sorry- were you heading to bed, admiral? It's… it's only half-past seventeen hundred hours," he mused, double-checking his watch.

"Oh, uh- first day back just kind of wiped me out, figured I'd squeeze in another nap before going to dinner," George lied through his teeth, dedicating far too much energy on not letting his ears flatten. "Please, come in."

George stepped to the side, glancing around the room one last time to make sure Dream didn't leave any of his belongings out in the open. The last thing George needed was for the captain to stumble across a piece ofDream'suniform in what was supposed to be only his cabin. He nodded when the captain gestured to the chair at his desk before taking a seat across from him on the edge of his bed.

"Are you happy with your upgraded accommodations?" he asked, gesturing to the room around them.

Hewashappy that the room and bed were larger, but only because it meant he and Dream would be staying in his cabin for the mission, and therefore George had more rights when it came to setting the room's temperature. Not that he could say any of that to the captain.

"I am… but I have a feeling you didn't come all the way down here to ask me that," George said with as much of a blank expression as he could manage- what used to be one of George's greatest skills was quickly becoming an impossible task.

"I suppose the captain showing up at your cabin isn't themostsubtle thing in the galaxy," he laughed, but George could tell there was an uncomfortable tension between them, and it wasgrowing. "Titles aside though, I'd say we’re more than just colleagues- you know I consider you a friend, George."

Uh oh.

George was fairly certain he could count on one hand the number of times the captain had called him by his name and not his title.

"I do," he paused, swallowing the lump in his throat. "So, what did you come here to tell me… as afriend, Artemis?" George sat up a bit straighter, wondering what turn their conversation was about to take.

"I'm worried about you, truthfully," the captain admitted, letting the tension he'd been holding in his own shoulders drop. "Last mission, you got thatawfulcough, then it came back right before we finished, and I could tell how lethargic you became."

George closed his eyes, thinking back on the tail end of his first mission with Dream. In hindsight, he had been experiencing damn near every pregnancy symptom known to species.

"The cough is gone now," George assured him, offering him a tight smile and nod, but the captain didn't seem as reassured as George hoped he'd be.

"And… I can't help but notice the way your physique has changed since our last mission. There's- uh, there's nothing wrong with putting on a little weight! I just wanted to make sure, you know, there wasn't an underlying issue going on." The captain made a pained face, not hiding how uncomfortable the conversation made him feel.

George couldn't exactly blame him for bringing attention to the situation, considering everyone aboard the ship knew how paranoid the captain could get about illnesses spreading amongst the crew. He let out a sigh, figuring it would probably be in his best interest to tell the captain now before he did something ridiculous, like turn around the whole ship to take George to a Ceres hospital.

"I'm notill," George said through an exhale, slumping over to rest his elbows on his knees. "My mate and I are… we're expecting, that's all," he concluded, sitting back up, but pointedly avoidingthe captain's surprised gaze.

"That's-admiral! What wonderful news, congratulations! I had no idea you even… had a mate…" he trailed off, tilting his head at George, his smile growing much more confused. "But what does your mate being pregnant have to do with you gaining-"

"Hi, baby and babies!" Dream chirped, walking into the cabin with his head down, juggling a large paper bag of food in his hands, with a personal bag swung over his shoulder. "Sorry I took so long."

"Dream-"

"Jesus-there we go-" Dream mumbled under his breath, clearly not paying attention to George's warning. After an apparent struggle to take off his shoes without bending over, he set down the food bag and began unloading it- managing to do so without looking up once. "Alrighty, what are all my babies hungry for? We've gotpeanut butter, we've gotice cream, we've got whatever the hellceroot saladis, we've got-"

It was then that George wished it was possible for the ship’s windows to open, so he could jump out. Thank the stars that Dream had already set down the bag of food, because otherwise his jaw wouldn't be the only thing on the floor.

"Human?" the captain asked, clearly just as shocked by Dream's presence as Dream was by his.

“Oh- this uh… this isn’tmycabin- pfft! Wow, wonder why my um… how my badge worked on your… door-"

"I amthe pregnant mate. The human is my mate, and we're-weare expecting," George interrupted, standing from the bed. It made his chest ache to see Dream wringing his hands together the closer he got, struggling to hold back from touching George.

"This is… probably the very last scenario I expected to happen," he mused, his gaze bouncing between Dream and George. "I mean, there'sa lotto unpack here."

"Captain, I understand how-"

"Like, I really thought youhatedthe human! You could barely stand to be in the same room as him last mission. Wait, you've gotta be- what- four, five months along? That'd mean-no- you two got togetherduringthe expedition?"

George didn't fight for his ears to stand at attention that time, letting them flatten completely, while his tail wrapped around his bare leg in a meek attempt to hide himself. This was it for them, they were both going to be fired, Dream was going to be banned from working in space- hell, he might even bearrestedfor impregnating another species, considering that was a hell of a lot more than just initiating physical contact.

"Artemis,please-"

"Do you understand what this means?" he interrupted, letting out a groan. "I'm out fifty dollars because of you two!"

Dream and George froze, confusion moving in alongside their fears.

"You're out… money?" Dream asked.

"I… may have participated in a bet regarding how long it was going to be untilsomethinghappened between the two of you. I was on the side that the admiral here was going to kill you before he'd ever mate with you.Damn it, I just remembered Dorothy put an extra twenty-five dollars on you two finding a way to start a family before the year was up- that means I'm outseventy-fivedollars."

"Wait, does- doeseveryoneknow?" George asked in a panic, effectively snapping the captain out of his inner turmoil.

"Oh, no- no! This was only a bet between Dorothy and I. You know Dorothy- she picks up expeditions working in our kitchen every other mission or so," he explained, waiting for George to catch on.

"Oh, that- that wasnota fair bet, captain," Dream chuckled, shaking his head no. Both George and the captain refocused their attention onto him, but it seemed like Dream was too relieved to compose himself, because he continued to giggle throughout his explanation. "I mean, she saw in real time that Georgestoppedgoing to meals, while I started taking double portions to go. I may have… I may have also told her about us- but not, okay wait-"

"You told the seventy-two year old kitchen server that we'remates?" George cut in, getting awfully close to hitting Dream in the arm if he didn't stop laughing.

"I'm sorry! She's so sweet and reminds me of my grandma!" Dream immediately defended, grabbing George's wrist before he could strike him, using his grasp to pull George against his side.

"No, admiral- this is actuallygreatnews! The bet is surely void if she had insider information," the captain justified, him and Dream pointing at each other and nodding to show their mutual agreement.

"Can you twostop that," George groaned, stepping forward to stand in between them. "Captain, it's great to know that you're in support of us- I guess- now that you didn't lose your bet or whatever- but not everyone on the ship is going to be as open minded. Dorothy isn't working this expedition, so let's keep it between the three of us thatDreamis my mate. The crew will realize sooner or later that I'm pregnant, so there's nothing that can be done about that, but wecankeep Dream safe."

The light laughs fell flat as George continued.

"Your secret is safe with me. Admiral, you've been my co-pilot for the last five years, and human, you've been a wonderful addition to our team. All jokes and bets aside, I really do want the two of you to be happy." The captain offered them each a smile, and miraculously enough, it did soothe George's worries.

Also, maybe Dream's stupid story about his not-stripes held more water than George had originally given it credit. While the mission progressed, as did his pregnancy, he'd never gotten more than a stray 'congrats, admiral' in passing. No questions about the father of his litter, no judgmental glares- he did start getting a lot of unwarranted parenting advice though.

It was ironic, in a way- how Dream, the human who would potentially get arrested for violating the galactic no-touching law, was the one who wanted to get all the baby advice and congratulations, but no one other than the captain knew that he was George's mate. The fact that Dream begged George to relay all the information he received to him at the end of each day at least made the unsolicited advice a bit more tolerable.

That being said, by his seventh month of pregnancy and their third month working the expedition, George was ready todrop.

"My parents wereright, I never want to work again," George groaned, leaning his back against Dream's chest, sighing in relief when Dream held him by the bottom of his bump, gently holding it up to take some of the weight off of George's back. All George wanted was for the bath to finish filling, so he could relax in the hot water, while Dream washed his hair for him.

"Oh, hush. Your parents didn’t even try telling you not to work anymore and you love your job," Dream dismissed with an amused laugh.

"No, I don't. I hate this job, I hate this ship, I hate going to medical every other week to get a loud-sound-whatever-thing, and Ihatehow slow the tub is to fill up," George groaned, leaning his head back onto Dream's shoulder with a whine.

"Only two more weeks left, baby. Two weeks of smooth sailing, then we can go back to Earth, and you can lay in bed with Patches all day." Dream kissed the side of his face, moving his hands around on George's stomach, making the little gremlins use his bladder like a punching bag. Lately, if Dream's hands laid still on his belly, the babies would calm down inside him, but whenever he didthat, they turned right back into demon spawns.

To make matters worse- because they somehowalwaysmanaged to get worse- the ship shook around them like a shockwave had gone through it. The rattling stopped after a few seconds, but immediately the alarms began going off.

"You justhadto say we'd have smooth sailing," George grumbled under his breath, reaching up to check in through his earpiece once he heard his title being called.

"Captain- what happened?" George asked, already heading back into their main living quarters, abandoning all his hopes of ending the night early with a bath and Dream's warm hands shampooing his hair.

"Admiral, you're needed in the command centerimmediately."

George gave Dream an alarmed look over his shoulder, while he rushed to get his uniform back on. Through the alarms, an overhead announcement called all crew members to their respective position as soon as possible.

"Baby-hey," Dream said softly, trying to get George to slow down. "What's going on? Is it anything dangerous? You really shouldn't be-"

"I don't know what's happening, I was just told I'm needed- and it looks like you are too, so stopdotingon me and get dressed," George ordered, pushing himself to borderline tears in his haste, refusing to let Dream help him put his pants on.

He was justsoexhausted- even during missions where hewasn'tpregnant, he always felt ready to expire around that point.

"I'm never going to not dote on you," Dream said softly, pending down to retrieve the shirt George had dropped.

"I know, starlight. I'm just tired," George said apologetically, looking up at Dream with misty eyes and a quivering bottom lip.

"Baby," Dream whispered, cupping George's face in his hands, and brushed their noses together with a feather-soft touch.

"Okay, okay-" George said through an exhale, pulling away once Dream had helped him calm down. Needless to say, George didn't voice any more complaints about Dream doting on him when he helped George get his arms through his sleeves.

"I love you," Dream mumbled against George's lips, kissing him three times before pulling away.

"Be safe," George answered with a squeeze to Dream's hand, watching Dream's fingers slip out of his own, and his tail fall away from Dream's forearm. Dream smiled at him over his shoulder before heading out of the door, looking both ways to ensure no one would see him leaving George's cabin.

George headed to his respective position a minute after Dream left, just to be safe. They'd gone that long without being found out- he wasn't going to slip up and make a mistake two weeks before their expedition ended.

"Admiral, I really didn't want to have to call you in so late, but we simply have no other choice," the captain apologized, looking at George remorsefully, like the fact George being forced to go to the command center at twenty-one hundred hours wasn't going to be the worst part of his night.

"This is the nature of the job, captain." George shrugged, making his way to the main lookout. "What do you need me to do?"

"Fly the ship."

George couldn't help but laugh, feeling at least a bit better about the situation, seeing that the captain was still cracking jokes. That was until George realized he was the only one in the room laughing and the captain was staring at him with the same anxious expression.

"It's been a while, but I need a co-pilot."

"You're joking- youhaveto be joking," George insisted, stepping closer. "Captain, we are flying atwarp oneright now… if- if we move amillimeterout of sync with each other, we could send this entire ship into a death roll," George warned in an urgent whisper.

"Then let’s make sure we don’t let that happen." The captain did his best to smile, but it didn't reach his eyes. "We have no other options- an asteroid breached our forcefield and hit us. It was small- hence the reason it got through the netting- but we need to fully reboot our main systems…"

"And that includes the autopilot-sh*t," George said under his breath, nodding in agreement once he understood the severity of the situation.

"Sixty-five seconds is all it takes for the system to reboot. Basically one minute of manually flying, that's all we have to do." The captain nodded as well, gesturing towards the section of the lookout closest to the glass, where two control columns had been collecting dust.

"None of you know how to fly a ship traveling at warp speed? No? You're gonna make the guy who's seven months pregnant with his first litter do it?Outstanding," George muttered under his breath, rolling out his shoulders and cracking his knuckles.

"Been a few years since we've used these- you still remember what to do?" he asked, raising his brows at George.

"Engage the semiautomatic coilers around our feet, flip the autopilot disengage switch, confirm the disengagement warning, redivert power to the pitch trim, split control to both control columns, grab the yoke, and pull in sync as hard as you can."

George and the captain smiled at each other after repeating the steps in unison. Even if there was another person who had experience flying a ship, it didn't change the fact thatthis- the innate ability to read another person based on years of synchronized practice- was the most crucial aspect.

"We've got this," the captain said quietly, nodding his head at George.

"We've got this," George repeated.

"Everyone! Prepare to make the switch from auto to manual pilot, and for the love ofstars, someone make sure Tobias is ready to start the reboot as soon as we're in position." The captain rolled his eyes.

Maybe it wasn't the best time to ponder the thought, but George couldn't help but wonder if the captain and Tobias were also trying to hide the fact they were mates by playing up their disdain for one another, the same way he and Dream did last mission.

With a final deep breath and nod, they started the process of switching to manual, and George's mental timer counted down.

Sixty-five seconds. Five had already passed, so that just meant he had to do thirty seconds twice- which was really only fifteen seconds four times. George could do that- he could count to fifteen four- now only three- more times, and pretend that the strain on his entire body wasn't a thousand times worse on an exhausted, out-of-shape,pregnantbody.

"Three… two… one… we're back online!"

George let out a heavy breath the second he felt the yoke click back into place, dropping the control from his hands. The command center erupted into applause, while George lowered himself to the floor, reversing the coiler around his feet, and decided to sit on his bottom when he realized standing up was too much effort now that his adrenaline rush had passed.

"That was fun, we should do this more often," the captain chuckled, joining George on the floor to undo the coiler around his own feet.

"Captain,"

"I was being sarcastic!" he called out, shaking his head. George laughed under his breath, groaning with a strenuous heave to get himself off the floor- he'd clearly become way too dependent on Dream helping him up. The cherry on top had to be when Ghost and Ghoul (what George called the babies when they were beingespeciallyrude) were clearly wide awake, and decided to make that George's rib's problem.

"No, captain, the radar just rebooted and… you need to see this."

"I swear to all the stars in the galaxy, if Tobias screwed this-"

George didn't like that- how serious could something be that it stopped the captain in the middle of insulting Tobias? Once he turned around, he could see every anxious face in the room, all of them having one thing in common- everyone's eyes were glued to the main monitor.

"Are those all…" George trailed off, praying harder than ever in his life that he waswrong.

"Those are all asteroids of similar sizes to the one we just made contact with… and we're about two minutes away from entering a twelve minute long span of them. One hit wasn't detrimental… butdozens," the captain trailed off, his eyes falling from the screen to George, who was already shaking his head no as a silent plea.

"Ninety seconds until we enter the asteroid field if we stay on the autopilot's course," one of the operators called out from her station.

"How long does it take to redirect the autopilot?" George asked desperately.

"Twenty to thirty minutes," she responded, shaking her head no.

The room fell silent, all eyes on George. He couldn't do it, if one minute had his body in that much pain, he couldn’t fathom putting it through an additional twelve. Healsocouldn't do it with his babies practicing their hand-to-hand combat skills on his spleen.

"Sixty seconds."

"Someone get Dream up here-stat." George turned around, facing the lookout.

"Dream… the human? But he's thethermomechanicalengineer. Do you mean to ask for-"

"No, I mean Dream. Just- just tell him the admiral says he's needed in the command centerurgently. Now, captain- come on." George stretched his arms out, internally pleading for the babies to calm down as he strapped his feet back into the coiler. He could do this- he had no choicebutto do it…

"Well, humansaresmart… maybe the admiral thinks he can reset the autopilot more quickly?"

"No- he's going to ask him to take over when he arrives. The system is fully rebooted, so we'll switch back to auto, take a few impacts, and then return to manual once the human is in position."

"Really? I thought maybe he had knowledge on forcefield repairs or something."

George tried his best to block out everything in the room aside from the captain. The background conversations, the pain, the ill-timed kick to his bladder- all of it. There was no hope for a rerouted autopilot, or switching places, or forcefield repairs.

"Are you sure about this?" the captain whispered.

"About flying, or about Dream?" George asked back at an equal volume.

"Thirty seconds!"

"Both." The captain gave George another half smile, but it quickly fell. "This isn't just holding steady, you know. We need to actuallysteerin sync to avoid as many asteroids as possible."

"Fifteen seconds!"

"You call out the direction and degree, I follow. Just like we practiced." George nodded, trying to assure the captain and himself.

"We're going to need as close to silence as you can give us- soplease, all non-essential personnel, get the hell out of here!" The captain shouted over his shoulder, effectively clearing about half the room before the timer ran out and George's body was pushed to its furthest limits all over again.

Twelve minutes. Sixty seconds twelve times. Thirty seconds twenty-four times. Fifteen seconds forty-eight times… okay, that method felt much less assuring when applied to the duodecuple version.

"Thirteen degrees North-North-West in three, two, one," the captain counted down, and George did his best to rewire his brain back to his academy days, where he was simply a machine that took orders in, and spit out the according action perfectly.

They were three minutes in, a quarter the way done, and were on their fourth excruciating adjustment.

George must've developed some kind of sixth-sense to know when Dream was near, because even though the background hum of conversation had arguably gone unchanged, George couldfeelDream's presence in the room with him. George unfocused his eyes from the asteroid field surrounding them, confirming his suspicion when he honed in on Dream's reflection in the lookout glass.

"You, uh, requested me, admiral?" Dream cleared his throat, his voice sounding just as distraught as he looked, based on the sparing glances George stole at Dream's reflection.

Truthfully, George didn't have a reason to need Dream there- at least not the kind of reason everyone had whispered about. Even being a human who had quick problem solving skills, George knew the forcefield dilemma was not something Dream could solve. That was a matter of outdated technology- they needed to upgrade to a solid forcefield instead of a netted one.

George knew everyone was waiting for him to answer- to enlighten them all with the reason he so emergently requested their thermomechanical engineer's presence for an asteroid issue. Hell, as far as the majority of the crew knew, George was still the most apprehensive person on the ship when it came to having a human crew member, so they were all probably very curious why he adamantly insisted he didn't need justanyengineer- he neededDream.

"Starlight." George's voice cracked, both from the strain he was under and the tears of relief that welled in his lower lash line.

Funny how the captain demanding silence was less effective at quieting a room than a Felis Catonian- specificallyGeorge- calling a human an obvious term of endearment. After another nauseating kick to his ribs, George gave up holding back the tears that had been threatening to roll down his cheeks, breaking his focus to look at Dream over his shoulder.

"My god-George," Dream said under his breath, causing a few gasps when he sprinted up to the control column. "Baby, w-what do I do? Do you want me to take over, or-or I don't-"

"What Iwantis for you to make your children stop trying to get us allkilled," George groaned, fighting his every instinct to wince in pain.

Despite being something George never thought he'd feel, he wasrelievedthat Dream didn't hesitate to put his hands on him while they were surrounded by a group who knewexactlyhow 'wrong' that action was.

Dream stood directly behind him, close enough to align their bodies. The second his hands surrounded George's stomach, the incessant squirming of the two little ones stopped, and George felt like he could take in his first full breath in four and a half minutes.

"Seven degrees true West in three, two, one-"

George leaned his head back on Dream's shoulder, able to use his body weight more easily to pull the yoke, now that he had a human safety net behind him.

"Captain, we have an upcoming thirty-four second window where the autopilot's course is clear from the asteroids’ paths. Do you want us to re-engage the autopilot?"

"Is that a serious f*cking question-yes!" he yelled over his shoulder.

As soon as the yoke clicked back into place, George went fully slack against Dream's chest. He could hear the captain gasping beside him, while someone swiftly brought them over water to drink and rags to wipe their sweat. Thankfully Dream accepted the items on his behalf, wiping the sweat, tears, and snot from George's face, while whispering words of encouragement for him to sip the water.

"We're not the same eighteen-year-old soldiers we used to be- that's for sure," the captain said through a cough, looking over at Dream and George with his best attempt at an exhausted smile.

"Try doing this bullsh*t with two-ow- literalgremlinsinside of you," George groaned, butting the back of his head against Dream's collarbone when he started to move his hands in slow circles, which excited the babies.

"Sorry, 'm sorry," Dream mumbled, freezing his hands again, while he pressed apologetic kisses to the side of George's face and helped lean him back up into ready position.

The following seven minutes were effectively erased from George's memory. One second he was channeling all his brain power on following the captain’s orders and doing mental math to keep his mind focused on somethingotherthan the pain, and the next he was sitting on the floor in Dream's lap, drenched in sweat, and sobbing-but, there were cheers and celebrations going on in what felt like a very far off background, so at least that meant he didn't send the ship into a perpetual death roll from a single flinch.

"What were- what were the odds?" the captain asked, catching George's attention from something other than Dream's hand slowly stroking his head.

"Huh?" George mumbled, looking over to see the captain laying on his back, his arms spread out to either side, and his feet still locked into his coiler.

"Iknowyou-" he paused, letting out another cough, followed by a laugh. "Twelve minutes is too- is too long to divide up without going crazy, but you and your f*ckingnumbers- so, tell me, what statistics were you doing up there in that terrifying mind of yours, admiral?"

George let out his first laugh, which also quickly turned into him coughing, while Dream tried to pour water down his throat.

"Guilty," George sighed, leaning back against Dream's chest, while an operator brought over a few more bottles of water. "Less than point one percent chance of survival if we went through with no adjustments- estimated the sixth asteroid would perforate the ship's exterior and the whole thing would implode in a millisecond. Painless death, though.” George shrugged, earning a scoff from Dream and the captain.

“As for manual- assuming we took no more than four hits and factoring in the toll taken on our bodies from the prior sixty-five seconds of steering this hunk of zooming garbage- and the fact I'm carrying twoveryunpredictable extraneous variables- I determined it'd be about a four percent chance of survival. Expiring in a death roll, though?" George stopped to whistle, shaking his head no.

The room fell silent, but the captain burst out laughing, which lightened the atmosphere.

“What did I say- you and your f*cking numbers,” he sighed.

"I didn't know you were some kind of mathematician," Dream mumbled, continuing to stroke George's hair out of his face.

"I'm more than just a pretty face, starlight," George mumbled sleepily, too exhausted to care about the eyes and murmurs from everyone else in the room when Dream lifted him off the floor.

"Admiral?"

Dream paused, turning them around so George could face the captain again, who was beginning the strenuous process of standing up off the floor. George was rubbing one of his eyes, with his head resting against Dream's chest, waiting for his instructions.

"Tobias will cover your duties moving forward. You are to remain onstrictbed rest for the remaining duration of the mission, that's an order." The captain furrowed his brow at first, but immediately cracked a smile.

"No objections there, sir," George easily agreed, not sure if it would be possible for him to return to work, even if he wanted to.

"Remind me to tell you about a theory I've been working on," George whispered only to Dream, his prior thoughts of Tobias and the captain being a secret item returning to him. Afterall, having Tobias of all people take over an admiral's duties was awfully suspicious.

"And when I see you again, you better have named one of those kids after me- that's also an order!" The captain laughed, slumping down in a seat that an orderly had brought over to him.

"This is the last time you'll ever see me, Artemis." George shook his head, offering the captain a salute sloppier than the one Sapnap gave him at the beach.

"He doesn't mean that," Dream chuckled, adjusting George in his arms, making him grumble.

"Stop telling people I want to keep working. Let me be a stereotype in peace," George said while butting his head against Dream's neck. His body was completely torn apart and begging for a break, even his tail was too weak to wrap around Dream in any way. Still, George couldn't help but peek open his eyes, gauging the reaction of the crew members that remained.

The response seemed…mixed- but George would rather havesomesupport, than no support.

George fell asleep somewhere on the trip back to their cabin, even briefly woke up once in the bath with Dream, but he didn't truly come to again until Dream was having a hard time putting pants on him.

"How're you gon' dress squirmy babies if you can't even dress me?Ugh, just forget the pants," George grumbled, trying his best to reach out and push Dream's hands away, only to have his muscles fail him.

"Hey- hey, don't move. I've got you," Dream said softly, disregarding George's snippy comment. He crawled in the bed behind George, aligning his chest with George's back. With one of Dream's hands gently petting his head and the other holding the babies steady, George fell into his final sleep for the night.

After three days, George felt strong enough to force himself back to work, but Dreamadamantlyrefused to let him. By the seventh day, Dream left to complete his final duties for the mission, meaning George could sneak off to the command center and try to get some of his own work done. Unsurprisingly, the captain immediately had him escorted back to his cabin, called him an 'obsessive workaholic', and- worst of all- ratted him out to Dream.

Dream was instructed to also take off the remainder of the expedition, seeing that it was clear George needed a babysitter. George's final days aboard the ship were spent eating food in bed and receiving full body massages from Dream, whichrudelyrarely turned into more. True was the same for their three-day flight back to Earth, as well as their first week home. The only reason Dream even let George get out of bed was because George had officially reached the 'mandatory appointments every week' stage of pregnancy.

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚　Earth　˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

"Everything still appears fine- no lasting distress on the fetuses from the strenuous activity- so that's good." She smiled, pulling the transducer away from his stomach. Dream got to work wiping the gel off George's skin and tugging his shirt back into place.

"So, we'll see you next week?" Dream asked while assisting George up into a sitting position. Back on the ship, George thought he was just being lazy by insisting Dream help him up all the time, but he was getting to the point where the assistance was genuinely needed.

"Yes, they'll get you scheduled up front for your next appointment. Before you go, do you want the results now, or should we send them somewhere in particular?" she asked, not looking up from her laptop.

"Where would you suggest we send… the results?" George asked, confused about what was different from this loud-sound appointment than his last. He wasn't even aware she'd run a test, and based on Dream's equally lost expression, George assumed he was also clueless.

"There's a bakery in downtown Orlando a lot of people like, but I suppose I personally prefer a local place not too far from here." She shrugged, glancing up skeptically. As confused as she was by her patients requesting bakery suggestions, Dream and George were just as confused by her answer.

"For the genders?" she supplied, double checking her screen. "This was your thirty week appointment, and I saw that you didn't have a gender ultrasound completed during any of your prior appointments, so I've jotted them down here for you," she paused, holding up a piece of folded paper.

"How- how can you tellgenderbased on a loud-sound?" George asked in complete astonishment, holding out his hand to accept the note.

"Ultra- never mind," Dream chuckled, helping George climb down from the exam table. "Gender on his planet is different than Earth- humans consider his species as all intersex with only slight physical differentiations between males and females," Dream clarified to the doctor, who was clearly waiting to be clued in.

“Oh, is that why- not to pry, it’s really none of my-”

"We didn't know he could knock me up,yeah, yeah- we go through this with every doctor we see," George groaned, rubbing his lower back once he was standing on his full weight. He hardly paid attention to Dream's rushed apologies for George's bluntness before he was back at George's side for him to lean on.

"Who taught you that- 'knocked you up'?" Dream asked with a scoff, brushing George's hair out of his face when the breeze blew it out of place.

"Sapnap." George shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant, but he'd been looking forward to using his new Earth-term around Dream.

"Nick-" Dream grumbled, opening George's door for him. "You mean to tell me this was probably your twentiethultrasound, but you still call it a 'loud-sound'- yet when Nick teaches you something, it suddenly sticks?" Dream scoffed, buckling George in for him.

"Yep, sounds about right." George smiled, leaning forward to bump his nose against Dream's cheek while he was in front of him. Like always, Dream turned his face towards George's right before the third nose bump, catching him not-so-off guard with a kiss.

"So, for the genders, do we want to know now, or do we want to wait?" Dream asked once they were almost home. George pulled the small piece of paper out of his pocket.

"Know now-definitelyknow now," George rushed, eagerly unfolding the note, while Dream chuckled beside him. "Uh, one isbaby Aand the other isbaby B. Which gender is A, and which is B?"

"They're not-" Dream paused to laugh, glancing down at the note. "There, in the corner, they're written in by hand. What does it say?"

"Oh… I knew that," George said a bit defensively, turning around the piece of paper to more easily read the doctor's handwriting. "Baby A is a girl, and Baby B is a boy."

"Iknewit- okay, well, I knew at least one of them was going to be a girl," Dream said proudly, reaching over one hand to cup George's stomach, despite the fact the angle looked rather uncomfortable.

"You wanted to have a girl?" George asked, rubbing Dream's hand up and down a small amount so the babies would wiggle. Even if it meant getting kicked in the ribs, it was worth it to watch the smile grow on Dream's face when he felt the movement.

"I've always wanted a daughter," Dream shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant, but George felt the light squeeze of his hand and saw the corners of his lips tick up.

"What's her name?" George asked, resting his hand over Dream's.

"Well, isn't that something we should come up with together?" Dream asked back with a laugh, taking peeks at George whenever he could.

"No, because the boy is going to beGeorge Henry Davidson IV- non-negotiable, unless you want my father to disown me. So, it only seems fair you get to name our daughter." George smiled, resting his head on the back of his seat.

The sun was bright, even though the air was cold. Dream called itwinter, but George didn't care what the temperature outside was, as long as Dream was always by his side to keep him warm.

"Junie."

"Junie?" George asked back, watching Dream turn towards him with a smile and swapped his hands for a more comfortable reach, now that they were parked in their driveway.

"It was June on Earth when we met and I think it's a cute name." Dream looked bashful, but also like he was waiting for George to confirm the name was suitable for their daughter.

"Junie… I like it." George nodded, testing out the name. "Is that going to be cruel though-Junie and Georgie?" he asked, immediately making a worried face. Thankfully, Dream eased his worries with a laugh and a gentle brush of their noses.

Blue for boys and pink for girls seemed like a very odd concept for humans to push onto their unborn children. Dream's mother had already gone out and purchased a number of clothing items for the babies- separated with little variation. Junie had clothes in pinks and purples, Georgie had them in blues and greens.

Androgynous seemed to be the word of the century, since that was the Earth term Dream decided to use when describing George's upbringing. George didn't think there even needed to be a word for 'everyone wears the same clothes'. Of course, all the people of Ceres had their individual styles, but there was never any type of designation for one gender or the other when purchasing clothes.

George wasn't going to let Earth's strange practices deter him from decorating the twin's nursery as he pleased.

"Wow, you've made some serious, uh…progressin here," Dream said cautiously, shutting the door behind him.

"What are you-oh," George paused, taking a better look around the room.

For lack of better words, it was destroyed.

"I just wanted to see what was in all the boxes, and then I realized the swing wasn't put together, but in order to do that, I had to move the bin of books to the reading corner, and then I found all these littlebooties! So many booties that I didn't know what to-"

"Easy, hey,easy," Dream hushed him, wrapping one arm around George's waist. He used his free hand to pet between George's ears, smoothing down the hair that hereallyneeded to wash. "You're just nesting, it's fine."

"Nesting? I thought you said I'm a cat, not a bird," George said skeptically, leaning away. In his defense, now that his belly was so large, it made the act of hunching over to rest his face on Dream's chest a bit of a strain.

"Not like abird, you idiot," Dream paused to laugh. He walked around so he was behind George, resting his hands on the bottom of his stomach, then pulled up. George nearly went limp in his arms, feeling beyond thankful for the relief from the pressure the babies put on his lower back. Plus, he could rest against Dream without straining his neck when he stood behind him.

"Nesting just means that you're getting everything ready for when the babies come. Usually happens as, like, a final surge of energy before the babies come," Dream explained, making George grumble when he managed to stroke his thumbs over his stomach while holding it up, causing Junie and Georgie to go back to being Ghost and Ghoul.

"Well they're going to come a hell of a lot sooner if you keep doingthat," he groaned, resting his hands on top of Dream's to make them lay still.

"Let's get you bathed before the babies come, yeah?" Dream asked, dropping his chin down to George's shoulder.

"I'm not sure if that's going to be an option," George said through gritted teeth, pushing back against Dream's chest. Similarly to the rest of the morning, the sudden pain disappeared after about forty-five seconds- this time maybe more like fifty-five.

"Baby… was that a contraction?" Dream asked in a quiet voice.

"Uh, did I- did I tell you about all the booties I found?" George asked over his shoulder with a meek smile, watching in real time as Dream's eyes grew beyond what George thought was physically possible.

"Are you inlabor?! You're in labor and you're organizing the nursery?" Dream asked, already guiding George to sit in one of the gliding chairs he assembled the other day, before sprinting across the room to throw things into a bag.

"I’ve only had contractions since… sunrise? But the nursery is notdoneand the babies can't come out until they have a place to live! One of the cribs isn't even built," George whined, rubbing his ribs where one of the babies was kicking him, like they were trying to literally launch their way out of his body.

"They're going to sleep in the bassinets next to our bed for the first three months, and most of these clothes you've been folding won't even fit them formonths," Dream said over his shoulder, continuing to throw as much into a random satchel as he could, now with the addition of his communication pod pinned between his ear and shoulder.

"Well, I for-"

"Mom! George is labor, yeah- he's been having contractions all morning. I didn't tell you sooner because he didn't tellme. No, I know- oh wait, you did?Perfect, okay, thank you- yeah, we'll see you there. We love you, bye," Dream rushed, abandoning the bag he'd started to pack, making his way to the closet instead.

"My mom already made go bags- one for Junie, one for George, and one for y-baby." Dream stopped in his tracks, turning around to see George in near tears. One sniffle was all it took for Dream to abandon his mission and go to George's side instead.

"Everythinghurtsand you're being mean to me," George grumbled, followed by a painful groan when another contraction hit, this one lasting for over a minute, and being nearly impossible to talk through.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry- I didn't mean to be mean to you," Dream hushed as soon as the ringing in George's ears stopped. George was damn near ready to slap that dumbphoneout of Dream's hand when he saw him on it again.

"Put thatstupid-"

"Hi, yes- we need an ambulance right away, my partner is in labor." Dream smiled at George, even though his hands were shaking with nerves. By the time Dream began listing out their address, George was already starting another contraction, and his body was coursing with white-hot pain.

Thankfully, George was barely out of his contraction when the sound of sirens came into earshot.

Earth had amazing creations, like epidurals. On Ceres, all births were 'natural' (Earth term), meaning that medications weren't used to numb the pain of birth.

George had gone through bootcamp, academy, served a year in the Ceres military under his own father- heknewwhat pain was. That being said, there wasn't a single thing in the galaxy (no, not even manually steering a ship flying at warp one for twelve minutes) that compared to the pain of contractions and giving birth.

But all of that would be worth it once George got to see his perfect children, his Junie and Georg-

"What?" George whispered under his breath, accepting one of the babies that a nurse placed into his arms.

"That one is Junie, andthisis-"

"They'reblonde?" George questioned, staring in bewilderment at the blonde curls that grew around his babies' ears- even their tails were a blondish-orange color.

"Oh my god, they are," Dream mumbled, hooking his chin over George's shoulder. He'd sat behind George for the birth, letting him put all his weight on him, similarly to how Dream supported him during their asteroid issue back on their last mission.

Upon hearing Dream's voice, Junie opened her eyes- her eyes that weregreen.

"She has your eyes," George whispered under his breath, turning to the side to look at Dream's profile. "Oh, you big sap," George teased, leaning in closer to kiss away the tear that rolled down Dream's cheek.

"'M sorry," Dream mumbled, wiping his misty eyes. "They're just… perfect."

"Well, they look just like you- so ofcourseyou'd say that," George chuckled, making Dream scoff before letting out a laugh himself.

"You just birthed our children- can't you give me, like, anhourto enjoy the moment before you start making fun of me?" Dream rolled his eyes, standing up from behind George when the nurses took the babies back for their Apgar testing.

"No," George mumbled, using the extra room to lay down, smiling up at Dream.

"I love you," Dream said softly against George's lips, taking a second to rest their foreheads together before standing up to accept Georgie from the nurse, now that he'd finished his test. "Oh-" Dream cut himself off with a laugh.

"What?" George asked skeptically, his brows already knitting together.

"Georgie has green eyes too," Dream said with a proud smile, bouncing in place when he started to fuss.

"You've got to be kidding me- I went through eight and halfmonthsof pregnancy, ninehoursof labor, and all I get areyourcarbon copies?" George asked in disbelief, making a few of the nurses chuckle as well.

"They're beautiful," the nurse placing Junie back in George's arms said softly, offering him a small smile.

"Thank you," George said meekly, still a bit uncomfortable with humans other than Dream touching him, but he found a small amount of comfort in the squeeze she gave to his shoulder. Even with their son in his arms, Dream still looked like he was ready to pounce if George was bothered by the touch- considering the lengths they went to ensure touch would be at an absolute minimum from everyone in the room, aside from Dream.

Once the nurses had cleared and Georgie began fussing in Dream's arms, he swapped babies with George, taking Junie so George could feed their son. Dream swayed from side to side to keep Junie happy, while Georgie nursed until he fell asleep on George's chest. They swapped back and forth just like that for the rest of the day.

It was amazing how quickly the four of them fell into a routine before even leaving the hospital. It was even more amazing how that routine-anyroutine they'd ever had, really- fell apart the minute they got home.

Dream's mother came over often to help, and George's sisters, Celine and Zola, even visited Earth to meet the babies. George hardly remembered any of their visit, since all his time was spent feeding a baby, changing a diaper, or rocking anyonebuthimself to sleep.

Weeks went by and the only thing keeping them somewhat aware of the time and day were the many follow-up appointments. Even so, it was still a shock for George to hear they were leaving the office after having the babies'three monthappointment. For the duration of the trip home, George thought of how it simultaneously felt like he'd just given birth to them yesterday, while also having aged him about thirty years.

"Alright, Ifinallygot- where's June-bug?" Dream asked, pausing his original thought.

"Stop calling our daughter abug, and she's asleep in her bassinet with Patches watching her… Where's Georgie?" George asked back after answering Dream's question.

"Down for a nap in the nursery," Dream said with a budding smile, which George immediately matched. "What are we supposed to do with all thisfreedom?"

"I have a few ideas," George said while already beginning to purr, catching Dream a bit off-guard. "Come here," he instructed, sinking into the couch, his eyes remaining fixed on Dream.

"Been a while since you purred without being pet," Dream mused, sliding his hand up George's waist as he climbed on top of him.

"Been a while since we've had a minute to dothis," George murmured into Dream's neck, kissing and biting at his skin. "It's been three months since the twins were born- that means it's beendoublethe time the doctor said I needed to heal before mating."

"I should-f*ck- I have, um, condoms upstairs," Dream moaned, leaning more heavily into George's touch with every passing second. George's tail defensively wrapped around Dream's thigh at the mention of him leaving- even if it'd only be for a minute or two.

"Why?" George whined, leaning back enough to brush their noses together, hoping Dream would take the hint to scratch behind his ears- which Dream did. As pathetic as it may sound, George was half-convinced he might be able to come from that alone.

"Thing one and thing two are why," Dream chuckled, followed by sucking in a sharp inhale at the feeling of George's beginning to make biscuits on his back. Considering they each typically had a baby in their arms, it didn't leave much time for biscuit-making.

"We need to have more babies anyway- may as well start now, yeah?" George practically begged, going as far as attempting to use his tail to take off Dream's boxers.

"You want to have more kids, like, you want to start tryingnow?" Dream asked, upsetting George when he paused the scratching behind his ears and pulled his nose away.

"Of course I do- it's alarming enough only having two. Plus, I want my own mini-me." George tilted his head to the side, looking at Dream with a bit of alarm. "Do you… do younotwant more offspring?"

"I do! I- I just didn't think you'd want to have more so soon, but, I mean-yeah. Yeah, let's get another baby in you." Dream nodded, his smile glowing.

A flood of relief washed over George after hearing that. Granted, growing up with seven siblings wasn't necessarily what George wanted for their children, but stopping after having two seemed unfathomable- like, what if they didn't like each other? Who would they play with?

"Do you… have nothing on under this?" Dream asked with a soft laugh, slipping his hand beneath the overcoat George borrowed from him. George rolled his hips into the feeling of Dream's palm cupping his ass.

"What can I say? Works every time." George smiled, pulling Dream down into a kiss.

"I've missed you," Dream mumbled, pressing his face to George's stomach, kissing up his chest. "Missed seeing you with a cute bump, too," he tacked on, using his free hand to cup George's stomach. It really was odd seeing how much his one hand could cover now that George's stomach was near its baseline size- he had breastfeeding to thank for that, definitely no push-ups or crunches being done at that point.

"Missed you too, starlight," George answered with a small gasp, letting his legs fall slack when Dream reached between them.

"Shh, I've got you, baby. I know what you like."

Dream knew George's body like no one else- hell, he knew things about George's body that evenGeorgehimself didn't know. More than that, Dream justknewhim- body, mind, and soul. George was pretty sure he'd read a human quote about that once-to be loved is to be known- or something like that.

Dream made him feel known, feelseen. And for that, George was grateful.