Almost But Not Quite Human

Behind The Mask (P2)

When the night-time crawled in, bringing a fiercer chill with it, Sapnap began to worry slightly as Dream hadn't come back yet.

Techno had said he saw Dream go toward the ladder, but not of he'd actually climbed up or not.

What if Halo had kept on his promise? Others might say Sapnap was jumping to conclusions, but the issue of Halo was something common in Sapnap's mind. He was utterly conflicted.

But Dream was still a grown adult, so there wasn't any reason he had to be back. He'd just never stayed out this late without saying anything before - it was risky out there after dark. Evidently, everyone who was still awake was still very worried when midnight rolled around without any sign of the masked man. George decided to go out to look for Dream himself.

Wearing the jumper he'd never returned to Sapnap all that time ago, George braced himself for the cold and went outside, torch in hand. Even with the light, the inky-blackness of the night was suffocating; choking out the torch's guiding beam. It seemed like a miracle when about ten minutes into his search, George saw green fabric illuminated by the light.

He aimed the beam up slightly and saw Dream there, covering his face.

"George could you, um, move that away from my face please?"

"Oh sorry-!" Geroge pointed the torch at the floor and let the splash of light highlight his friend. "Dream what the heck are you doing out here anyway, you had everyone so worried!"

"It's not that late is it? I only wanted to go for a walk..."

"Dream! It's been hours."

"Oh"

"What's up. Really."

"Just, lost track of time I guess." In the patch of light, Dream shuffled slightly.
George knew Dream was lying, so he waited for him to continue.

"What? I mean it." Dream protested

Still waiting.

"Oh alright fine," the mutated took a deep breath, "Techno, um. He broke my mask today, while we were sparring- ac-accidentally of course!"

George had the feeling he was missing something, "So you ran off into the woods for a night time walkabout?"

"No. Uh, it's hard to explain. He saw my face, and- it um. Y'know what? I'll just show you... Could you click off the light for a second?"

Despite his confusion and hesitance, George had trust in this masked man who'd saved his life twice over. He deserved it. The beam of light was engulfed by the night.

George waited a moment and noting happened,"I don't get it, what am I supposed to be seeing?"

"Just hang on a sec m'kay." Not a minute later, Dream blinked open his eyes. George didn't realise he'd had them closed this whole time, but now... The surrounding area was awash with a soft green glow, and George saw Dream's face properly for the first time.

It looked as though someone had hacked at it with a pocket knife - scars ran from his eyes to every corner of his face, and the eyes themselves held no white or black: only green. Dream squeezed his them shut again, as if exposing his face to another physically pained him. The image was still seared into George's mind.

He walked over to Dream, and carefully cupped a hand to the side of his face. He felt something wet- tears- on his friend's cheek. "They're beautiful."

"What?"

"The scars, and you're eyes." George removed his hand from Dream's face, "I think they're stunning."

"Wait- really?"

"Yes really." And maybe George did believe what he was saying. The intricate patterns were somewhat fascinating, and the green glow held a mysterious quality. George decided he wasn't lying.

"I was so scared I looked like a freak-"

"First your mutation, now this? I think we have to work on you're self esteem Dream," George teased. Luckily, Dream laughed.

"But hey, if it makes you feel any better, my eyes are really weird too."

"Because you're shortsighted? Come on George that's-"

"Because I'm colourblind, actually. And because they look like this:"

George clicked the touch back on, shining it between him and Dream. He pushed his goggles back up, onto his head, and blinked with his dull, grey eyes. Even the pupils were lifeless shades devoid of the usual intensity of black.

"I was supposed to be born blind, but I-"
George froze.

"George? You okay??"

The boy in question didn't respond, but the flashlight fell out of his grasp and bounced once, twice. He rose a hand to his mouth and through his palm muttered, "I can see..."

"What?"

Louder now, George repeated, "I can see, as clear as day..." George wanted to explode with joy, but that was physically impossible so his body settled for expelling all that excess emotion through tears.

"George... I think you might be mutated."

George looked up at Dream, "But I never got sick, or had any symptoms..." The boy's gaze drifted in wonder of his surroundings, the world bathed in a new light. We're his goggle really hiding this from him? For how long?

"It-It's rare but not impossible."

"What is?"

"Very few people can be asymptomatic- they don't show symptoms to the virus."

"But if I caught it, if it gave me my sight back... Wouldn't Sapnap have caught it too?"

Dream knelt to pick up the torch, "I don't know, delayed response? Asymptomatic too?"

George unconsciously stepped closer to Dream in the cold. Frozen fingers had began to peel away at his warmth, leaving him shivering, "Maybe we should go inside first."

Dream brought his arms to himself in the close proximity, and was glad for the darkness, "Yeah, it's getting super cold."

"What are you gonna do about your face? I mean- you wanted to hide it for so long..."

"Maybe it's time I stopped hiding," He handed the flashlight back to George, "But I am going to need something to cover my eyes."

"If that's the case, I reckon I'll do the same." George left the goggles pushed back onto his forehead.

As winter followed in their wake, Dream and George made their way back to the tree house, confident things were going to go a-okay.

How silly.
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One day stretch into two (maybe three) chapters? Boy, am I milking this as much as they did with The Hobbit or what? Any LOTR fans out here?

Sincerely, one too few squares of kitchen roll