Otherside

Chapter 4: Fresh start

A thin cotton blanket draped over George as he slept on the firm mattress. Despite not being sure where he was, he felt comfortable, and when he felt himself waking up, he tried to resist it. George opened his eyes slowly and saw himself lying in a new room. It was small, with two other empty beds similar to his. It had a  few cabinets and a small sink. George didn't even know they could have a sink on a ship like this, and he suspected that the boat might be nicer than he was expecting. He suspected it was pretty new to have warm running water readily available.

    George sat up in his bed as someone walked into the room. "Ah! George, you're awake!" George recognized his voice; Bad was it? Yes Bad. "Uhm hello, where am I, and what happened to me?" George asked, feeling a little lost, looking around the stark white room for clues. "Well," Bad began, "You did refuse to eat or drink for almost three straight days, so that'll do something to someone's health." he chuckled nervously. "You're lucky Dream wouldn't leave you alone about eating; otherwise, you might be a goner by now!" Bad was such a cheerful person, even when talking about the possibility of George's death.

    "Well thanks, Bad, It's nice to meet you," George spoke, unsure if he trusted this man yet. But, he took out his hand, and Bad shook it eagerly. "So, does this mean I have to go back to my old room?" George asked, dreading the damp air that would soon await him. Before Bad could respond, the door opened, and Dream walked in. George rolled his eyes. Great, now he was definitely going back. George had hoped bad could give him a room off to the side quietly, but he wasn't that lucky. "Nah there's no need to send him back to that dusty ass room." Dream answered for Bad "Really?" he asked, a hint of hope behind his voice. George couldn't believe his ears. Was this guy not as bad as he thought?

    "Yea, I'll get Quackity to keep an eye on him." He said, turning to Bad. "I don't want to have him stealing anything or getting in our way." George groaned. Of course, Dream wouldn't do this to help George; it was only to keep an eye on him. He was so close to some sort of freedom, and now some stranger will have eyes on him 24-7. Dream must've seen George's disappointment because he snapped his head to face him. "What? Wanna go back to your old room?" Dream asked, challenging George. "No..." George responded, looking down sheepishly. Dream paused for a moment, his eyes raking George's body and his arms crossed in front of him. "Bad, could I speak to George in private for a second?" George felt his heart drop into his stomach.

    "Ok! George, remember to get plenty of rest tonight and don't pull a stunt like that again. Come back in a day or two for new bandages." He tried to sound serious but hearing his cheerful voice try to be stern made the corner of his lips pull into a smile. "Yes Sir" George responded as Bad walked out of the room and closed the door. Dream and George went quiet. George fidgeted with the bandages on his wrists that he got from the handcuffs being on too tight for three days, he winced at the pain. He felt Dreams' eyes drilling into him, and George's ears turned red at the tips. Dream said he wanted to talk; why wasn't he saying anything? He's literally just staring, and the silence in the room was becoming too awkward to not point out.
   
    Why does he feel entitled to stare so obviously at George? And why did George feel like he wasn't allowed to speak first? There seemed to be an understood power dynamic between the two. Dream set the rules, George attempted to deny him, George failed. "It's rude to stare, you know?" George said, still looking down. Dream cleared his throat tensely and looked away. "I can't figure you out, Prince George." George looked up at him and felt like Dream's gaze was piercing through his skin, and he could see the gears turning in Dream's head.

     "Why do you keep calling me that?" Dream seemed to snap out of a trance. "Calling you what?" "Prince George," George responded. "Everyone else on this ship just calls me George." "Do you not want me to?" Dream asked. Raising an eyebrow. George was silent, he wanted to have an answer but honestly couldn't think of one. Dream shook his head. "See that's the thing about you, the thing that confuses me. When we found you, you were weaning silk and had loads of gold and silver jewelry with the fancy, expensive clothes in your bags. You're so painfully royal from your blunt tones to how you carry yourself and straighten your shoulders even when you're tied to a pole on the floor. Yet-" Dream paused, collecting his thoughts. "You refuse to be associated with royalty or even your brother for that matter." Dream was flabbergasted. "What is your deal, Prince George?"

    George took in all of what he said. "You went through my clothes?" Dream let out a loud wheeze and laughed so loud the whole ship must've heard. The laugh was infectious and George felt a small giggle bubble out of him. "That whole speech. All of that and all you got from it was that I went through your clothes?" Dream wiped a tear he got from laughing too hard from his eye. "I don't know! What was I supposed to say!" George asked, throwing his hands up in the air, exasperated, trying hard not to laugh. "Just tell me where you stand George. Who are you?" Seemingly such a simple question, but George still couldn't find an answer. Who was he? George was homeless, presumed dead, left for nothing on some random pirate ship in the middle of the ocean. George didn't even realize what he was saying before he said it. He looked Dream dead in the eyes. "I have no fucking clue."

    Dream shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. "What about your brother?" Dream asked, feeling even more lost than ever. "What about him?" "I mean..." Dream paused. "What do you think about him?" George shrugged his shoulders. "He's a selfish bastard who's been on a mad power trip for years, and has to respect for anyone." George made a straight face and looked unphased, "Not much else to think about him. Dream squinted at him, now intrigued. "I didn't think someone as stuck up as you would hate someone with that much power." Dream replied.

    Understandably, George took offense to this. He was not stuck up, Dream was generalizing, and it was getting on George's nerves. "I'm not a stuck up you ass, now can you stop analyzing me and just take me to my room. Dream rolled his eyes. "You're such a crybaby George." George didn't bother responding. He didn't feel like going back and forth with Mr. "tell me about your relationship with your family."  So he followed Dream quietly out of the infirmary and down to his room.

    George was right; the ship was giant. Dream led him through the massive place for five minutes before they turned into a hallway with about 15 rooms on the sides. George assumed this was the crew quarters. Which was, admittedly,  a big upgrade from his previous room. They walked down to the very end of the hall and Dream stepped in front of George and opened the door and turned on the light. George saw a full-size bed with white sheets and a blue comforter, a small dresser, a mirror, a bedside table, and a small bathroom off to the side. George looked around. "Pretty nice for a pirate ship." Dream shrugged. "We steal for a living, might as well steal nice things." George hummed in response. "Quackity is the room next to yours, he'll be watching you." Dream didn't say anything else and he left, shutting the door behind him.
    
    George heard the floorboards creak and the door on the room that was next to him being opened, he tried to listen in. "What's up, man?" He heard a distant voice then murmurs. "Why me-" more mumbles. "Have to babysit-" the voices were hard to make out. George pressed his ear up to the wall but couldn't hear anything else. The door next door opened and slammed shut. George quickly tried not to look suspicious and pretended to inspect his new room. His door swung open, and a guy with a beanie and annoyed expression stood in his doorframe. "Hey, I'm Quackity, I'm supposed to make sure you don't fling yourself off the ship," He said dryly, seemingly sizing George up. He couldn't tell if he was being serious or not.

    "Yeah sorry about that, I'm George," He responded awkwardly. "Well duh I know your name; that's all the whole ship has been talking about lately. Everyone has been dying to see what your deal is; Wilburs not going to believe this..." Quackity laughed to himself. "Yea I've noticed you're a curious bunch, aren't you?" George asked rhetorically, thinking back to his conversation with Dream. "I guess so, but hey, we have nothing else to do but snoop into people's business, seeing we are in the middle of the ocean," Quackity teased, nudging George with his arm. George laughed along with him. "Ya know George, I think you and me are gonna be good friends," Quackity said, breaking into a grin. "You know what" George smiled back. "I think so too."

1638 words :)