play pretend [georgebur]

iii.

- temptation took the bait.

'You came.'

Here they are again, for the second time in the same pub but this time the seat next to Will is taken.

Will waved for a beer as George sat himself down and almost immediately got busy sighing at notifications on his phone screen. He thanked Will for the glass, chugging down half the glass before placing his phone down, screen facing down.

'It is that Dream guy?' George raised a brow in confirmation a playful smirk flitting over his features.

'You picked up pretty quick huh?'

'Twitter.' This time, George didn't get it.

'I saw a fan recording the last time we were here, Dream looked, well-' Will paused to drag his glass to his lips feeling the cold of the glass ghost his lips. '-jealous.'

George hummed, exchanging the same nervous atmosphere.

'Him and Karl, they're dating right?'

'What?! God's no! Karl's with Sap and Quackity, Dream and I are single,' perhaps it was the alcohol but Will dismissed it. George didn't look like the type that'll spill secrets while drunk.

'So what's the deal?' George raised another eyebrow.

'Between you and that blondie, what's the deal- clearly he likes you-'

'He's a wuss.'

Will chuckled genuinely, here he thought it was something that ran a little deeper but hey, he'd be a hypocrite if he said he didn't get it.

'We've been in this back and forth game, beating around the bush and stuff,' George's voice was low but Will didn't fail to pick up on the tint of regret, it mixed with slurred speech as if excusing itself in the liquor.

Will tried to find a distraction for a moment and brushed a finger over his ear, tucking away stray strands of hair.

'You've got long hair, is that a personal thing?'

George smiled, thankful for the change in subject, '-oh no. I just never got the time.'

Will wanted to say something but a notification screamed through both Brit's phones.

'Wait sorry,' Will began.

'No it's fine,' George finished, both now facing their glasses as answered their calls.

The conversation was mushed between hushed words speaking through microphones and easily enough both men were slowly raising their voices- secrecy dissipating in emotional outrage.

'Dream I'm not something you own!'

'She cheated on me! I don't care!'

Emotions, human emotions. Turmoil twisted George's gut in a pit of want and hate- drawing his eyebrows in as he washed down acid with alcohol.

Betrayal, human nature. Regret and ache seeped into Will's voice and muscle, fighting his sanity for calm as he curled his fists- drawing them down hard on the bar table.

'Figure out what you want, I'm done.'

'I'm not someone's toy anymore, we're done.'

Both Brits ended their calls, George let the phone slip past his fingers and land on the table, Will simply shoved it into his back pocket as he pressed his forehead into his forearms.

George broke the ice first.

'So, recently broke up?'

Will chuckled, '-trouble in paradise?'

'Please,' George rolled his eyes, Will didn't have to see it, he heard it in his voice, '-he hasn't even asked me out.'

'You should do something about that ya'know, make him want to make a move,' Will sighed, sitting up as the bartender graciously refilled his cup. He ran fingers through his mop of hair, shaking it messily over his forehead as he faced George behind the wavy vision.

'And what about you?' George replied resting his chin on the back of his hand, Will for a moment took the time to eye his fingers, for a male, his hands were prettily dainty.

'Found anything to help get your mind off her?'

'I've got music and beer,' Will whispered back, indulging in the tension George's half-lidded eyes easily gave away, '-I'm managing.'

For a moment the two sit in silence, George eyeing the bobbing of Will's adam apple as he ordered vodka, Will indulged him, letting him watch him tilt his head back further than needed- showing off a jawline with bedroom eyes.

'Well, then why don't we try something?'

'What are you suggesting babe?'

'Us.' Will failed to see the stars swirling in George's eyes, they looked almost like ghosts, swirling in a void of ultimate doom, far down deeper into umber-dark eyes.

'We could try, I mean- you asked me to do something to get Dream to move right?' Will nodded.

'I'm sure it'll work fastest if someone comes in to threaten his status.'

'So let me get this straight,' Will held up a hand in pause, '-you're asking me to fake dating you?'

Liquor never really tasted like much to Will. It tasted of chemicals- the tangible idea of taste a foreign idea to him. 

To George, color wasn't something he had much thought for sight being restricted to the hues he was born with, unable to see the living lights that others seem to fuss over.

Yet suddenly, there's a tangy flavor along Will's tongue that slurred his words, and George for once felt a glint in the shade of saturated color that painted the other mans' cheek a color he was taught as red.

'Yes. I am.'

The familiar burn of glorified liquid rushed through down his throat and his fingers circle the rim of the now-empty shot glass. Settling on fire in his gut, he wasn't sure if it was put-out, or simply now starting to crackle more.

'Fine, but I have a condition,' Will couldn't help but smirk. Surely, Will thought, surely I can push this.

'Fair. Name your price.' Whiskey, however, has a certain smell. A smell that in the musician's mind painted the image of temptation in tango with danger.

' Friends with benefits. You and me. It's a win-win. You piss off your man, I release some,' Will paused at the aftertaste, '-tension.'

He was met with dark eyes that under golden sunset looked like deeply saturation whiskey- olden to perfection.

'Fine.'

Whiskey, however, has a certain smell- and Will would describe it as sunset's next to a man named George.

This very evening, 'temptation' would have agreed to dance with 'danger'.