Trouvaille [Dreamnotfound/Gream]

10. Trouvaille

It was a sunny Sunday morning, and George was in the park with Clay and Denver. The park was crowded with more people, children with their families and a lot of dogs. George was looking at all the happy faces, making him smile a bit.

"You know, someday I'd like to have a family like that," spoke George softly, not taking his eyes off of them. Clay looked in his direction to see what he was looking at. 

"Yeah? I wouldn't mind having a family," Clay answered, gazing at George. He noticed that Clay was staring at him and turned around,  smiling flusteredly. "What?" 

Clay's eyes lingered on George for a second or two before looking away at the families. "Nothing," he grinned, making George shake his head in amusement, smiling widely. George touched his own face, "What? Is there something on my face?" he inquired as Clay looked back at him.

"Yeah," Clay commented, squishing George's face gently, making him squeal in protest.  Clay kept a straight face, his eyebrows arching, "Eyes. And a nose. And a mouth." 

George gasped, causing Clay to break character and laugh as George pushed Clay's hands away from his face, pouting jokingly. "You're such an idiot," George groaned, laughing as well. Clay grinned widely, pushing his blonde hair back. 

"Yeah, but I'm your idiot," Clay added nonchalantly, beckoning Denver to come back. The golden retriever ran to them, wagging his tail and sitting down next to George, demanding for pets. George reached down and scratched behind his ears, humming softly. 

Denver got up and barked, pulling on his leash. Clay huffed tiredly, earning a laugh from George as the three of them walked some more. As they walked, Denver couldn't help but notice how happy Clay was. He stuck his tongue out, panting happily. 

The rest of Sunday was a blur. George spent it entirely with Clay. They decided it would be fun to have a pet play date, so while George hung out with Clay, Cat was forced to socialise with Patches and Denver. He would spend most of his time with George, not wanting anything to do with the two other animals.

After a few hours George decided to leave, giving Denver and Patches a good pet and turning to Clay with a tiny smile on his face. He stretched out his arms slightly, giving Clay a tender hug, laced with affection and warmth. Clay practically melted in the hug, feeling an involuntary smile tugging on his lips. 

"I'll call you tomorrow?" George asked, his voice muffled slightly. Clay nodded, smiling brightly when he pulled away, ending the hug. George gave him one last grin before picking up Cat and leaving. 

Clay stood in front of the door for a while, a smile still on his face, before grabbing his phone and sitting down on the couch and petting his pets contently. He noticed a notification show up on his phone. He opened it curiously. 

George was ecstatic. He was setting up his phone on the table to make sure it was facing him. Ever since he figured out that Clay made videos for a living, George was completely blown away. That was so cool! Maybe he could make videos with him. George snorted at the thought of the two of them creating videos together. That was silly. 

He got the amazing idea of creating a video for Clay since they were nearing their one month of knowing each other anniversary. Yes, it was a bit sappy but George decided it was going to be a good idea to make it. He inhaled slowly and hit the record button.

"Hi Clay," George waved at the camera, a small smile forming on his face. He awkwardly shifted in his seat, thinking of what to say next, "We've been friends for almost one month now! Well - one month when you see this, but at the time of this recording we still have a few days to go." 

George picked up Cat, who was watching him, giving him a tiny kiss and relaxing a bit. "I wanted to say, happy one month anniversary! You're such an amazing friend and I'm so lucky that I met you," he felt his cheeks heat up a bit, but decided to ignore the fact that he was slowly turning into a cherry, "I wanted to share my favourite memories with you!" 

He picked up the stack of papers behind the phone on the desk and shuffled them quickly before putting them down, picking one paper up and holding it to himself, "I'm no artist, but I attempted to recreate those memories on paper," George held up the first paper with a poorly drawn Clay and George in the park, accompanied by Winston and Denver. Clay seemed to be laughing at something George said, making George grin widely at him, "This is when we first met at the park. If it wasn't for Winston, I would have probably never met you." 

George set down the paper and picked up the second one, this one was of Clay and George sitting on the park bench, talking and laughing together. The dogs were playing in the distance, "This was the time we talked about cats for about an half hour," George looks at the drawing proudly, pointing at a bush where a tiny Patches was drawn, "I also added Patches because I know we tried to find her for a long time after that." 

 George picked up the next paper. It was George and Clay facetiming, both beaming. The next paper was the two of them eating lunch together. The one after that was a sleepy George sleeping next to an equally tired Clay, radiating tranquility. The last one was of them that day, laughing and giggling and hugging. He set down the last drawing and smiled shyly at the phone. 

"If you're wondering why I drew almost every time we've been together, it's because every moment I spend with you is my favourite," George breathed out, his breath hitching slightly. His face was burning at this point, "You're my trouvaille. I can't wait to create more memories with you." 

He cringed slightly at the way he made it sound like they were dating. Obviously Clay was straight. George turned off the recording and rewatched it, furrowing his eyebrows as he watched himself progressively get redder on camera. He exhaled slowly but didn't dare delete the video. He put down his phone, took the papers and flopped onto his bed, smiling softly while wondering what Clay was up to.

 Clay was in his room, on his bed, face under his pillow. Denver was lying down beside him, his snout touching Clay's elbow. He sensed something was wrong. The canine laid there, trying to comfort the distressed boy. 

As the dog watched Clay, he couldn't help but wonder where the other man who kept visiting them was. It was obvious that he made Clay's day much more happier. Denver pressed his face to Clay's in hopes to comfort him at least a little bit.