Mark My Words || DNF Soulmate AU

Chapter 52

"Everything looks exactly the same," George remarks as he steps over the threshold and into the house, "You have this massive mansion and literally only use one single room."

It's cloudy outside, but that doesn't prevent the single ray of light illuminating a strip of floating dust drifting through the air like jellyfish in an aquarium. The house smells and looks like how George remembers it, triggering a wave of nostalgia that isn't necessarily unpleasant.

"The rest is the Patches play area," Dream agrees with George as he sets the suitcase down by the staircase and walks over to a couch to take off his jacket, "And your domain too now."

"Domain? I'm not a wolf," George laughs, though secretly pleased by the thought of Dream's house now also being his house, "I don't mark my territory with piss."

Dream turns around to stare George dead in the eyes, "I do."

A little spooked, George scrunches his nose and ventures further into the house, "You're gross."

Dream smiles to himself and shrugs in indifference, reaching behind him to place his sunglasses somewhere on a counter.

George's initial statement stands true for just about everything. The kitchen looks exactly the same, the living room like the day he left it, and George can just about imagine his bedroom down to the finest detail from his past memory. It's like the whole place had been paused in time waiting for George to be back, not a single piece of furniture disturbed until then.

He treks through the halls, checking on the rooms and refreshing his mental map.

It turns out to be quite unnecessary because the second he steps into the rooms, everything comes back like a memory he'd kept in pristine condition for this very moment. Wandering the house feels natural.

But wait, what's this in the kitchen?

"Dream, did you have these the last time I was here?" George walks over to the object on the kitchen counter and scrutinizes it from the side, eventually picking it up to feel the texture.

"What?" Dream walks over after finally placing all his belongings in the right places, "Oh! Those. No, I got them when I went shopping yesterday."

Being turned over in George's hand is a white mug, curved handle attached to the side of a smooth, ceramic surface. It's nothing out of the ordinary, save for a simplistic design on the side. The small silhouette of a cat looks out into the distance near the base of the handle, its whiskers protruding from its shadow and curving downward.

It's cute, and not something George would expect Dream to buy at all.

"Wait, did you say you went shopping yesterday?" George realizes all of a sudden, "You went outside?"

Proud, Dream nods as he leans against the counter opposite George and crosses his arms, "I realized you might need some supplies and stuff and that I should stock up on household items before you arrived, so I made a quick trip."

Holding up his mug incredulously like an incriminating piece of evidence, George asks, "You bought this mug?"

"Listen, you were literally drinking out of Mr. Beast cups," Dream explains as his fingers drum against the cabinet behind him, "The least I could do was to get you a newer, improved hydration method."

"This is mine?" George is taken aback, and he looks at the mug with renewed enthusiasm, "I didn't know you had an eye for these things."

Dream quirks an eyebrow and says, "How can that be? Graphic design is my passion."

George rolls his eyes but feels the corners of his lips turn up, "Shut up, you're dumb. Your whole brand is literally a blob against a piss background."