Muted

Chapter 36

"I guess your right, he is a grown-ass man and he can always call us.." Dream sighed and nodded, breaking his gaze away from the store and at Sapnap.

"Look!" Sapnap instructed the giraffe.

He waved around a large piece of lettuce in his hand. Finally, a giraffe spotted him and made its way over to him. It leaned forward and look the lettuce from Sapnap's hand. Sapnap laughed as the giraffe leaned closer. Dream couldn't help but laugh as well. Sapnap gave the animal the last of the lettuce then walked back over to Dream, giving him a large accomplished smile. Dream scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Alright. Now can we go get George? I'm pretty sure he's done by now." Dream laughed. Sapnaprolled his eyes and nodded. The two then walked back over to the store and walked inside. George wasn't inside.

"See. I told you he'd be fine. He's probably still changing." Sapnap smiled. Dream furrowed his eyebrows and looked around.

"There's no way he's still changing. It's been like 5 minutes." Dream mumbled.

"He is just taking his time." Sapnap smiled. After a second the same woman from earlier walked over to behind the counter. She gave the two a confused expression.

"Hi?" She smiled.

"Hey." Sapnap smiled back.

"Do you guys need anything else?" She asked, confused.

"No, we're still waiting for our friend." Sapnap shrugged.

She furrowed her eyebrows at him."He left a little bit ago. I thought you guys might have caught up to him and left by now." She informed.

"Wait what?" Dream asked, slight panic in his voice.

"Yeah, he left like maybe 3 minutes ago?" She estimated.

"Relax Dream. He's probably waiting outside." Sapnap shrugged. Dream calmed down a bit as realized Sapnap was probably right. "Thank you!" Sapnap smiled as they walked out of the store. Once they were out they looked around.

"See him?" Sapnap asked.

"No..." Dream mumbled. He was starting to feel panicked again then remembered he could just call George. He smiled and pulled his phone out. "Imma call him." Sapnap nodded and looked up Dream. Dream pressed George's icon and called. After a second Sapnap's pocket started to make noise. Confused, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the culprit of the noise.

George's phone.

"Oh...he gave it to me before he changed...." Sapnap mumbled.

And now Dream was in a full-on panic.

"Seriously!? How the hell are we supposed to find him!?" Dream yelled.

"Dream calm down. He's a grown man he's not a child he can handle himself." Sapnap firmly said. Dream sighed and nodded, running his hand through his hair. "Let's keep looking. He couldn't have gone far." Sapnap informed. Dream nodded and the two set off in an attempt to find George. Little did they know George was outside of the zoo waiting.

George sighed, continuing to sit and wait for his friends. When finally it dawns on him. He chuckles to himself then stands up and walks over to a booth.

"Hi! How can I help you?" An older woman smiled.

"Hi, um so I'm missing my friends. They are inside the zoo. Do you think I can go back in and find them?" George nervously asked. The woman gave him a bit of comforting energy so he was a little less scared of her judging his voice too much like someone his age would do. The woman squinted her eyes at him and gave him a confused face then smiled.

"I can tell you're telling the truth." She chuckled. "Although for safety reasons I have to send a security guard with you." She explained. George smiled and nodded. "Got it, honey." She sweetly giggled. The woman reached over her little desk and grabbed a walkie-talkie. "Aaron, can you come to the front please?" She asked into the walkie-talkie. Not even two seconds later she got a reply.

"On my way!" A younger man's voice boomed into the walkie-talkie. The woman smiled and shook her head, setting the walkie-talkie down.

"You know, children do get lost in the zoo." She giggled. George gave her a confused face and she stood up. She smiled and turned and opened a drawer. She searched it for a moment then took something out and turned to George, handing it to him. George smiled down at the lolly pop that was handed to him. He giggled as he unwrapped it and popped it into his mouth.

Watermelon.

The woman laughed and turned around again, walking out of sight. George heard a few squeaks but it wasn't concerning to him. After a second the woman walked back into sight, a smile beaming on her face. She held her hand out, signaling for George to give her his arm. He gave her a confused look but complied. She smiled and tied a string, with a blue balloon attached to it, onto George's wrist. George giggled as he watched her tie it.

"There." She smiled, pulling away.

"Thank you." He laughed. She smiled and nodded. After a second a man walked up to them. He was tall, probably about Dream's height, and dressed in dark clothing with the word Securityplastered on his chest and back. He walked up to them with a serious look but he softened up as he saw George. From his point of view, a grown man was standing in front of him with a red lolly pop in his mouth and a light blue balloon attached to his wrist.

"You know you're only supposed to do this to little kids right, Mary?" He laughed. The woman laughed and shrugged.

"Some people need a flashback to their childhood." She sweetly smiled. A small warm smile grew on George's face.

"Right." The man smiled. "Well, what did you need me for?" He asked.

"Well this young man," she smiled pointing to George. "Is missing his friends. Can you walk him around to find them?" She smiled. The man smiled and looked over at George.

"Sure thing." He laughed. "I'm Aaron." He smiled, holding his hand out for a handshake. Reluctantly, George shook his hand.

"George." He awkwardly mumbled, slipping the lolly pop back into his mouth immediately. Aaron smiled and nodded.

"Let's go." Aaron smiled. George nodded and awkwardly followed him into the zoo.

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