Project K-9

Chapter 32

"Fundy! 5up!" Dream yelled as he tried to help them.

"What's happening?" George asked as he knelt beside 5up's tensed body.

"This is the result of the experiments that they've been through..." Fruitberries declared. "It's a wonder that they survived this long...." he added as he knelt down beside the two phantoms, and pulled out two vials and a syringe from his pocket.

"Please hold them..." Fruit asked Dream and George who obeyed.

Fruit then injected the liquid into the phantoms' bloodstream, and they gradually calmed down and fell asleep.

"It's a good thing that we still had some serum left over, all we got now are pills..." Fruit commented, and George looked at him for an explanation.

"When the first Underdogs started showing symptoms, we decided to find a way to cure them. Unfortunately, we never succeeded, but we managed to concoct something that helps them live a bit longer, and deal with the symptoms a bit." Fruitberries said.

"Can we take them to the infirmary?" Dream asked and Fruitberries nodded.

The chief called for a few nurses to carry the phantoms and monitor them closely. After making sure that Fundy and 5up were in good hands, Dream and George left the agency.

"Are you okay Dream? You've been awfully quiet..." George asked his partner and Dream flashed him a small smile.

"Yeah, just trying to process everything. I need to mentally prepare myself as well...Fundy and 5up may not live much longer..." he said, his voice growing distant at the last line.

"Don't say that, they'll pull through," George stated.

"With no cure I doubt it..." Dream commented.

"Okay no sad thoughts, since we got a few days off, let's go do something fun!" George suggested.

"Fun?"

"Yes Dream, fun! Now tell me, what do you want to do?"

"I don't know..."

"Come on, there must be something that you always wanted to try?" George probed.

"Well..."

~0~0~0~

"Come on George!" Dream yelled as he raced up the hill while George struggled to keep up.

"I need to exercise more..." George stated when he reached the top and bent over to catch his breath.

Dream wanted to go exploring, so George suggested camping. They spent the night packing and left just as the sun was rising. They managed to reach the campsite before lunch and decided to look for a great place to have a picnic. Dream instantly thought of doing it on top of a rather large hill.

"George look at this view!" Dream said excitedly, and the brunette smiled. This was the first time that he has seen Dream this happy.

"Well it was well worth that tiring climb," George commented as he surveyed their surroundings.

He then started setting up their lunch under the shade of a tree.

"Come on Dream, you can enjoy the view from here," George called and the k-9 quickly headed over.

The pair dug into their food and started talking about each other. George shared a bit about his life as a kid and confessed about Fruitberries telling him about the blonde's past. Dream said that he didn't mind, and even gave a few more experiences that he had with Illumina.

"So you've never really been out before, not even with Illumina?" George asked.

"Nope," Dream answered. "The agency was pretty busy back then since project K-9 was still fairly new. Now there are many K-9s and masters, so we can afford to take breaks after closing a case."

"If I would have known that, then I would have booked us longer than 3 days..." George commented.

"It's fine George, and thanks for doing this, I really need this break."

"You're welcome Dream," George replied with a smile, and Dream felt his heart speed up.

He placed his hand over his chest, curious as to why he was feeling this way again.

"Hey, you okay?" George asked as he moved a bit closer to the blonde, looking a bit concerned.

When their eyes met, they both tensed up. The K-9's green eyes wandered to the brunette's lips, for reasons that he did not know.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." Dream whispered out.

George cleared his throat and turned away.

What the hell was that? They both wondered at the same time.

~0~0~0~

George shifted around the tent as he laid out their sleeping bags. Once everything was set up, he exited the tent and saw Dream trying to start a fire so they could cook dinner.

George bit his lip, they hardly shared any conversation since their little moment during the picnic, and all this tension was not sitting well with George.

"There are a few caves that we could explore tomorrow, you up for it?" he asked, as a rather pathetic attempt to start a conversation.

It apparently worked since the blonde instantly turned to him, his green eyes sparkling with excitement.

George chuckled a bit, "I'll take that as a yes," he stated, before heading over to help Dream with dinner.

Though there was a bit of distance between them, they still found themselves enjoying each other's company.

After cleaning up and putting out the fire, they headed to their tent to rest for the night. George fell asleep instantly, but Dream couldn't seem to do the same.

He sighed and rolled over to his side, only to be met with George's peaceful sleeping face. A small smile tugged on his lips as he watched his master lightly snoring away.

A warm feeling spread across his body when he heard the brunette mumble something intelligible in his sleep. The warmth somehow made his body relax, and soon sleep overcame him too.