"What should I do, what should I do?" George mumbled to himself, walking up and down the aisles. Rows and rows of ties and shirts and jackets and pants stretched across the entire floor of the department store, and looking at all of his options was a little overwhelming. He wandered around for about a minute more, feeling more lost by the second before a bright idea popped into his head.
"I should call Dream," George realized aloud, and he took out his phone and dialed his best friend.
"C'mon, pick up, pick up," George urged as the phone rang once, twice, thrice. On the fourth ring, Clay finally did. "Oh, thank God! Clay, I need you." On the other side, Clay raised an eyebrow, leaning back in his desk chair with a smirk.
"I mean, we knew that," Clay joked, "We've been over this." George barely had time to roll his eyes as he began to explain.
"I need a tie, but I don't know which one to get," George said. Clay paused for a moment.
"What?"
"What do you mean, what?"
"George, you gave me absolutely no context. Where are you?"
"I'm at a clothing store," George said, "And I'm looking for a tie but I don't know which one to get."
"Oh, like a dress tie. For a suit," Clay surmised.
"Yeah. I don't know what to pick, or where to look," George said.
"I mean... again, what's the context?" Clay asked, ruffling his hair with a grin as he imagined George wandering around a Macys looking incredibly lost (his imagination wasn't far off, except they didn't have Macys in the UK). "What kind of tie do you want?"
"I don't know, I don't know anything about fashion," George said, shrugging. "The suit I wore on stream is one my mum helped me buy. I just want a tie that will match Lilac's graduation dress." Clay threw his arms up in the air.
"If you'd started with that, this would have made a lot more sense," He informed George, "But, okay, why are you calling me? Call her and ask."
"I can't call her, she's not supposed to know I'm going to be there," George said, and then all the puzzle pieces clicked for Clay.
"So George," Clay chuckled, shaking his head, "What do you want me to do?"
"I don't know," George said, hoping his friend would have had an answer for him. "Can you ask Sap if he knows?"
"Sure, I can do that," Clay said, still laughing a bit. "I'll call you back in a second, I have to call him because he's actually out looking for a suit, himself."
"Great minds think alike," George said, and he and Clay said goodbye. Clay's chuckles turned into wheezes as he processed the ridiculousness of this situation (and he himself didn't have to worry, because he didn't need to match Lilac and he already had a suit), but he stuck to his word and called Sapnap.
"Bro," Clay said when Sap picked up on the second ring, "Do you know what color Lilac's dress is going to be?"
"For graduation?" Sap asked, picking up on the context right away. "No. Am I supposed to know?"
"Not really, but could you maybe know for me, pretty please?" Sap, who was trying on a suit jacket as they were talking, furrowed his eyebrows as he decided whether he liked the jacket or not.
"What, do you want me to call Lilac?" He asked, and Clay thought for a moment.
"Maybe don't do that, I don't want her to suspect anything," Clay said, thinking better of it.
"Then what am I supposed to do?"
"Call Andi, maybe?" Clay suggested. "She's the next best thing. Just tell her not to let Lilac know." Sap raised an eyebrow, not really understanding why he was doing all this, but not willing to question it, either.
"Okay. I'll call you back in a second," Sapnap agreed.
"Sweet." They hung up the phone, and Sapnap looked down at his phone screen, shaking his head.
"Why am I doing this, again?" Sap wondered to himself, but he didn't mind too much. He pulled up Discord and called Andi, who picked up on the first ring.
"Sapnap?" Andi asked, rightfully surprised to get a call from him.
"Hi Andi," He said, "Are you busy at the moment?"
"Not really," She said, leaning back from her computer. "I'm doing some debugging, but I'm on my 20 minute break right now. Why, what's up?"
"Is Lilac around?" Sap asked, and Andi furrowed her eyebrows.
"Uhh... no," She said, and Sap chuckled at her tone.
"You're confused as to why I didn't just call her, right?" Sap guessed, and Andi laughed.
"I mean, yeah," She said. "Usually when you need her, you call her."
"Well, this time, I'm looking for you," He informed her. "Would you happen to know what color Lilac's graduation dress is going to be? Does she even have one yet?"
"Yeah, she does, we went shopping yesterday," Andi said. "It's like a gold-ish yellow color. Do you want me to send you a picture?"
"Oh, yeah, please," Sap said, not having thought of that. "That would be awesome."
"If I may, why all the trouble?" Andi said as she stood up, walking over to Lilac's closet and snapping a picture of the dress. "Are you planning to match with her or something?"
"I'm not, but I think Clay is?" Sap guessed. "Which is kind of weird, but I don't know. I don't know half the things that go on in his head, I'll ask him when I send him that picture back over Discord."
"Please do let me know," Andi chuckled. "It'll be weirdly funny if Clay, of all people, intends to dress up to match Lilac." Sapnap couldn't disagree, and he thanked Andi for her help. Once they got off the phone, Sapnap took a few minutes to change back into his regular clothes, receiving the message from Andi in the process.
ANDIOCRACY
Andiocracy
Here you go!
1 attachment
Sapnap
Thanks so much Andi you're a lifesaver
Andiocracy
Yeah np np
Please keep me posted on what clay wants it though fr
Idk why but that's so funny to me
Sapnap
Lol I will
I'm gonna text him rn
He took the suit jacket he'd tried on to the counter, texting Clay as he greeted the cashier.
DREAM
Sapnap
Bro idk what you need this for
But here you go
1 attachment
Dream
Thanks man
It's not for me
It's for george
Sapnap
Should have started with that lol
Would've made a lot more sense
Andi was asking why you wanted to match lilac
Dream
Wait what
no
Why did you tell her that
Sapnap
I didn't tell her that directly but what was i supposed to say?
You didn't tell me why you just said 'call andi and ask'
Dream
Oh my gosh
now she's gonna think I'm weird
Sapnap
Lol dw i told her i'd give her a reason once i texted you
I'll clear ur name
Dream
You better
Thanks for the pic also im sending it to george now
Sapnap
Yeah no worries weirdo
Clay shook his head at his phone, slightly cringing at the thought of the odd conversation Sapnap and Andi must have had. He shook it off, though, and sent the picture of the dress over to George.
GEORGENOTFOUND
Dream
1 attachment
I got the goods bro
slandered my own name in the process
gl on the tie search
GeorgeNotFound
...
Dream wtf am I supposed to do with this
Dream
Wdym?
I got what you asked for
That's her dress
GeorgeNotFound
I AM LITERALLY COLOURBLIND YOU MORON
WHAT COLOUR IS IT
Clay burst out laughing, shaking so hard from the wheezes that he could barely click the button to call George. When the man in question picked up with a very frustrated huff, that sent Clay into giggles all over again.
"You are literally the worst person I know," George said, assuming Clay was laughing at him. "Sends me a dress and goes 'here you go!' like I can see it. What is wrong with you?"
"I'm not laughing at you," Clay managed to say, all of the words about four extra syllables with the laughs in between. "I promise, I'm not. It's just funny."
"What color is it?" George sighed, still wandering about in the tie aisles (the tiesles).
"It's yellow, but that doesn't really help you," Clay said. "You still won't be able to tell if you have the right shade, even if you do find the yellow ties."
"Okay, obviously," George said, rolling his eyes. "If you hadn't said anything, I would have thought the dress was green."
"No, I'm not making fun of you. Just thinking out loud," Clay promised. "Turn your camera on."
"I don't know if I can film in here," George said, and Clay chuckled.
"No, not to film," Clay said. "I can be your eyes, I'm going to help you pick out the right tie. And if anyone asks, just tell them that."
"That's... actually a really good idea, thank you," George breathed, gaining some confidence that he could actually get this done. "Maybe you're not the worst person I know. Second worst, perhaps," He said, turning his camera on and flipping it around so that Clay could see.
"You should think twice about insulting the man who's being your eyes right now," Clay jokingly warned. "I could get you a green tie and just.. Tell you it's yellow."
"You wouldn't dare," George gasped, and Clay chuckled.
"You're right I- go left, the yellows are there- I wouldn't, I'm not that cruel." George turned left, trusting that Clay really wouldn't lead him astray. And indeed, he wouldn't. Although George hadn't said a thing, Clay knew exactly how much this meant to him. So he'd get him the closest matching tie to Lilac's dress that was possible given their current circumstances.
"Okay, so I know you can't see the colors, but do you want me to explain the differences anyway?" Clay asked.
"Yeah, please," George's voice returned over the phone, crackling just a bit. "I'll pretend to know what you're talking about, but I'm ultimately going by your word."
"Let's start on the left and work our way over," Clay began. "The first tie is just super yellow, so we're not even going there. Lilac's dress is kind of a lighter yellow- more muted, I guess. The second one isn't bad, but it's polka dotted and you're not wearing a polka dot tie."
"What's wrong with that?" George chuckled.
"I will hang up on you right now," Clay threatened, "I shouldn't have to explain that. I simply will not let you."
"Fine, fine," He said, "No polka dots." For the next five minutes, Clay went down the line and described each and every tie to George. Most of them were either too bright or too dark, or too patterned or too plain, but they eventually found the perfect one. From what Clay could see (which he had to take with a grain of salt because it was through a screen), their tie was a nearly perfect color match.
"Thanks for being my eyes, Clay," George said, turning his camera off and putting his phone to his ear as he took the tie off the rack. "So much work for a little piece of fabric."
"This little piece of fabric shows you care," Clay sang, "So it's all good. I'm glad I could help. Lilac's going to love it." George was walking to the counter now.
"You really think so?" He asked.
"Yeah, I do," Clay said simply, and George believed him.
"Do you think... She'll want me there?" George asked, and Clay had to bite his tongue to keep from telling him about the phone call he'd been on with her a few days prior.
"I think, outside of her family, she wants you there more than anyone else," Clay answered honestly. "Why, are you worried?" It took George a moment to answer, and Clay patiently listened to the shuffles of George getting the tie in a shopping back and wishing the cashier a good day.
"A little," George finally responded, walking toward the front of the store. As he stepped outside into the sun, he took a moment to take in the fresh air. Clear his head a little.
"Don't be," Clay responded.
"Ok, let me just not be worried, then," George replied sassily, "Let me just turn that part of my brain off."
"Do it," Clay said, and George couldn't tell if he was joking. "Tell me- honestly, George- you really think Lilac doesn't feel the same way about you?"
"I've been trying not to get my hopes up," George admitted.
"Get them up," Clay encouraged. "You're flying across the ocean for her."
"But-"
"But nothing. She flew across the ocean for you, and that's her biggest fear," Clay barreled on, reminding him. "Have some faith in yourself, for heaven's sake. She likes you." George exhaled, one of those nothing-is-particularly-funny-but-you're-right exhales.
"Yeah," George said after a few moments passed. "You're right. I just need to have a little faith in myself."
"A little faith is all it takes," Clay reminded him.
"When did you get so smart?" George chuckled, and so did Clay. "So wise in the ways of the world?"
"I didn't," He said. "The better question would be when did my friends get so blind."
"Shut up," George said, and Clay just laughed.
"Observations don't make me wise. They just let me give good advice," Clay said, making George pause and appreciate that statement.
"You know, as much as I make fun of you, you really are smart," George told him.
"Thank you," Clay said, smiling just a bit. "Now, get off the phone and run home, don't you have a stream in ten minutes?" George nearly dropped his phone as he pulled it from his ear to look at the time.
"Oh my gosh, I do," He said, suddenly filled with a mild panic, and Clay burst out laughing.
"Bye, George."
"Bye, Clay!"