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Dream hummed to himself as he pushed open the front door of his home, crouching down to place the cat carrier he held on the ground. He opened the door of the carrier and Patches padded out with an irritated rumble, stretching and giving him a troubled look.
“I know you hate the carrier, but you hate the harness even more, so this is how it has to be,” he scolded, kicking the door closed behind them. She mewed as he hung his coat up and he rolled his eyes. “Yes, you have to go to work with me. You’re literally my energy source, you can’t just hang out with Sapnap all day.”
“What about Sapnap?” another voice cut in and Dream perked up, turning to face further into the hallway. Sapnap leaned out of the kitchen, wearing a happy smile, and Dream swept over to lift him in his arms. “Woah, hey there, Dreamie.”
“I missed you,” he grumbled, burying his face into the crook of Sapnap’s neck. His phantom skin was as cool as it ever was, pressing into Dream’s nose with a familiar icy prickle. He clung close regardless, too used to the feeling to mind.
“You always miss me,” Sapnap teased, wrapping his arms around Dream’s shoulders. He could feel their balance shift as Sapnap kicked up his legs and he leaned back to compensate. “Clingy.”
“I love you,” Dream said, squeezing him as he lowered him to the ground. Sapnap giggled, clinging to his arms.
“I love you, too.” Sapnap leaned into his touch for another moment before pulling away, giving Dream a bright grin. “Georgie’s taking a nap upstairs right now. Thank God you’re home, I’ve been so bored. We should watch a movie!”
“You could’ve started one yourself,” Dream said before catching himself. “Oh, wait.”
“You’ve literally never even known me while I was alive, and yet,” Sapnap said, rolling his eyes as he tugged on Dream’s arm. “C’mon, turn on the TV for me.”
Ghosts couldn’t use electronics, which as a necromancer, really was something that Dream should have known. Especially considering he had been living with Sapnap for the better part of a year and since like he said, he had never met Sapnap before summoning him. He had no real excuse for why it slipped his mind. He did know that ghosts just shorted out most electronics they touched, he was good at his job, it just… slipped his mind from time to time. As did a lot of things, like birthdays, and appointments, and buying new spell components, and recent news- Oh wait.
“Hey, wait, I need to tell you something first.” Dream let Sapnap drag him into the living room regardless, kicking off his shoes as they went so that they scattered along the floor with his bag and the carrier. It would piss him off later when he inevitably tripped over the errant items, but for now, he had an insistent boyfriend to handle. “It was in the news this morning.”
“What’s up?” Sapnap shoved Dream towards the coffee table, flopping back into the couch with a groan. Dream smiled and shook his head, leaning forward so he could grab the remote.
“They’re pushing some legislation in the area to give more rights to human ghosts.” He clicked on the TV, letting it load to their streaming service as he sat down next to Sapnap. “Isn’t that great?”
“What d’you mean?” Sapnap’s head fell onto his shoulder, only half-listening as he watched the screen blink as it loaded up. “I wanna watch a rom-com.”
“Of course you do. The one with the ghost dog, I bet?” Dream huffed as he clicked to their saved movies. “Anyways, it means you’ll have most of the same rights that you did as a human. Like, you can get a job as long as it doesn’t have any electronics involved, you could enroll in college if you wanted, and your marriage with George would be official again.”
There was a lull as Sapnap processed his words then he suddenly jolted up, head swinging to face Dream. “What?”
“Your marriage would be official again.” Dream put on a bright grin, squeezing his boyfriend closer. “Isn’t that awesome? I mean, obviously, you both still have your rings and treat each other as husbands regardless, but it’ll be nice for legal reasons. Tax benefits and all.”
Sapnap stared at him, unblinking, and Dream’s grin faded as he realized Sapnap wasn’t half as excited as him. That didn’t make sense. Admittedly, Sapnap never said much about his thoughts on the matter, but it couldn’t be bad for his marriage to be official again. George, at least, never stopped complaining about their relationship being annulled, and so this was a good thing. So why did Sapnap look more alarmed than anything-?
“I gotta tell George something, I forgot, uh, I forgot something.” Sapnap leaped to his feet, ducking down to press a kiss to the top of Dream’s head. “I’ll be back in a second, find something to watch.”
“Sapnap, why are you lying to me?”
“Make sure it’s something cute,” Sapnap hollered instead of answering Dream’s question, just on the side of too loud as he bound out of the room. Dream watched after him, not bothering to hide the puzzled look on his face as the slightly translucent form of his boyfriend whipped around the corner. Sapnap’s steps made no noise, but Dream could imagine the sound fading as he supposedly ran upstairs, leaving him to silence and his own thoughts.
“Well,” Dream said to himself, unsure how to continue his own thought when he literally had no idea what was going on in Sapnap’s head. “Okay.”
After that, Sapnap didn’t stop being weird and George joined right in, the two of them whispering to one another and falling silent whenever he walked into the room. If it was anyone else, it would’ve been worrying, but Dream had a hard time imagining his soulmates hiding something bad from him. If anything, they were more loving than ever, George accompanying him to the necromancy parlor just to help him neaten up, Sapnap dousing him in affection whenever he got the chance. They tried to help him cook dinner and cleaned up the kitchen when that went tits up. They pushed him into bed to form a cuddle pile with Patches and Cat. They hardly ever left him alone, Dream having to ward them off from his shower time more than once. They stuck to him like burrs, something he always appreciated, but something was just… odd about it all.
Dream finally broke in their back garden, watching as George coaxed a few wildflowers to life as Dream held up their spell book for him. “What’s going on?”
His boyfriend looked up, cocking his head to the side. “What do you mean?”
“You and Sapnap have been acting weird. Sapnap didn’t get excited about literally getting more human rights. You’re hiding something from me and not even hiding it well, since I know it’s happening. You won’t talk to me but you never leave me alone either. Something’s up.”
“Nothing’s up,” George lied, not even covering up the apparent grin growing on his face. Dream shoved the spell book at him with an irritated roll of the eyes, George taking it with no protest. “You’re just imagining things.”
“I imagined a whole conversation with Sapnap?”
“Sure.”
Dream groaned, falling back against the soft grass. He could hear George mutter something under his breath and daisies started sprouting around Dream’s head, pushing up between the strands of his hair. “You are so annoying.”
“Not my fault you laid down in my daisy patch.” George leaned over to flick his nose. “It’s nothing bad. Promise.”
“I know that, I just wanna know what it is!” Dream pouted, crossing his arms. “If you don’t tell me soon, I’m just gonna… I dunno, figure it out myself.”
“Figure it out yourself,” George repeated, amused, and Dream nodded.
“Yeah! I’m gonna go hunting for clues and I’m gonna find all the small details and I’m gonna figure out what the fuck you guys are hiding from me.” Dream turned his head so he could meet George’s eyes, narrowing his own. George just kept wearing the same dumb grin, taunting him, and Dream gritted his teeth. He sat up with a grunt, shoving his boyfriend away with one hand, and George tumbled down with a laugh. “You’ll see. Consider Detective Dream on the case.”
“Alright, detective. Have fun looking for nothing, I guess,” George responded, not bothering with getting up from his position in the grass. He lifted the spell book up over his head, eyes scanning the lines as they followed the same spells they always did.
“I will.”
“Fine.”
“Fine!”
George snickered and Dream stood, storming back to their house. Behind him, he could hear George begin muttering incantations again, and he slammed the back door harder than strictly necessary so that George would hear the creak of the door frame.
It took a few hours for Dream to decide where to start, pacing around their house as he thought. He usually caught George and Sapnap conniving in the kitchen, murmuring to each other in the early hours while Dream got ready for work, so that seemed like a safe space to begin.
He started scouring through their drawers, pulling them open so he could peek at their pots and pans. Their silverware was untouched. The overhead cabinets held the usual mix of food ingredients and spell components, relatively untouched considering both Dream and George focused on verbal spells. The cat bed in the corner was empty, though crooked, and Dream took a moment to kneel and fix the angle the bed sat at.
Something scraped against the floor and he paused. He moved the bed back and again, there was a soft scratching sound as if a scrap of paper was being dragged against the vinyl flooring. Dream frowned, lifting the bed with one hand, and underneath, he revealed a folded letter. With his free hand, he pulled it free, letting the cushion fall back into place as he opened the letter.
Our first kiss was in the kitchen, do you remember? Your kitchen, not this one, but close enough! Still one of the happiest days of my life, alongside meeting George, meeting you, my first date with George, my wedding day, etc etc. George told me to write something sweet here but honestly, I just want you to get a move on. You already know that I love you, I remind you of that every day. You’ll find your next hint where this event started. Lots of love, Sapnap ♡
Dream stared, dumbfounded.
“This was planned?”
There was a familiar soft giggle from the kitchen entryway, dragging him from his thoughts, but Sapnap was gone by the time he whipped around. Dream’s eyes narrowed and he followed where the sound drifted off to, reaching the hallway and looking back and forth. Nothing gave away his boyfriend’s location, but the last tail flick of a ghostly fish turned the corner into the living room and he followed that coincidental hint.
Mars was doing lazy circles in the air, aimless in his wandering as he usually was. Dream underestimated how smart Beckerson was in comparison to most fish, assuming he was average until he had summoned Mars for Sapnap’s first ghostly birthday. Compared to the large tropical fish pirouetting in the air, Beckerson seemed like Einstein. Mars tended to get confused whenever he wasn’t floating just above some amount of furniture, losing track of where he was in the house.
“Hey, buddy, you’re stuck again,” Dream said, going onto his tiptoes to catch the fish in his hands. Mars squirmed in his loose grip, fighting as Dream pulled him to his chest, and let out a grunting noise. “Oh, get over yourself, I’m helping you. Your brother would be finding this hint for me right now.”
He let go of Mars once he was closer to the couch and the fish sped away, disgruntled from the manhandling. Dream rolled his eyes and put his hands on his hips, starting to search around the room.
“Well, if this dumb hunt was planned, then Sapnap probably hid this hint,” Dream said aloud to himself. “And Sapnap isn’t particularly clever, so if it’s not already obvious, it has to be somewhere stupid and impossible to guess.”
He held his breath, waiting for some indignant response, but he was met with silence instead.
“Okay, so Sapnap is upstairs. The actual surprise must be up there, I can just skip the whole hunt,” he reasoned, starting towards the archway entrance of the living room. As he reached it though, he paused, lifting a hand to rest on the wooden beam. He turned back towards the room, looking over it again with a small frown.
George told me to write something sweet. So… did George write something sweet for Dream?
He managed to stand still for another two seconds before lunging back into the living room, tearing up the couch cushions to hunt around for the note. They were all clear besides some loose pennies, though it sent the remote flying. He huffed, grabbing it and putting it down on the coffee table, then fixed the cushions. He settled them back into place, brain whirring as he tried to figure out where that fucking letter could be, when-
He stood straight, turning back to look down at the remote. The remote that Sapnap couldn’t use, meaning he had to ask Dream to put on a movie, which was when Dream told him about the legislation being put into place.
“Is this going to be a vow renewal announcement?” Dream wondered aloud, sitting down on the resettled cushions as he turned the remote over in his hand. A corner of paper peeked out from the battery slot and he clicked the cover out of place, only half-surprised to see a note flutter out. “I would’ve been delighted to hear that even without a scavenger hunt. Patches can be the ring bearer. Do vow renewals have ring bearers? … Oh geez, I never shut up.”
He flicked open the note, sinking back against the cushions as he read over the words.
Hey Dream. Hopefully, you’ll be catching on by now to what’s going on, but you’ve always been a little oblivious. Whether you understand or not, I want you to know how important you are to me. You’re a wonderful boyfriend, an amazing soulmate, and perfect even when you’re driving me crazy. I love you. I don’t say that often, but I know that you know that I’m telling the truth.
I told Sapnap to be sweet in his letter, and I’m sure he did a much better job than I am now. He probably talked about how pretty your eyes are and how many freckles you have and how you always laugh a little too loud when you’re tired, but he likes it that way because he knows that you genuinely find him funny. He probably talked about how sweet you are with animals. He probably made sure you know that your voice is comforting and your arms are warm and that you’re the best kisser among the three of us (even if I still think that’s me). He probably made sure that you know that he absolutely adores every small thing about you. He’s good like that.
I just hope that this letter lets you know that I think all of that too.
For your final location, go to where I got to touch Sapnap again, all thanks to you. You really have changed our lives for the better. I know life debts aren’t much of a romantic thing, but YOU know that I don’t care and that I owe you a life anyways. See you soon, George
Dream folded the letter neatly and tucked it into his pocket. Compared to Sapnap’s much brisker note, it was almost laughable, but it just made Dream’s heart burn all the fonder.
“They’re both so dumb,” he said to no one, the words soft on the air as he pulled himself to his feet.
The sounds of his footsteps carried as he left the living room, walking down the hallway so he could reach the stairs. He could hear the rustle of his boyfriends in their room and he grinned, starting up the stairs as lightly as he could. The old boards creaked under his feet regardless, George and Sapnap falling silent, but Dream knew well enough. He strode past the bathroom and linen closet in favor of the single bedroom at the end of the hall, pushing the door open so he could meet his soulmates’ gazes. They were already looking at the door, both of them lighting up as Dream walked in.
“You made it!” Sapnap cheered, throwing his arms in the air, and Dream huffed.
“It wasn’t that hard. Seriously, what kind of scavenger hunt only has two stops? You guys are total cheapskates.”
“It took you like, two hours just to find the hint in the kitchen,” George said, rolling his eyes.
“And it already took you three days to even start looking!” Sapnap jabbed his finger at Dream as he crossed the room, meeting them where they sat on the edge of the bed. “Besides, there’s still one last note to find. We’re just here to watch you do it this time!”
“What, I don’t just get a kiss and some vow renewal announcement?”
There was a beat of silence and then Sapnap burst out laughing. George stared at Dream in disbelief. “You think we’re renewing our vows?”
Dream squinted back at him. “Uh, yeah. What else would this be?”
“You’re lucky you’re cute, Dream, because you are so stupid,” Sapnap choked out and Dream scoffed. “Just look around, you absolute loser.”
“Well, now I don’t want to,” he muttered in response but he pivoted regardless, letting his eyes drift around the room as he puzzled over where the final note may be. Sapnap was struggling to fight down his laughter and George clapped a hand over his mouth, dragging him into his chest, and Dream ignored them as he wandered around the room.
He started checking the bed, ignoring the way his soulmates both turned to watch as he rifled through their pillows. The stack was a little too messy to check, but neither of his soulmates said anything as he straightened the pillows, so that was clear. He tugged up the blanket, peeking into the darkness underneath, but nothing was out of place there. He had done laundry yesterday so it wasn't under the sheets, he would've noticed, and he couldn't pull up the entire bed regardless with George and Sapnap still sitting on it. He let the blanket fall back into place, humming as he considered where to go next.
Their closet was too small to hide much, but he opened the door anyway, scanning the back of the door for anything taped there. His soulmates started whispering to each other behind him, not-so-subtly talking about how he was looking in the stupidest places, and he slammed the door shut to make them jump. Sapnap giggled behind him as he moved to the dresser, George lowering his voice enough that Dream could only hear a murmur.
Their sock drawer was still just a barely organized mess of boxers and folded pairs of socks. Dream was careful as he shifted through the underwear, not wanting to make the disaster of a drawer even worse. The two drawers below were the same, folded jeans and sweatpants that were thankfully neat and in their correct places. He checked under the top layer of pants, tuning out the way George and Sapnap spoke too lowly for him to hear.
The next place Dream could think of was the chair in the corner, but as he turned to it, he realized that it was currently occupied. Patches and Cat curled around each other, dozing as a sunbeam streamed in between the curtains and landed perfectly across the seat of the chair. They were too tired to be bothered by the bustling around the room, the epitome of a lazy catnap, and Dream wanted to cry a little bit just thinking about disturbing them. He clicked his tongue - quietly, so as to not wake them - and looked around the room again, considering where to look next. Short of strip-searching his soulmates, the only place left was…
George and Sapnap both fell silent and sat up as he approached the nightstand. Jackpot.
“You guys are bad at being subtle,” Dream informed them.
“Open the fucking nightstand,” George cut in before Sapnap could protest, waving his hand, and Dream let out a soft laugh. He wiggled his fingers before he reached for the handle, taunting George, and his boyfriend let out an annoyed grumble as he tugged the drawer open.
Inside was the usual mix of important papers, Sapnap’s necklaces from before his death, and one random sock that somehow got thrown in there. Sticking out like a sore thumb was a small jewelry box, placed on top of a folded note, and Dream’s jaw dropped.
“Oh,” he said, and Sapnap snorted. “I am stupid.”
“Just read the note,” George said and Dream could see him waving his hand out of the corner of his eyes. He ignored the demand, grabbing the box and pulling it out first so that he could flick it open and look inside.
A thin golden ring, a series of small diamonds lined up along the top of it. Dream’s breath caught in his throat and he ran his thumb over the cut stones, letting it catch on the small arms holding them in place. He recognized the ring from the photo albums in their storage, the same engagement ring that Sapnap had worn, and he looked up at George and him in surprise.
“This is Sapnap’s,” he pointed out, feeling a little stupid when Sapnap laughed in response.
“And now it’s yours! I mean, George wanted to buy a new ring and he can if you’d prefer, but I thought you’d like the symbolism or whatever.” Sapnap pulled one foot up onto the edge of the mattress, placing his chin on his knee as he put on a bright grin. “You’ll get your own wedding band, cuz obviously mine is six feet under, but the engagement ring is for you. Georgie got it from my dad.”
“He hasn’t even said yes yet,” George muttered and Sapnap shot him a look.
“He doesn’t have to, I already know he’s gonna say yes.”
“But- but you two are married,” Dream interrupted. “You’ve been married as long as I’ve known you.”
“If you read the note I wrote you,” George replied, raising a pointed eyebrow at him, “you’d realize that’s the issue. Sapnap and I are gonna be married again soon.”
“Yeah.” Dream frowned. “So-”
“So we have to get married now so that I can legally be married to both of you.” George scrunched up his nose. “Doing all that paperwork before the legislation goes into effect is going to be a pain in the ass, but- well.”
“But marriage is important to you,” Dream finished, voice softening, and bright pink filled George’s cheeks.
“Don’t sound so cutesy about it.” George sighed, eyes darting away. “Just say yes so that I can make you do my paperwork for me.”
Dream let out a laugh, gaze falling back to the delicate ring in his hands. He pulled it from the box, sliding it onto his ring finger and tilting his hand back and forth so the diamonds caught the light. It was already refitted to his ring size, fitting just right against his skin, and he distantly wondered how long George had been planning on proposing. He could feel his throat tightening as he thought about George fretting over proposing, of all things, something he never expected to get.
“He put the ring on, that’s basically a yes,” Sapnap whispered, cutting through the emotional fog filling Dream’s brain, and he jolted back to reality. “Dream, are you gonna cry?”
“I’m not crying.” His voice sounded wet even in his own ears and Sapnap giggled. “Shut up.”
“Can you say yes already? You’re freaking me out,” George said, not sounding wholly together himself, and Dream stepped closer to the bed. George still looked off to the side, his eyes looking wet against the blush of his cheeks, and Dream kneeled next to him. He tucked a finger under George’s chin, pulling his face around to meet his eyes, and an involuntary smile tugged at his lips.
“Aren’t you supposed to be the sure one between us?” Dream asked, teasing, and George shook his head as he tried to fight down the smile.
“Dream.”
“George!” Dream leaned in and kissed, eyes fluttering closed. George returned the kiss with a sigh, a hand curling around Dream’s shoulder as they melded together. Against his lips, he murmured, “yes, George, I’ll marry you.”
George pulled back, tears fully budding in his eyes now. Sapnap leaned in to wipe a tear away as it slipped down his cheek and George let out a chuckle, emotion thick in the sound of it. “Well. I’m glad! I knew you were gonna say yes, obviously.”
“Obviously,” Dream repeated, fondness clear in his voice, and George leaned into Sapnap’s touch to avert his gaze. “I love you, you know.”
“Thanks.” George swallowed, eyes closing. “I love you, too. Both of you.”
“Yeah, I’m also here,” Sapnap agreed and Dream rolled his eyes. “Don’t forget through the tearfest. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”
“With one well-timed spell, you’d vanish,” Dream teased, grabbing Sapnap’s chin next and pulling him. “Come here, dumbass.”
“Fuck you,” Sapnap replied, making George giggle, and Dream kissed him before he could say anything else.
In the cozy atmosphere of their bedroom, their shared cats asleep in the corner, both his boyfriends - boyfriend and fiancé, actually - within reach, it was hard to think of anything besides kissing both of them until none of them could breath. All Dream wanted was to live in this moment forever.