The recovery

The animal shifted dragons obviously took a preference for George. It was enough to get even Beckerson curious and hop through the window to know why the four of them liked George so much. Of course, when he figured it out, he stayed too.

It annoyed Sapnap to hell. Because he was the only one who even considered George a threat apparently. No one was on his side.

And physically, no one was on Dream's side either. Even Patches was staying by George unrelentlessly. It made Dream happy that the shifted dragons took a liking to George though, for multiple reasons.

One: it was proving Sapnap wrong about George being dangerous. Two: some of the dragons in the dragon's nest had accepted George. And the human didn't seem to mind. In fact, he looked like he enjoyed their company, which warmed Dream's heart to no end.

George laughed as Para and Beckerson tried to intimidate Iris, the falcon. Para attempted to puff out her chest, but she ended up falling from the foot of the bed when Iris opened her wings ever so slightly. That made the human laugh more.

A gentle knock on the door calmed him down. There was only one person who knocked like that, so George couldn't help the soft smile from spreading across his face as he went to pick up the parakeet, "Come in, Dream."

The door opened and in came Dream, "Good morning, I've brought you breakfast."

The Brit hummed, putting the parakeet on his shoulder, "Thanks, just leave it on the desk. I can get up now since the bite on my leg feels so much better."

Dream does so, "Okay, make sure you don't overwork yourself then, dar-...George."

George laughed a little, "If you're gonna call me darling, I don't mind, Dream. It's funny either way too. Reminds me how much you love me."

"Oh, come on now."

"Am I wrong? You've already said you love me."

"And I'm still waiting for you to say it back."

"Don't hold your breath, handsome," George flashed a wink over Dream's direction.

Dream let out a laugh, "Handsome? Have you even seen my face?"

"Well, yeah. When I was dying for the second time and when I woke up from dying a second time."

Dream paused, he never really processed those moments out of an overwhelming feeling that threw no thought in the air for him to catch, "Oh."

"Yeah, so I think handsome is fitting." Mars jumped up on the bed with his heavy weight, nearly making George fly up, "No! Mars, off the bed, you log!"

The big cat rolled onto his back when George tried to nudge him off, voice pitched and whiny, "Mars, no!"

Dream got red when it finally settled in his head that George thinks he's handsome. For some reason that you, the reader, might already know, the statement went right to Dream's heart. He sighed in an attempt to calm himself, "If you're gonna leave the room, have Para tell me so I can expect you if you're to go outside or in the infirmary."

"Got it, thank you, Dream," George looked up when Dream opened the door and stepped out. He smiled widely when he noticed how bright red the masked man's ears were with shyness.

Mars let out a huff and stared at George, who looked back, "What?"

The big cat turned and laid down on the floor. Shaking his head and rolling his eyes, George began eating his meal, "After I'm done, did you guys wanna go out to eat? Especially you, Iris, you haven't left my room to eat. Mars and Patches keep bringing you your food so I think you should get out and spread your wings or something."

Being the sassy lady she was, Iris fluttered to the open window, stepped out on the sill, and spread her wings widely before coming back inside. "Okay, smartass, that's not what I meant."

Para landed beside Iris with a happy chirp, and the falcon responded with a happy click of her own. Beckerson, being the small bird he was, stayed on the pillow George had set out for him at the foot of the bed.

George looked over to Patches who was licking her fur clean beside the nightstand. There was still a bit of guilt that hovered around him when looking at the shifted dragons, but he's content with them now. There will always be dragon blood on his hands, but if the five of them are willing to look past that and become his friend, George is also willing to let go of his guilt. Sadly, it won't completely go because Sapnap is a bitch. I'm kidding, he's a "justified" bitch. They haven't interacted since Sapnap threatened him, and he so badly wants to talk to the dragon shifter. But George was forced to stay in bed most of the day because the five animals refused to let him leave out of fear he would hurt himself further.

It warmed the human's heart almost as much as Dream did.

George had a slow walk, but he was able to manage by himself. He felt like Snow White though with Patches, Mars, Iris, Para, and Beckerson trailing behind him. It was a cute sight to see Iris waddle though since she didn't want to fly ahead of George. The two small birds were, of course, on his shoulders.

He looked in the kitchen to find no one there, so he left his dirty dishes in the sink and slowly made his way to the door that faced the open field. When he opened the door, he saw Sapnap walking around it with the bobcat beside him. The human flinched and felt cold sweat run down his forehead when the two looked over at him.

Sapnap clearly made a face of disapproval when he saw the five animals practically glued to him, but he said nothing. The bobcat had a few more injuries because of Patches, who did an amazing job at protecting him from sure death. He has yet to thank her for it, but the sight of the bobcat reminded him.

Swallowing the lump in his throat caused by the hard stare from the bobcat, George waved in a friendly manner as he slowly made his way to the infirmary.

Though reluctantly, Sapnap raised his hand in a greeting which surprised George. The Brit immediately forgot about the bobcat and smiled brightly because Sapnap didn't completely hate him. Or at least was kind enough to return a greeting. That meant that George had a chance at talking to him, and a single chance was all he needed. So he was beaming with warm happiness.

George knocked on the infirmary door and opened it slightly to peak in. He saw Dream on the bed, feeding the bear cub. The desk wasn't there anymore, probably because it was useless when George and the bobcat decided to nearly destroy everything. Dream didn't have his mask on, so brown and blue eyes met golden green.

Dream broke eye contact first and looked around for his mask, it was on the stool just out of reach. Unfortunately, he couldn't get it since the bear was practically crawling up on him. George stepped in and picked up the mask to hand it to the freckled man. Dream took it, "Sorry, I wasn't expecting you to come."

"It's fine, but you do realize I don't mind, right? I thought I told you you're rather handsome. Or was that a fever dream? Patches, was that a fever dream," George laughed.

The cat jumped onto the stool the mask was on with a meow, answering George's question and making him laugh in the process.

"So...you aren't scared?"

"Why would I?"

Dream looked at the cub who was halfway done with his bottle, "You do know what I am, right?"

"I can only assume, but Sapnap's eyes are like a red version of yours so I believe you're a human dragon shifter. Or am I wrong?"

When Dream confirmed he was correct, George shrugged, "If you wanted to hurt me, you would've done so already. I was unconscious two separate times in your presence. I understand why you would wear the mask though. I'm a dragon hunter, it's dangerous to let me know."

The two fell into somber silence. Dream had an almost sad look on his face while George understood guilt written all over his face.

George cleared his throat, "I wanted to bring them out so they could eat. Iris refuses to leave me alone."

"Iris?"

"The wyvern. I couldn't just call her falcon or wyvern. So I started listing off names and such and she would pick her favorites. She chose the name Iris."

The golden green eyes seemed to shine brightly, "You named her?"

"Well, technically, she named herself, I just helped."

Dream laughed, "I think she wants you to be a part of her flock then. Usually, dragons don't let others give them names since they already have one of their own."

George looked towards Iris, "Really?"

"She must've lost her flock one way or another, and wants someone like you to be a part of her new flock," Dream looked at her for a moment before nodding, "But she said that it's up to you to decide if you accept, though she will keep the name as a sign of gratitude."

The Brit took a moment before realizing that of course Dream knew what she was saying, there was a theory that dragons can communicate without a noise coming from them since it's been decades since a human interacted with a dragon.

"You don't have to decide now if you want. That invitation lasts your lifetime, down to the last second. Even if you decline, it would still be open. Wyvern's are loyal to thankfulness."

George smiled brighter than the sun as Dream got up, carrying the cub to a pile of blankets on the floor for them to sleep. The nurse then went on to get the five animals their food. George was left in the infirmary with a variety of wildlife.

When the door opened again, George opened his mouth to say something to Dream, but it wasn't Dream. Sapnap had opened the door for the bobcat to walk in but when he saw George in there, he sighed and looked around the room. When he didn't spot what he was looking for, he stepped in and leaned on the wall beside the door.

"Good morning," George said lightly to Sapnap as he nervously watched the bobcat walk past him. Patches' eyes were glued to him, along with the mountain lion, falcon, parakeet, and parrotbill.

"Morning," Sapnap saw the tense shiver George had when the bobcat looked at him, "He's not gonna kill you. Dream lectured the hell out of him. He's just annoyed with Patches now since she put him in his place."

George's eyes slowly drifted off of the bobcat and towards Sapnap, "I'm not surprised since Mars lets her do whatever to him."

"He's terrified of getting her angry because he knows she will overpower him in a second," Sapnap had the faintest ghost of a smile when he looked at Mars.

"She calls the shots."

"The one thing we agree on."

The human sighed, "No, not really."

Sapnap raised an eyebrow in confusion, egging George to explain. "I-...you're right about me being a threat despite being injured. For a hot second, I wanted to leave because I don't want to ruin the dragon's nest, you and Dream worked so hard on protecting and making sure it was safe. Me just being here jeopardizes it, and I'm sorry about that. The longer I'm here, the less I'm proud of myself about being a hunter. The only reason why I even left the room I'm staying in is because of them," he gestured to the five shifted dragons, "They stayed with me even though they know I'm a dragon hunter. But despite that, they still pile on me at night and make me happy during the day. Without them, I would've stayed in the room out of shame and disgust over myself."

"Do you regret it?"

"Being a part of the Hunter Corps? Yes, but also no."

Sapnap's eyes turned sharp, "Excuse me?"

"Yes, I do regret being a part of the Hunter Corps and hunting dragons. But also no because I wouldn't have ended up here if I didn't. I'd still be at home alone with nothing to my name. Dream wouldn't have found me if I wasn't a hunter."

The dragon shifter's eyes lost its strong glare. He sighed and mumbled, "I guess you're okay then."

That made George perk up, "What?"

"As long as you regret hunting us, I'm okay with you staying here," Sapnap gestured to the bobcat who was now laying down, "Also I think you both owe each other an apology."

Patches hissed as the bobcat-disguised drake sat up. George bit his lip as he let out a quiet breath, "I'm sorry for what I did to you, I'll never raise a weapon to harm a dragon ever again."

The bobcat sat there for a moment before he walked over to him. Iris was about to shriek but fell silent and lowered her head. The bobcat butted his head against George's leg a single time before turning around to go back to his spot and sleep.

George looked towards Sapnap, the dark-haired male snickered, "You should see the look on your face...that was his apology, since you can't read aura."

"What does reading aura have to do with anything?"

"That's how we communicate despite the obvious language barrier. Did that information get lost over the decades?"

The Brit nodded, "I think so, because association with dragons ultimately ends up with heavy consequences."

Sapnap cringed and crossed his arms, "The hunters are way too strict about that shit. At least let people have a bit more freedom. It's bad enough that they kill dragons anyways."

Before anything else was said, Dream walked in and paused when he saw Sapnap, "Oh...hi."

"Suck a dick," Sapnap then ignores Dream and speaks to George, "But most of us can easily hide. A lot of dragons have the ability to shift."

Dream stuck a forked tongue out and made his way to the five animals that were still by George's side. It surprised him to see Dream's tongue, it totally didn't make his stomach flip like crazy. And he totally didn't fight the light blush that slowly crept to his cheeks. The dark-haired shifter continued, "At the end of the day, dragons are better."

"No comment," George simply stated as he watched Dream place down bowls of food for the animals.

"And why not?"

"Well, I'm human, so I think I'm biased."

"Tell me one thing that makes humans better-"

"We have opposable thumbs at all times, dragon shifter."

Sapnap paused and Dream snickered, "He's got you there, buddy."

The raven-haired huffed, "But teeth are perfect for holding stuff too."

George hums, "True, but what about things that are delicate?"

Dream held back a laugh, "And not to mention humans are widely accepted compared to dragons."

"DREAM!"

"Am I wrong? No, so shush, Sapnap," the dirty blond male sat on the bed with a wheeze.

Sapnap rolled his eyes and looked anywhere but the human and the other dragon shifter. After a few moments of comfortable silence, red eyes looked over to Dream, "By the way, Dream. I know you're a dumbass so when you figure it out, I'm good with it. Just make sure I'm the first one to know."

"Know what?"

"Like I said, you're a dumbass."

"What am I supposed to know-" Sapnap opened the door and left, "-Sapnap! Hey! You can't just be all cryptic and then leave like nothing!"

George laughed again, watching Dream fondly as he flopped on the bed with a huff, "It looks like you guys made up."

"We made up as soon as he said 'suck a dick'. And it looks like he accepted you, darling."

"He's okay with me, that's what he said at least," George sat next to Dream, smiling at the fact that the taller male didn't seem to catch the nickname he called George.

The dirty blond looked over at him with a sharp toothed smile, "He'll warm up to you eventually, and then you'd be at each other's throats. You both have a similar enough personality that'd make you guys buttheads a lot."

"More than you already do with him?"

A wheeze rang out in the room, "Excuse me, that's called brotherly bonding."

George laughed once more before Patches jumped up on the bed and curled up in between the two. Dream scratches under her chin, making her purr. Looking at George, he patted the bed on Patches' empty side, inviting George to lay down too. He did.

When George's head met the soft padding, Dream mumbled, "In all honesty, I was pretty nervous about bringing you here when I found you. I was debating on just fixing you up there and leaving a few supplies so that you won't die of infection or starvation. I'm glad I didn't though."

With a hum, George responded, "Me too." A thought decided to burrow it's way into the human's mind, planting itself there, "But when I'm healed enough, I'll have to leave."

Patches stopped purring and stared at George with wide eyes. Dream's hand also stilled, "You have to leave?"

"I'm property of the Hunters Corps until I hit the decade mark, therefore I have to return...to..." George shook his head, "I can work as a medic though. I won't go back on my promise."

"Promise?"

George could hear the satisfied noise tumble out of the bobcat's throat, making him smile sadly more to himself. It was hard to believe that he would hunt again, not after he met Dream, Sapnap, and the shifted dragons.

"I promised that I won't hurt another dragon."

Dream's golden green eyes softened, his heart tightened at that, be it out of ache of George possibly leaving or the fact that George cared enough to put his bow down.