#reading/watching feet tickles usually tends to make me uncomfy as well but when theyre all soft and playful and fun rather than super-

[awkwardtickleetoo]

The American Experience

summary: its george's first day in america, the dream team all together at last, however, george gets hit with a pretty bad case of jet lag. the least dream can do is offer to help keep him awake so they don't fall out of sync so early... right?

WARNINGS: feet tickles!! very prominently!! it's nothing nsfw or uncomfortable, still very soft and playful and sfw and platonic, but I know some people aren't comfy with that kinda thing, so just be warned before reading ahead :)

lee!george, ler!dream, 2.6k words

enjoy!!

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George yawned for what he could only assume was the 5th time since he'd settled into his comfortable position on the couch, pulling his arm up to shove his face in his elbow as his nose scrunched up with the action. He blinked tiredly, letting his eyes drag until they stayed closed for a second longer than he wanted. He rubbed at them with the back of his knuckles.

"God, I am… unbelievably exhausted," He spoke without really thinking, directing his attention to the other man in the room. "I hate flying on planes, every time I do I want to sleep for, like, 24 hours after I get to wherever I'm supposed to be going to."

Dream chuckled, nudging George's knees with the back of his hand so he would pull them up to give him space to sit on the couch as well. After he got situated, he continued the conversation. 

"I totally get it," He said, nodding his head a little to further show his agreement. "But you can't go to sleep yet, George, you don't want the three of us to be out of sync on literally day one of you being here."

"I knoooww," George whined, head resting back against a throw pillow on the couch as he threw an arm over his face. "I know, but I'm still so tired I might not be able to help it. I think I might just pass out before I can even get the rest of my room set up."

Dream rested his palm on George's ankle, stroking his thumb soothingly against the sliver of skin that showed beneath the cuff of his grey sweatpants. After a moment of silence, and his calloused thumb rubbing against the soft skin, Dream seemed to get an idea.

"Well," He started, tilting his head and looking over at George as he spoke. "Why don't I try something to help distract you from the sleepiness? It might keep you awake for a while without having to focus on staying awake." He offered, and George lifted his arm away from his face to look at Dream. 

"What are you gonna do?" Dream shrugged.

"I have something in mind. It's a surprise, though."

George furrowed his eyebrows skeptically, nodding slowly as he let out another yawn.

"Okay. Go ahead, I guess."

Dream smiled down at him before tightening his grip on his ankle, gently lifting it and trapping it under his arm in a headlock position.

"Uh, Dream?" George asked, pushing himself up onto his elbows to look over at the other man in confusion.

"Yeah, what's up?" Dream replied innocently as he pulled George's other ankle into the headlock as well. 

"What– uh, what are you doing?" George asked nervously. He pulled on his legs, trying to break free from Dream's hold, but they barely budged, his ankles only knocked together and shifted Dream's arm slightly. 

"Relax, George, just lay back and let me do what I need to do. I said I'd help keep you awake, right?" George nodded timidly, slowly laying back down against the pillow. "Exactly, so let me help you." 

George hesitated, one arm reaching up behind his head to play with the seams of the throw pillow underneath him and the other curled into a tense fist at his side. He nodded, giving Dream permission to start whatever he was planning.

Dream slowly raised a single finger up to George's left foot, dragging his nail down the bottom of it. George flinched and let out a soft squeak, attempting to pull at his legs again. 

"Ah, noho!" Both of his hands gripped tighter to whatever they were near, one gripping the pillow and one falling to hold onto the couch cushion he was laying on. He gasped when he felt Dream tighten his grip even more. "Dreheam, don't– don't do that-"

"What do you mean don't do that?! I thought you wanted me to help distract you!" Dream feigned confusion, dragging the same fingernail up and down George's left sole as he spoke, relishing in the way George's foot kept jumping in his hold and his giggles picked up almost immediately. 

"Y-yeah Ihi wanted you to— to distract me, not— Dream!" George bit his lip to stifle his giggles, clamping a hand over his mouth as Dream started scratching at his heel unbearably lightly with all five fingers now. 

"Not what, George? What am I doing?" Dream asked with a smug smirk on his face, smile only widening when George shook his head in response. Dream migrated his scritching to the arch of George's foot. George's giggles turned into full on laughter, bright and breathy and happy. Dream didn't think he would ever want to stop if George kept laughing like that.

"Dreheheheam plehehehease!" 

"You still haven't answered my question, how am I supposed to know what you're asking for if you don't help me out here, huh?" 

"Yohohou know whahahat yohohou're dohoing! Ihihihit t-ahaha!" 

"Aww, come on, you were so close, you got this!" Dream teased, continuing to move his fingers upwards until he was wiggling his fingers just under George's toes. This made his laughter shoot up in volume again, as his back arched instinctively off the couch at the feeling.

"PLEHEHEHEASE! It tihihickles! Ihihihit tihihihickles, Dreheheheam, plehease, it's so BAHAHAHA!" 

"It tickles?" Dream asked incredulously, switching to wiggling his fingers as quickly as possible up and down George's left foot in feather-light motions. His laughter jumped in pitch, laced with squeaky giggles and hiccupy breaths. "I never would've guessed!"

"Nahahaha– Dreheam!" George pulled the pillow he was laying on out from behind his head in favor of holding it tightly to his chest and hiding his face in it, squeezing his eyes shut as he squirmed around. 

"Hmm, I wonder if the other foot is just as ticklish as this one?" Dream asked out loud, obviously a rhetorical question, but George felt his chest swell and his face heat up, and he felt compelled to respond. 

"No!" He replied simply, shaking his head behind the pillow and trying to pull his right leg out of Dream's tight headlock.

"No?"

"Mm-mm!"

"It's not ticklish like the other one?"

"Mm-mm!" George giggled at the playfulness of the situation, lifting his head slightly from the pillow to look up at Dream. However, the second he saw Dream looking back at him, upper body facing him while still keeping his legs completely immobile, he couldn't help but flush at the attention and hide his face again.

"Well, then I guess you'll have no problem with me doing this, since you're obviously not ticklish here, right?" 

"Dreheam don't– NOHOHO!" Dream had started scratching his nails up and down George's foot as quickly as he could, and George's squirming returned with more intensity than ever before. Eventually, through all his wiggling, he managed to pull one of his ankles from Dream's headlock, using it to push at Dream's thigh in an attempt to put him away.

Dream noticed quickly and grabbed George's ankles, one in each hand, to pull them back together. 

"Uh oh!" Dream said with an exaggerated gasp, making George giggle again at the antics and shake his head. He tried to pull at his legs again, but found that the tickling had only made him more tired, and his giggles only made his legs feel weak. "We got a man down, we gotta fix it!"

"Nohoho, Dream plehease, you- can't you figure out another way to keep me awake?" George pleaded, looking up at Dream from behind the pillow again. His question was met with only a smirk, and Dream pushed George's legs down onto the couch and swung himself over them to straddle his calves, facing away from George and towards his feet. George giggled in anticipation as he found it nearly impossible to move his legs at all, especially considering Dream was much bigger than him and, especially in this situation, much stronger than him as well. 

"There, much better, don't you think?"

"Noho!" George protested, twisting his ankles as much as he could and curling his toes.

"Damn, that's too bad," Dream quit his stalling and used both hands, now free of holding any kicking limbs, to run his fingertips up and down George's soles. George couldn't help but throw his head back in laughter, hugging his pillow tight to his chest and scrunching up his nose at the sensation.

"Ahaha, Dreheheheam, it– ahaha, stohop ihihit!" George giggled, and in a quick burst of strength he decided to reach up and hit the back of Dream's shoulders with the pillow. Dream couldn't help but laugh at the soft impact, reaching behind him to grab the pillow and copy the action back by lightly hitting George's stomach. George also laughed at the hit, gasping when Dream dragged the pillow away instead of giving it back to him.

"No, no, noho! Give that bahahack!" George tried to follow the object with his hands as he propped himself up on his elbows, but he was just a second behind. Dream dropped it on the other side of the couch, out of his reach, and immediately went back to skitter his nails against George's feet. George shot up to a sitting position at the feeling, unsure what to do with his hands with his comfort pillow now stolen from him, and decided on grabbing at the sides of Dream's t-shirt for stability. "Dreheheheam!"

"Hm?" Dream hummed, half paying attention, but listening enough to notice that George was sitting up by how close his voice had become. He scooted up a bit, making sure George had enough room to sit comfortably while also making sure he could still tickle him effectively. He had his priorities set, of course. 

"Ihit reheally tihihickles!" 

"Awww, poor Georgie can't handle a little tickling? Is the tickling too much for him?" Dream teased, relishing in the way George groaned at his words and let go of his shirt to hide his face in his hands. George rested his forehead against Dream's shoulder as he hid, muffled giggles still steadily flowing from behind his hands. "I'm almost done, okay? Just a little bit more to make sure you're fully awake!" 

"Buhuhut Ihihi already ahaham!" George couldn't help but whine, and Dream knew he should finish up soon, as he didn't want to risk actually making George uncomfortable, or overwhelming him. Dream used one of his hands to hold the top of George's right foot, and with his other he brought two fingers over to scratch along the side of George's foot near his big toe. George let out a squeak at that, hands flying away from his face to go back to holding Dream's shirt. After a couple seconds, his hands just ended up resting against Dream's sides, face still buried in his shoulder. "DREHEAM– Dreheheheam! Plehe– hehe, plehease finish uhuhuhup, plehehehease," George giggled, trying to communicate that he was reaching his limit pretty fast.

"Okay, okay, I got you, George. We're gonna skip to the grand finale, alright?" He gradually slowed his fingers down until they were softly dragging up and down George's soles, waiting for a response. "Georgie? Is that alright?"

George squeaked at the movement of Dream's fingers, the slow tickles almost maddening but also surprisingly soothing. He nodded his head against Dream's shoulder, coupled with a soft "mhm!" that Dream almost didn't catch. He wasn't having a bad time– he could handle a big finale, even if the nervous butterflies in his tummy and anticipation giggles bubbling up in his chest wanted him to say otherwise.

"Great." George didn't even have to look at Dream to know how big his smile was, the fond tone of his voice and smiley sound to the words were enough for him to guess. George held onto Dream tighter, squeezing his eyes shut, biting his lip to hold back the giggles that wanted so desperately to flow out of him. 

"Dreheam," He mumbled after a few seconds of nothing. "Come ohon."

"Oh, so you want me to tickle you now?"

"Nohoho, juhust get it over wihihith! Ihihi cahan't–" Dream could practically feel the heat of George's flushed face through the fabric of his shirt, and decided to take pity on him. Well, kind of.

"Alright, in threeeee…" 

"Nohohot the cohountdown!"

"Twooooo…" 

"Dreheheheam plehehehease just do ihit!"

"Aaaaaaannnnd–"

"DREAM!" 

Dream didn't even wait to say 'one' before he started to scribble his fingers just underneath George's toes, giggling at the way they instinctively curled up to protect the spot.

"AHAHA NAHAHA DREHEHEAM!" The volume of George's laughter could've shattered glass, and Dream couldn't help but laugh along with him. George's laugh has always been one of his favorites, able to easily light up a room and put smiles on tens of thousands of peoples faces every day. Plus, Dream had to admit, it was pretty fucking cute. 

He was brought back to reality when George's hands jumped up from their resting place at his sides to grab at his arms, trying to pull them away to stop the tickling. Dream let his hands be dragged away, smiling even wider as George pulled Dream's hands back towards Dream's own chest and wrapped his arms around Dream in a hug from behind. He laughed at George's dramatic reaction, reaching down with one of his trapped hands to rub soothing circles into George's arm as he caught his breath. 

"So?" He started once George's breathing had evened out and his arms dropped from around Dream. "Did I help wake you up?"

"Not at all, holy crap, I am exhausted, Dream," George mumbled, turning his head so only one half of his face rested against Dream's back. Dream let out another loud laugh at the response. George continued after a moment, voice soft and smile evident on his face. "That was awful. My hands are shaky," 

"Yeah?" Dream responded sarcastically. 

"And my arms feel like they're gonna fall off, and my legs feel like jelly." 

"Oh, I'm sure."

"And– and my face is so hot, oh my god, I think I have a fever after that." 

"Wow, that does sound really terrible," Dream agreed, sarcastic tone still present, smiling to himself as George giggled in response. "Hey, I'm, uh… I'm sorry if I actually went too far. I know we're joking around, but… you know… I dunno, I don't know what I'm saying, but, I guess, just, let me know if you were actually, like, uncomfortable or anythi—"

"Don't be sorry," George cut him off, moving his arms to wrap around Dream's waist this time, pulling him to lean back slightly while he hugged him close. "I, um... I had fun, actually. " 

"You did? Honestly?" Dream could feel him nod against his shoulder, and he sighed in relief. 

"Plus, this means now I can do this," 

"What?" Dream didn't even register what George had said before he felt two fingers digging into his ribs, causing him to let out a squeal and squeeze his arms to his sides. "No! Geohorge!" He pushed himself off George's legs, watching as he immediately curled his knees to his chest and smiled up at him.

"I deserve to give you a taste of your own medicine!" 

"Oh, I'll show you what you deserve," Dream reached out to poke at George the same way he had been poked, and George only reached to poke back.

That cycle repeated for a while, the living room of the Dream Team household filled with shared giggles and undignified squeals. 

George couldn't have had a better welcoming to his new home.