Domestic ❧ Skephalo AU

Chapter 41.) Ain't Nobody Calming This Storm

A/N #1: This sucks to muuuuuch but I'm chronically sleep-deprived and I can't get any lower than this. Anyway, a heavy (and I mean HEAVY) dialogue chapter, especially towards the end because my brain shut off.

CW/TW: Mentions of kidnapping, murder, non-descriptive vomiting, and brief implications of violence.

❧ ________________________ ❧

"Woah, I figured all humans were dumbasses but that's crazy."

"Language."

"Ugh, you even sound like him!"

Chuckling, Skeppy turned his attention to the grayscale shores, ignoring the way Dream would scoop piles of ashy sand into his palms and sprinkle it over his hair. He wasn't going to complain since he couldn't feel it, only aware of what Dream was doing when sand slid down the corners of his eyes and pooled against his hips.

He didn't know why Dream kept choosing a colorless beach. The water was near black and the sand was a dirty shade of gray. A cloudless sky loomed over, a vast canvas of gray and what looked to be the sun. He couldn't tell though, as the mass in the sky was darker than the sea. Peering at it was like peering into the void and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't escape its empty gaze.

"So you've been flirting, kissing, and cuddling for what - almost a year - and it hadn't registered he had feelings for you too until you made him cry in a Storebucks?"

"I didn't mean to make him cry!" There was a slight pause before Skeppy reached down and splashed Dream with a wave of sand. "And it's pronounced Starbucks, like the shit you see in the sky."

"You say that like I've seen the night sky for myself," Dream scoffed, dusting his hoodie free of sand before settling down next to the mortal. His confession caught Skeppy's attention in the blink of an eye. Literally.

"Seriously?"

"I've never been to the Surface, Skopper-"

"It's Skeppy."

"I only kinda know what it looks like because of other people's dreams. If I don't cause nightmares and stuff, their subconscious does all the crafting. I've seen sunny skies, faceless street cleaners, coffee cups, cats. I see the world through the dreams of people and animals alike, but that's stuff I'll never see in person."

That was... depressing. Having to experience the beauty of life through sheer memories and figments of imagination sounded like it sucked, like being strapped to a chair and forced to watch as the reality of world peace or the cure to world hunger was being waved about like a pamphlet. It was taunting in nature.

Acknowledging he was starting to sympathize with each and every demon he's come across - which was only three but still - Skeppy looked over at Dream, noticing how the tufts of hair that poked out from beneath his hood would blow to the side, perfectly synchronized with a breeze that wasn't there.

"So," he started with a cough, "dogs do have dreams?"

"Yeah. I don't visit them too much, though. I prefer cats and their dreams of world domination."

Skeppy squinted at the child beside him. "You're joking, right?"

"Maybe, maybe not. I won't snitch," Dream teased, digging his heels into the sand and pushing up mounds at his feet. A beat of silence passed between them before he chuckled again. "There's this one kitty I really like. A stray, I think. She might be a pet, but all she has are nightmares of being attacked while sleeping under a big metal box. I try to make the nightmares go away, but cats sleep for so long and I don't have the time or energy to keep it that way."