In his younger days, Sam enjoyed morning drives. He loved leaving just before the sun could rise, and parking up at an open field to watch the ball of fire light up the sky. There was always something so satisfying about watching the stars gradually disappear and the clouds turn to white candyfloss. He remembers the cool morning breeze of the summer and driving to Ponk's house to then go to the beach. He loved when it was just the two of them on the golden sands, listening to the gulls overhead and the waves lapping the rocks...
Sam isn't young anymore. It also isn't early in the morning anymore, and instead of picking up Ponk, he's on the hunt for two teenage boys who are probably dealing with a lot of angry emotions.
Out of the two of them, Sam knows that Punz is more likely to act on impulse. Sam has been the one to pick them up from fosters who have had enough and he's on a first name basis with the majority of officers at the station. He just hopes that Punz and Dream have stuck to a reasonable path.
Sam drives past Puffy's and the boys aren't in sight. He goes slow on purpose, eyes scanning the fields.
It takes him an agonising half an hour to find Dream, back against a tree and knees pulled to his chest. He's down a back road that Sam nearly missed.
He parks up his car on the side of the road and gets out. He can feel Dream's sad eyes follow him.
"Hey kid." Sam says and sits down next to Dream.
"I think I messed up Sam. I just wanted things to go right and I messed up." He sniffs and wipes his nose on his sleeve. Sam is only just noticing that he's still in his pyjamas.
"That's okay, siblings argue all the time. I'm sure whatever happened is not as big of a deal as you think it is."
"I doubt it. I want to stay with Puffy but Punz hates her. I can't be separated from Purp and Punz again Sam, I just can't do it."
Sam just wraps an arm around him and pulls him close.
"C'mon, let's get in the car and find Punz, we can talk when we get back. Prime knows we need it."
Dream directs him to roughly where Punz is, but their journey is mostly silent minus the occasional sniff.
Punz is walking on the other side of the road, facing the traffic. He holds a long stick that he is beating the bushes with and seemingly has no interest in the few cars that pass. Sam slows right down and opens his window.
"Get in Punz." He tries to keep his voice calm but can't help the harshness when he sees how uncaring Punz is when he crosses the road without looking, and clambers into the back of the car.
These boys give him grey hairs.
The drive is, again, mostly silent. It's also short and before they know it, they are back at Puffy's.
They sit on the sofas in the living room. Puffy can't stop fiddling with her hair and Dream can't seem to leave his hands alone. Punz is slouched as low as he can comfortably go and has his arms crossed over his chest. Purpled is nervously glancing between everyone and Foolish is playing with his sharks on the carpet.
Sam sits opposite Puffy, mug in his hand. He has been sipping it every so often to break the awkward silence.
"I think this is bullshit." Punz eventually says, causing Foolish to gasp dramatically. "I want to go home."
The last part is said so quietly that Sam almost misses it. Dream doesn't, however, his head snapping towards his brother.
"What does that mean?" He asks quietly, almost as though he is dreading the answer.
"I'm tired of moving all the time knowing I'll never fit in anywhere. The only place I feel safe is our spot...and Sam's. I want to go home to Sam's."
The admission is...well...a lot.
"But at the same time," he continues, "I don't want to be away from you two."
If there is one thing Sam hate more than anything, it's seeing his boys scared to be vulnerable. His boys? Puffy's boys.
"Why don't we take this time to get to know each other?" Puffy speaks up for the first time since they arrived back at the house. "I think the real problem here is mistrust. I think the first impressions we have left on each other have been...not very good?"
"I'm Purpled Was-Taken," Purpled begins, surprising the whole room and even Foolish, "I'm supposedly named after our great-great grandfather who was not of human origin. I like sweets better than chocolate, and fruit more than vegetables. I don't like the dark, and have an irrational fear of chickens."
"I'm Dream Was-Taken," Dream starts before he loses his nerve, " I like cats and hate coffee. I used to be pretty impulsive but I think I've calmed down a bit. I don't know where my name originates from. I don't honestly care."
"Your name originates from our parents having bad taste." Punz jokes, and normalcy returns slightly. "I'm Punz, I like bees, I hate crowds and I was the fastest in one of the schools we went to."
He leaves it at that and Foolish perks up, getting the hang on the exercise.
"Hi, I'm Foolish. I like sharks." He continues to play with his toys and Puffy smiles down at him with fondness.
"I guess I'll go next. I'm Puffy, I used to be a Captain, but that was a very brief period of my life. I have two brothers, one is currently a captain, like I was and the other is mayor of a small town. I'm a sheep hybrid which is cool I guess, except for when it's hot in summer and I have to cut off all my hair."
They all look towards Sam who has now finished his drink and spins the mug between his hands.
"I'm Sam, not short for Samuel. I come from Creeper descent. I am married to Ponk and I worked in construction before this job. Now we know something about ourselves without relying on a bit of paper...what do we think about each other?"
In all honestly, Sam isn't sure how this is going to go down.
Punz shifts in his seat, not wanting to go first, and neither of the other two boys seemingly want to speak. Even Puffy keeps her lips shut.
"I like Dream because he looked after Finley, and Purpled played on the swings with me, and Punz picked out my new toy, and I picked out his. Sam seems cool too, and Puffy is my Mama, so she's my absolute favourite ever!"
"That's nice." Sam agrees, looking around for everyone's reaction. Dream and Puffy share a look of fondness, whilst Purpled looks surprised that he was even mentioned. Punz, in all his stubbornness, looks at least a little guilty that he wanted to leave.
From that point there is idle chatter, and Sam thinks it's progress. Baby steps.
YOU ARE READING
Reputation
Fanfiction"Dream legs it down the alleyway, bag gripped tightly in his hand. His cheeks are already red and angry from the bitter cold wind and his feet numb inside his shoes. He can hear rasped shouts from behind him, and forces his legs to move faster." Or:...
