Meth-ical Story

CHAPTER 2 - UNCERTAIN

After the trio had hung out, Dream couldn't help but feel a bit down casted. He wasn't sad (he had no reason to), something just made him feel off. Never mind that because today, he was supposed to hang out with Cross. 

Cross started his redemption arc way earlier than the rest of Dream's brother's gang, hence why so many A.Us were more comfortable with him roaming around. Not so much for the rest of the sanses, but they were still trying and that's all that matters. Nightmare, however, was his own story. He doesn't care much for a 'redemption arc'. He still torments a couple A.Us every now and then. 

Dream stood at his oven with a vintage kettle heating up water. He opened a nearby ceramic container that was used for holding teabags. It was rare he ever found soaking leaves. Being stuck in stone does a lot. As he reached inside the container, he heard the clank of his fingers hitting the bottom. Never in his life was he so happy for wasting money on teabags. The main problem now was to find them. 

He opened cabinets both high and low. Almost all of them were left wide open yet he somehow still couldn't find the bags. He currently had his entire upper half consumed into a cabinet underneath his sink. That area was usually home to cleaning chemicals, but Dream was desperate to find stupid bags. 

A sudden knock at the door would've made him jump if it wasn't for the wood above his head. The sound of his skull making contact with his cabinet could've been compared to a gunshot for anyone standing nearby. With a swear, he quickly crawled out and rushed over to his door. The door hinges squeaked as Dream (attempted) to confidently stand at the frames. Cross, who was in shock from the door being swung open at that pace, blinked. Seeing the phone in his hand, Dream could tell he was alarmed and unsure if he should enter or not. With a smile, he stepped to the side to clear the doorframe for the other. 

Cross slowly shuffled inside, all while continuing to eye Dream. 

"Sorry. I was looking for teabags." Dream bashfully smiled. He walked away from the door, unknowingly leaving it wide open and continued to look for the tea bags. Cross took it upon himself to close the door behind himself and walked over to the nearby island the separated the kitchen from the living room. 

"Is it this right here?" He called out while looking inside a plastic bag. 

Dream stood up and walked over. With an annoyed sigh he grabbed the box and went back next to the stove. "I can't believe myself."

With a laugh, Cross walked into the kitchen and began closing all the cabinets. "Happens to the best of us."

Suddenly, the kettle went off and Dream quickly picked it up. He immediately realized he never placed mugs. As soon as he placed the kettle down, Cross came over with two mugs, each with their own bag of leaves. Dream muttered a quick 'thanks' before pouring water inside each cup. 

While the two waited for the flavor to set into the water, they stood near the counter in silence. Dream had quietly been nodding to himself meanwhile, Cross had found entertainment in the water changing colors. It seemed like something Ink would do. 

"So..." Cross started. 

"So..?"

"How are the others doing?" He continued, apparently trying to start up a conversation. 

"The othe- Oh! The others." Dream laughed to himself, "Yeah, they're good...they're good." 

Cross nodded and continued to stare at the water. "And..yourself?" 

"Decent."

Cross wasted no time before eyeing the other.

"Well- I'm alive." 

"Did Ink do something?"

Baffled, Dream made eye contact with the monochromic skeleton. "What government sent you?" Cross smiled, waiting for Dream to continue. It took a minute for him to realize before sighing, "I wouldn't say yes, but I wouldn't say no."   

"What stupid thing did he do now?" 

"That's the problem- I don't know!" Dream burst. "He's just being weird in a way. Weird-er, I should say." 

"Weird like how?" 

"Maybe weird isn't the right word, but he keeps talking about this new project but he's being secretive about it. Usually, he would rant until time's end about what his projects are about and what he plans on doing, but he isn't." Dream vented. 

"Maybe he wants it to be a surprise." Cross implied, but even he sounded uncertain. 

"I hope so." Dream sighed. "I really hope he's not doing anything stupid."

"He's probably doing something stupid." The other dryly laughed before yanking out the tea bags and throwing them away. As Dream begins to clean up some of the access water, Cross continues to speak to the other, "I think you should just talk to him about it." He sighed after realizing the other was still worrying. 

"But-"

"You're worrying about it too much. It's Ink of all people." 

Dream stood and thought to himself for a moment. He noticed Cross walking over with the other's phone. "Text him." 

"You're right." Dream agreed, "I should just tell him." 

"Man, I should be a therapist." 

Dream shook his head with a smile and began looking for Ink's contact. After sending the message, Ink came online and read it almost immediately. He felt a little better after communicating with his friend (still receiving absolutely no information about his 'project'). As he was typing a response, he noticed Cross texting on his own phone. He subconsciously glanced at his screen and noticed Ink's profile picture. 

He began worrying again. 


___________________________


Dream never brought up the situation that happened. Cross left after some time and Dream was once again left alone to ponder with his thoughts. It wasn't a nice feeling. 
Dream was pretty sure Blue wasn't available at the moment to hang out. Today was Wednesday and Wednesdays were dedicated to training, as was Thursday and Saturday.

By process of elimination, that left Ink. And so, Dream decided to pop up at Ink's place, much like how they have done to each other in the past. It was close to being an everyday thing between the two. 

As Dream stood outside, he noticed it seemed pretty similar to the last time he'd seen it. As Dream (broke in again), he noticed Ink at the kitchen counter with his back facing the door. 
The guardian looked around the inside and seen majority of the bottles that was here last time had disappeared as well as some garbage bags. Something that stood out was a pair of sandals on the floor which Dream found silly. He knew Ink doesn't like stuff on his feet so seeing that inside was a bit funny. 
When the door closed, Ink turned around and abruptly jumped and turned around while using his body to cover what was on the counter. 

"Dream! I didn't know you were coming over today." Ink nervously smiled while taking a nearby towel to cover what looked like a bowl. "What's up?" He asked as he turned around and walked over to his friend. 

"Nothing much. I just wanted to pop in, y'know? Kind of like how we used to." Dream sadly smiled. He didn't mean to, but he noticed Ink appeared to look a bit sad at that, almost like he felt bad. Ink wasted no time before wrapping his arms around the other in a big hug. 

"I'm sorry we haven't been hanging out as much. I've just been really busy 'n stuff." He said as Dream's chest muffled Ink's speech. 

"Yeah, I get that." Dream gently swayed in the hug with Ink as the two laughed for a bit. 

Ink gives one final, yet strong squeeze that made Dream yelp. With a mischief smile, Ink let go of his best friend and stepped back. Dream sarcastically eyed the other before pressing his 'lips' in a small smile. 

"Well, I'll take it as you're busy at the moment." 

Ink awkwardly nodded, still feeling a bit guilty. 

"Blue and I were supposed to hang out this Friday if you would like to tag along." 

"I'll see if I can make it." 

They said their good-byes. Just as Dream was about to leave, he caught a glimpse of another skeleton on top the stairs. Too bad his portal got in the way of his vision.