Chapter Text
The multiverse is a complex place, which obviously means that Dream cannot know each corner of it as intimately as he’d like. So, for now, he’ll settle with checking out a few universes that interest him every so often, or at least when he has the time to spare.
Surface timelines are his favourite because of the cities. Something about the urban sprawl gets to him— the buildings stretch high into the sky, like they’re welcoming him into their warm embrace. Ah, well, maybe he just likes the presence of other people too. The noise is always pleasant to his ears, at least: a pretty reminder. We’re still here.
The sky is blue today, though there are some clouds. The sun beams down at them brightly, like it always will. All things considered, it’s a nice day.
Generally Dream busies himself with walking around, speaking to the locals and seeing what the state of things is. As far as these sorts of timelines go, it’s fairly average: the only major change is in the human that fell, but that’s not drastic by any means.
He breathes a sigh of relief. He does love a good Classic offshoot.
There’s not really much else he wants to do, so… hmm. Well, he guesses he could shop? Maybe he could buy some ingredients, but… no, Swap doesn’t really cook and Ink would probably blow up their house, so that’s kind of out of the question. Maybe clothes? They don’t need more clothes either, though, so…
He’s dragged out of his thoughts by a strange feeling on the edge of his aura: something alien, he thinks. Maybe there’s someone he can help around here after all?
They’re approaching him, or at the very least they’re getting closer: he weighs the pros and cons of approaching them himself, but the likelihood that they actually know him is small enough that it’s probably fine to walk over to them without freaking them out.
The streets aren’t that crowded, which is good because it means he’ll probably find them easier. For a moment he wishes that either Swap or Ink were here to talk him out of this, or give him advice, or something, because suddenly the lonliness is getting on his nerves and he’s wondering if this is as really as good of an idea as he thought, if it’s more selfish than he wants to think.
It’s all for a good cause, so it’s not like it really matters if he’s doing it for himself anyways.
He can feel them getting closer: maybe nearer to the park or something? Whoever it is, he can feel their presence more strongly now: definitely an outcode, at the very least. Their emotions are so out of sync with everyone else’s…
If people’s feelings are a song, then their home universe sets the tone: this universe, peaceful as it is, has a bit of a slow, warm feeling to it. The outcode’s, on the other hand, has an undertone of nervousness they can’t quite shake: fear, maybe? Desperation, if he had to guess- he’s not keen on sticking his nose too far into the negative side of things, as it was. It feels… unholy, somehow, like he’s breaking some sacred law, scorning the honourable dead.
He shakes himself. Focus…
It doesn’t take that much longer to figure out who it is, mostly because he doubts skeleton monsters are more common here than they are normally (which is to say, rare), and because when they spot him looking over at them curiously, they look at least a little alarmed.
He waves over at them. He guesses he should’ve expected some nerves: most outcodes have heard of him, but he guesses he can be a little imposing if they’re the jittery type. Sure enough, they freeze. Dream beckons them over with the warmest smile he can muster. Blue is- Blue was better at handling people, especially since he used to be a bit… adverse, let’s say, but he’s definitely a lot better now: partly from necessity, but still. A for effort, you know?
They approach him of their own accord, at least: he really would hate to have to chase them down or something. The closer they get, the more detail he can make out. Internally he starts to profile them just a hint- definitely a skeleton, he was totally right on that count: a Sans, most likely. He probably has his own name if he’s been jumping around the multiverse on his own already, though: there’s something that looks like a chocolate wrapper poking out of his pocket that looks to be from a fell-verse, though he’s honestly not sure. Maybe his universe is a bit rougher as well, considering the scar on his cheekbone- oh, actually, he could be from a fell-verse himself—!
“Hello,” the outcode mutters, “D- did you want somethi–”
“Oh!” Dream says, startled, “Not, uh, not really, I thought you were someone else… ah- well, hopefully you won’t mind if I stick with you for a little while I try to find them?”
“I… I- I guess,” he replies. “...what do they look like?”
“Oh, you know,” Dream says, even though he really doesn’t. “Purple-ish eyes– skeleton, like both of us, that’s why I mistook you for him. Actually- I forgot, you’re an outcode, aren’t you? Sans?”
The Sans jerks with something almost fearful. “I- y- yeah.” He ducks his head. “Um… ‘m name’s Cross.”
Dream beams at him. “Nice to meet you, Cross! I’m Dream.”
“Oh. Uh…” Cross looks into the crowd briefly. “What’s… what’s your friends na—”
Dream interjects with a, “Oh, wait, I was wondering- were you doing anything before this?” and Cross seems to conveniently forget he’s mentioned anyone else. Shame he’s not more altruistic, but can you blame him?
“I was…” Cross seems to fluster at this immediately- dusting his cheekbones with a lovely hint of red. “...um, I was…” He looks away. “I heard there were some… uh, my- one of my friends mentioned there was some good chocolate around here.”
Dream perks up. Chocolate’s definitely odd, in terms of taste (Ink won’t touch the stuff unless it’s 100% cacao, and Swap doesn’t seem to care one way or another), but it’s not unwelcome. “Oh!” he says. “I was going to check that out myself! Do you mind if I go with you?” You’re interesting to me.
“I… sure, I guess,” Cross replies. “It should be… this way.”
If Dream’s being honest with himself, this is the easiest conversation he’s ever had. He makes a mental note to get Cross’ number, or at least find some way to keep in touch with him. It’s kind of hard, trying to make new friends in the multiverse, but it’s always easier with friends!
He gestures to himself meekly. “I’m Dream.”
Is this how his brother felt? He picks at the divots in his bone, like stone’s still left over in the cracks. Was he too harsh on him? Should he have seen the signs, or been kinder, or listened to him more? Should they have never spoken to anyone else in the first place? Ink’s nice enough, but he doesn’t really feel emotions, and… well, uh, it’s some sort of start.
The walk is short, and Cross is mostly silent- Dream, briefly, considers striking up more conversation, but he gets the feeling Cross really isn’t the type to—
“So what’s your deal?” he asks. Dream blinks.
“Ha, uh… what do you… mean?” he replies, caught completely off guard.
“You’re… you’ve got yellow eyes,” Cross replies, after a while. “I didn’t think you could do that.”
“Oh,” Dream says. “Yeah, it’s part of my… magic, you know?”
Cross nods. “Justice?”
“Yeah, exactly!” Dream lies.
“...that’s weird. I was expecting something else.”
“Well, you know,” he says. “It’s just important to me.”
“Justice…” Nightmare taps his chin. “Is it weird to have a favourite magic type? I like it, though. More than the others.”
Dream stares back at him, eyes wide. The sun beats down on them, blissful and quiet. Nightmare continues. “Though, if I’m being entirely honest, most of them are all fairly close in terms of ranking… hmm, actually, I’ll admit I prefer Perseverance over Determination by a large margin.”
“Really?” Dream perks up. “I don’t really see much difference between the two?”
Nightmare shrugs. “I’ve always thought of it as… well, with Determination you have the will to go on because you want to. With Perseverance it felt more like… the need to go on, because you have no other choice.”
“Wow,” Dream says, not understanding but still in awe, “That’s super cool.”
(And yet he can’t stop himself from thinking: aren’t those the exact same thing?)
“Oh,” Cross says. He pauses. “I’ve always liked… Perseverance, I guess.”
Dream tries to stop his smile from wavering. “Yeah,” he replies. “It’s not a bad colour, either.”
Cross shrugs and says nothing else- if he does, Dream doesn’t exactly hear him. He’s too focused on his breathing, making sure it’s not going too fast and not too slow– if he keeps himself perfectly composed in the face of some mild distress, he’ll be fine! Heck, he’ll probably get a new friend out of this if he doesn’t totally fuck it up, so that’s great.
Cross stops abruptly and Dream, who isn’t all there, almost walks past him and into the crowd of people. “This should be it,” Cross says.
Dream glances at the storefront- well, it looks nice, but most of the shops here are. Well, maybe it’ll be more unique on the inside than the outside, but that’s fine. He guesses it doesn’t matter too much- and besides, Cross seems more than excited, although his expression doesn’t seem to make that fact entirely clear.
It’s almost a little boring, in a way, which Dream guesses is a decent thing to be by all accounts: no conflict, no rage, but also no joy or happiness. At the very least it means that Cross doesn’t entirely hate him, or finds him tolerable to be around. Most people tend to do that, which… well, obviously that’s just a mild side effect of his aura, but it shouldn’t be strong enough to completely change someone’s thoughts on him. He’d like to think that means he’s doing something right, at least.
Cross is looking at the displays on occasion, but mostly at the bars of chocolate. Somewhere distant in Dream lights up at the idea- he really should get him a gift, shouldn’t he? That would solidify some sort of positive connection between them, wouldn’t it?
Dream leans forwards to whisper. “Hey, which ones do you like most?”
Cross looks back at him, seemingly startled, and shrugs. “I prefer bars… semi-sweet, not too bitter but not sweet enough that you forget you’re eating chocolate…” He picks one up and squints at the label. “Something like this should be fine.”
Dream glances at the label. Stars, that’s expensive.
…then again, he does have money to burn. Lots of it- gold as a currency is fairly stable but in some economies it’s worth way more than others. If he’s ever in need he can probably just sell some of his stuff anyways– though they get enough donations it hardly even matters. He flags down a store worker and whispers something into their ear. They blanch immediately, look between him and Cross, and then nod before skittering off to the back room. Oh, uh. Well, maybe he’s ordered a bit too much?
Cross looks incredibly worried. “...what did you do?” he asks.
“I put in an order? It might have been a bit big, though.”
Cross frowns a bit but doesn’t respond until the person returns. It takes him a while to count out the gold (he has to do it in bags, which might be a bit of a hassle for the cashier, but… he doesn’t really have anything else he can do. He tipped them, though! Surely that makes up for it!) but he eventually finishes, and they shakily pass over a box of chocolate bars. “T- thank you for your purchase,” they murmur, ducking their head and walking into the back immediately.
Dream thrusts the box into Cross’s direction as soon as he can. Cross blinks.
“It’s a gift?” Dream says.
“Oh,” says Cross. His mouth moves, like he’s trying to find words and can’t. “...Thank you.”
“It’s not a problem,” he beams back. “By the by, do you mind if I get your number?”
Cross immediately reaches into his pocket, stores the chocolate into his phone’s dimensional box (ooh, good call), and then types Dream’s number very carefully in.
They have to part ways a bit after that (Ink called him while he was debating whether or not to go to a different AU or speak to Cross further, and Cross said something about a job), but Dream feels fairly good about himself regardless.
He does like making friends, although he is a bit out of practise.
He checks back on Cross’s name in his phone– well, he hasn’t given himself a nickname, which is a bit of a shame, so Dream takes it upon himself to think of something. He’s not terribly original, but…
…well, ‘X BFF’ is a bit of a stupid joke, but it is a little funny.