Chapter Text
Dream sighed as he mindlessly scrolled on his phone; through various pictures of random places and faces of people who he didn’t know anything about besides their name and their pretty smiles. While people were out living a summer filled with adventure and laughter, he stood at the register of an empty, dusty vinyl and bookstore.
The small space was occupied with a few rows full of lined up crates holding many vinyls in their respectable sleeves on the left. A vintage recorder player sat on an island in the corner closest to where he always sat at the register. He would mindlessly pick a random vinyl with a somewhat interesting sleeve and drown out the music while daydreaming or as he was doing now, messing around with his phone.
On the right, there were tall dark oak bookcases that loomed over the rest of the store. Stocked with various stories of which he didn’t care for. The dust could visibly be seen through the old, musty air. It would taunt the light as it floated through the unnecessarily large windows. Even though Dream dusted every morning before opening, he just couldn’t ever get rid of the damn grime. This caused him to wear a face mask to help with his asthma. The sun always bore through said windows making the temperature of the small shop take on a consistent, uncomfortable heat.
He fiddled with his mask with a frustrated grumble and then moved on to tug the sleeves of his hoodie upwards, the warmth getting to him, yet he refused to take it off. He was always told how stubborn he was, and might as well keep up with his image. A trait he got from his father. In fact, he was the reason Dream was here.
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“I’m not going to leave the store closed for a small cold.” His father sternly declared maintaining eye contact, his glassy eyes meeting Dream’s who were tired and frustrated.
“Yes you are, it’s not healthy for you to push yourself--.” He was interrupted by the harsh coughs that made Dream tense up.
The silence never followed as the raspy breaths of his dad filled the room. People coughing always struck a fear deep within him. He knew what it was like to barely breathe and hated the thought of it happening to others, especially if it was preventable.
“Dad, this is serious!” Dream exclaimed frantically flailing his arms anywhere they would go.
As if it would help produce a clearer argument. A frown fell upon his father’s face as he shook his head. Dream let out a frustrated shout and ran his hand through his hair trying to calm his own breathing and rationalize his thoughts.
“Can you at least tell me why you won’t?” He finally whispered, staring at the floor, his body tensing as his father didn’t respond.
“I never closed the store before and I don’t plan on starting now.” That caught his attention, causing his eyes to snap up to analyze his father’s face who was now the one looking away.
He opened his mouth to bite back a retort before he looked, really looked at his father. His eyes were not just glassy but dull and tired, surrounded by wrinkles that were a result of consent stress. His hair that used to be a darker shade of dirty blonde then his own, now greyed significantly.
“How about… I look after the store for you until you come back healthy?” He suggested fiddling with the cuff of his hoodie. His father still stared off to the side of him before giving him a brisk nod. Dream let out a sigh of relief, some of the tension leaving him. “I could drop you off at the hospital?” His father grumbled, waving Dream off grumbling how he was fine and didn’t need any help. Dream rolled his eyes huffing out a tired laugh.
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He had found out later that night that his father was hospitalized because he was having abnormalities in his breathing and wanted to find out what was the problem. His father called him at five in the morning demanding he get a start on the day and take care of the store. To which Dream grumpily replied multiple times saying he already knew. He practically grew up in this shop, however it lost its magical appeal ever since he grew up.
He was honestly quite interested in whoever decided to waste their time in the small shop. Since you could get anything in the store online easily. There were certain people who would come by. Most of the time it was quiet people who would scan the titles of books or flip through the vinyls and occasionally buy something. The other portion were people more on the older side being polite and sometimes striking up a small conversation. When no one was in the store (which was quite often) he would clean and organize the contents. When that was done he would sit there wishing that he never agreed to this stupid task. Curse his stubbornness.
He would also get a few phone calls from his dad every now and then asking how the store was, never really mentioning his condition. It was nice though, despite the fact that his father and him butted heads because of their shared trait of stubbornness, they got along pretty well. His dad would bother him about the foods that were offered and Dream would laugh and chatter on about how boring it was just sitting there all day. His dad would just chuckle which annoyed him.
“What’s so funny old man?” He grumbled leaning back in his chair.
“Oh I remember you always begging to stay and sleep over at your favorite place… The times sure do change.” Dream rolled his eyes.
“Ha ha, How did you manage to stay here everyday and be so content with this lifestyle?” Silence met his ears and he quickly grew to regret his sarcastic banter. His eyes widened a little when he was met with an answer.
“I had your mother, and who knows maybe you’ll find someone as well...”
“The only people that really come by are grandmas.” He shot back earning a laugh from his dad which morphed into a cough causing Dream to reflexively hold his breath.
“Doesn’t necessarily mean finding someone to love, maybe just a friend?” Dream rolled his eyes at that.
“If you find me best friends with an old lady, send help.” He whined with a smirk. Their conversation continued for a while before his dad complained about being tired even though it was barely past noon. He hung up anyways and continued to try and make use of his time.
It was around five when the small, rare jiggling of the bell hovering above the door alerted him that someone entered the store. He looked up and saw three young little boys. It shocked him greatly but he realized he didn’t care that much and went back to stocking some books onto the shelves.
He attempted to ignore them but their loud cheerful banter filled up the room. He couldn’t help but glance over to see the lively trio that looked to be made up of seven year olds. There was a short boy with brown hair that fell down to his eyes like a curtain. He kept pushing his hair back only for it to return to its original state, though he didn’t seem to mind. His brown eyes shone through either way. He had rosy cheeks that complemented his wide smile as he cracked another joke to the others. Then there was another one that was pretty tall, he had dark blonde hair with various different shades tossed to one side. The way he held himself showed the kid to be more reserved, but didn’t mind jumping in when the short one rambled on about who knows what. The last one was loud at first joking around with the other two. He was between the two before in height acting sort of like an equilibrium. He had blonde hair as well but it was a light more golden shade that was messily brushed, random strands holding the ghost of a curl. He had a lively energy that fueled the other two.
Overall not the kind of people he expected to see.
Dream took his place behind the register and fiddled with his phone swiping through the apps suddenly invested in the unusual customers. He peeked up and noticed the group was flipping through the vinyls laughing every now and then. He suddenly got embarrassed by the realization that three kids walking into the store was the most exciting thing that had happened to him this whole week. He shook off the honestly sad self revelation, but he was invested at this point.
When he finally came back into reality he noticed that the short and tall boys left to browse the book shelves, probably to make fun of some titles or covers. He looked at the golden haired boy who held up a sleeve considerably looking at the cover art before carefully flipping it over and scanning over the words on the back. The boy’s face quickly scrunched up in a display of what Dream could only guess was frustration. The boy looked around noticing his friends moved on, but wasn’t bothered by it. In fact, he turned and marched his way over to the counter where Dream was currently residing at.
“Excuse me?” He declared, the boy was almost glaring at him with his sharp blue eyes; Dream had just noticed.
“Uh, yes?” He sputtered out inwardly cringing at his answer though the kid didn’t seem bothered by it.“What can I do to help you?” He asked, trying again. The kid’s eyes brightened up seeing as how he didn’t have to ask for help himself.
“Read this for me would you?” He demanded his voice was noticeably lowered (maybe not to attract the attention of his friends?). Dream just blinked, this really was the most interesting thing that had happened to him all week. “Please?” The kid tried again with a little desperation attached to his voice this time.
“Yeah of course! Sorry about that…'' He trailed off as he gently picked up the vinyl. The kid watching his every move; head just barely making it over the counter. “This one is called Mellohi.” He stated eyes shifting off from the title to meet the boy’s.
“Can you play it for me?” Dream didn’t expect that. No one has really ever requested for him to play a record but there wasn’t really any reason for him to not. “Well?” The boy complained pulling Dream back into reality.
“Yeah, hold on.” Dream turned to the record player. Lightly pulling the needle off and picking up the disk’s edges with the palm of his hands to avoid touching it. He then replaced the now empty spot with Mellohi situating the needle and moved back when the song started.
It was a peculiar song to put it simply. It had a weird vibe to it that Dream didn’t expect. It for sure wasn’t a song he would use as ambiance for the store. The song was eerie and made him scrunch his face, questioning why out of all the songs the kid would choose this song.
As the song finished up he felt a tug at the end of his hoodie, Dream glanced down at the boy whose eyes were wide and sparkling, his mouth hanging open in pure awe.
“Did you like it that much?” Dream inquired a little confused, only to be answered with a flurry of head nods. He stumbled back a little off centered, before latching back onto Dream’s hoodie with his little fist.
“That was the coolest thing ever!” He exclaimed with a toothy grin causing Dream to laugh a little. “It was like a detective finding clues to find the bad guy only for the bad guy to get away and they are always trying to catch the other for a mistake!” He rambled on using his free hand to help narrate his little story.
“Huh, I suppose it was sort of like that…” Dream agreed, trailing off as he recalled the song with the boy’s added perspective.
“I have a knick knack for changing people's lives.” The boy proclaimed puffing out his chest. Causing Dream to laugh, this kid sure was a character. The boy’s bright demeanor suddenly turned dark.
“What’s up?” Dream asked hesitantly.
“I want the disk but don’t have anything on me right now…” The boy admitted crestfallen, before his face brightening up again. “I have an idea!” He announced and Dream nodded as he continued. “Put the disk aside for me and I’ll come back later!”
“You want me to set it aside?”
“Yeah, that’s what I just said wasn’t it?” The kid remarked letting go of his hold on Dream’s hoodie to cross his arms.
“Okay…” Dream stated as he put the vinyl in it’s sleeve and set it on the counter. The boy still looked unsatisfied. “Is there something else?”
“Put my name on it please! I don’t want you to mess it up!” The kid finally confessed with a huff. Dream knew that would never happen since nobody requested he hold onto something for them but that didn’t stop him from grabbing a sticky note before realizing he didn’t even know the kid’s name.
“What’s your name?”
“Oh, Tommy!” The boy declared with a devious smirk. Dream scrawled ‘Tommy’ onto the note before showing the kid who gave a satisfied nod. “Thanks mister!”
“It’s Dream.” He replied, figuring he might as well tell the kid, Tommy blinked before laughing, startling him.
“That’s a silly name!” Tommy barked out with laughter.
“Hey!” He exclaimed, offended by the remark and slightly embarrassed (though he would never admit it).
“Tommy! Come on, let's get out of here!” The shorter boy whined leaning on the door. Tommy huffed before moving his hand up revealing his pinkie.
“Promise me.” He demanded meeting Dream’s eyes with a determined look. Dream found himself intertwining his own pinkie with the boy’s. Tommy nodded with a wide grin turning on his heels and racing out the door with the other two.
Dream stood there blinking slowly and laughed quietly, what a strange kid.