Chapter Text
the bell on the door chimed, signaling a new customer. the brunette boy behind the counter groaned, the day had already been busy and he had just sat down. it was around lunchtime so the shop was basically empty until 3 pm.
“hi welcome to 404 crystals.” he announced. normally he’d be excited for customers, but he was exhausted.
he stayed seated hoping that the person that just walked in would leave soon with out buying anything.
the customer did not leave right away. in fact they stayed for the better part of an hour in that small shop, just wandering around looking at what seemed every type of crystal in the shop.
after what seemed like ages they walked up to the counter, with one small crystal in their hand. the brunette finally made his way out of his seat, standing at the register when he heard foot steps approaching.
“did you find everything okay?” the brunette asks finally looking up at the person who had walked in. his breath caught in his throat at the sight. the boy in front of him was close to his age, maybe 3-4 years difference. he had wavy blonde hair that sat messily styled on top of his head. his eyes, he assumed, were a beautiful green color. the boy smiled as they made eye contact and the brunette’s face flushed somewhat.
“uh, yeah? i don’t know. my friend was telling me about this place and i’ve never been so i just wanted to check it out. it’s super nice here.” the boy said placing the rock on the counter, reaching for his wallet.
“thank you.” the brunette said quickly. “will that be all?”
“i think so. i’ve taken enough of your time already” he said laughing and scratching the back of his neck.
the brunette picked up the small, black rock that sat on the counter which he quickly recognized as tourmaline.
“tourmaline?” he said as he punched in the numbers on the old register.
“i just thought it was pretty.” the boy said fiddling with his fingers. the brunette wasn’t sure why but he felt inclined to talk to him more, although he was nervous for some reason, it was easy to talk to him.
“well, tourmaline can attract money, and friendship. black tourmaline specifically grounds you and helps rid your body of negative energy. it also helps connect you with others in positive ways. it would be good to put on a bracelet or necklace.” the brunette said packaging the stone in a small padded box. he didn’t normally explain what every beautiful stone did when helping a customer but he had some time, and he just enjoyed talking to the boy.
“that’s actually super cool, i didn’t know that it could do that kind of stuff.” the boy said as he watched the brunette carefully tie a pretty bow on the small box.
“yeah, i have a tourmaline bracelet and it really helps.” the brunette said pointing to a corded bracelet that held a small stone in the middle. “that’ll be $6.58.” he said smiling at the boy.
the boy handed him the money and the exchange was finished, too quickly for either of their liking.
“well, i’ll be back soon. i have a feeling you’ll be seeing me more than you’d like to.” the boy said smiling wide at the small brunette.
“i’ll be here.” he said as the boy walked backwards towards the door.
“see ya....” the boy looked at him expectingly.
“george.” he said smiling with a small wave.
and with that, the boy had left the shop and it was once again empty. george sat down in the wobbly chair once again and pulled out his phone scrolling through twitter for a while.
the bell above the door rang once more signaling someone else had walked in.
“hey boss! i’m here to take over.” the girl said cheerily as she made her way behind the counter.
“oh hey nikki.” he smiled as he gladly stood up to clock out. “don’t forget we close at 5 on sundays and please lock up after you clock out” george said as he made his way to the back room to grab his keys and jacket.
“george, i’ve been working here since you opened, don’t worry.” nikki smiled as she greeted someone who walked in while george was grabbing his things.
george made his way out of the small shop and to the train station. he rushed through the crowd and made it in just enough time to get a train home without having to wait.
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two weeks later george was sat in the same wobbly chair prior. he was making chord bracelets with various crystals. he smiled as he grabbed a piece of tourmaline, remembering the cute boy who’d come in a few weeks ago. he wrapped a thin wire around the crystal to hold it in place within the chord and looped the chord through, making an adjustable knot at the end.
the bells chimed prettily just as george finished the bracelet.
“hey, welcome to 404 crystals!” he happily announced, a direct contrast from last time. he looked up from his spot and saw the boy from two weeks ago. “i see you’re back.” george said standing and meeting the boy at the counter.
“i am!” he said back just as cheery. “that crystal is like witchcraft.” he said giggling. george laughed.
“you’re not too far off. anything i can help you with?” george offered.
“anything for anxiety?” the boy asks.
“well...” george looks at him expectantly.
“clay, but most people call me dream” the pretty blonde boy smiles at him.
“well dream, the most common stone for anxiety is amethyst. i’ve been told it’s a pretty deep purple color, and it’s perfect for anxiety. it’s nicknamed ‘the anxiety alleviator’. but i recommend celestite, because it not only can relieve stress and anxiety but it can also help with obsessive behaviors. it’s also a really pretty blue color, which just so happens to be my favorite.” george finished with a smile.
“can i see the blue one?” dream asked, george would’ve seen the slight red dusted on his face if he hadn’t have turned so quickly. he came around the counter to show dream where the celestite was and only then did he realize just how tall he was. george didn’t like to consider himself short, because he wasn’t, but he had to admit, the blonde in front of him made him look pretty small.
“so here we have our small sized stones, these can be put in a necklace or bracelet if you find one here you like better than the pre-made ones.” george said grabbing a tray full of the pretty blue stones. next he pointed to a shelf filled with larger stones. “these are typically used on altars. i personally use these under a pillow or in a bag of sorts.” george took the tray and made his way back to the counter.
“so the small ones, i can just pick one and you can make it a bracelet?” dream questioned staring wide eyed at the stones, completely unaware of what to do.
“right! just pick one and i’ll turn it into a bracelet. or you can look at our pre-made ones, though i don’t mind making one.” george said helping dream sift through the small rocks. he pointed to one that would be perfect for a bracelet, “how do you feel about this one?”
“george, that’s literally perfect.” dream smiled picking up the crystal observing it.
“why thank you, i’ve been doing this for a while.” george smiled and grabbed chord and wire from where he was working previously. he made the bracelet swiftly and elegantly, clear that he’d been very practiced. dream’s eyes fell to the bracelet rack beside the register.
“is this the one you have?” dream pointed to the bracelet george had been making when he walked in.
“um, oh, yeah! it’s a tourmaline bracelet. it’s the crystal you bought last time.” george said punching in the price for the bracelet.
“can i also get this one?” he said grabbing it off the rack and holding it out to george. their fingers brushed as they passed the bracelet and george’s face lit up.
“sure!” george said with a voice crack, cursing himself in his mind for it. “do you want to keep them out or would you like them packaged?” he said more confidently.
“can i wear them?” dream asked, face lighting up.
‘cute’, george thought. his face flushed at the thought and he looked down at his hands to hide the red.
“of course.” george said punching in the numbers for the other bracelet and reciting his total. dream gave him the cash and placed the rest in the small tip jar beside the register.
“sorry but can you, help me put them on?” dream asked sheepishly. his face had a small dust of pink across his nose and cheeks. george’s face grew hot as he looked into the blonde’s eyes.
“um, sure.” he said sheepishly. dream held his wrist out over the counter and george carefully placed both bracelets on his wrist adjusting them accordingly.
“thank you.” dream smiled.
“of course” george said looking down and smoothing his fingers across the glass counter.
“you’ll see me again soon.” dream said with a wink, turning to leave.
“see you soon then, dream.” george smiled.
“bye george!” dream said over his shoulder as he walked out of the door.
george made his way back to the chair behind the counter with a smile still painted on his face.
----------------------------------------------------------------
the next time the boy returned he brought a friend. the shop was empty once again which george silently thanked whatever god blessed him with this.
“hey welcome to 404 crystals!” george said happily walking up to the counter. “oh hey dream.” he said when he recognized the tall blonde in front of him.
“hey george.” he smiled wide at the brunette in front of him.
“need help with anything?” george said acknowledging the guy beside dream.
“oh no, i’m just going to look around. dream begged me to come here.” said the shorter boy.
“sapnap!” dream said laughing. the laugh sounded odd, but it was music to george’s ears. he smiled wide at the two boys.
“let me know if you need anything.” george said giggling, which brought a bigger smile to dream’s face. george returned to his chair busying himself by sorting crystals into separate trays based on size. the shop was mainly quiet besides the shared laughs between the two boys and the pretty music that played almost silently. the conversation between the boys got louder and george could barely make out what they were saying.
“dream literally just do it. what’s the worst that could happen.” sapnap said a little too loudly for dream’s liking.
“sapnap shut up, why are you so loud?” dream said slapping his friend on the shoulder.
“ok, look, i’ll do it if you don’t.” sapnap sighs.
“fine.” you could hear the eyeroll in dream’s voice as he made his way over to george. george stood up and walked around the counter, leaning his elbows on the counter behind him.
“what can i do for you dream?” george said smiling.
“ok, weird request.” dream said scratching the back of his neck.
“hit me.” george said straightening slightly.
“i was wondering, if maybe i could have your number?” dream finished and george’s face was more red than that of a tomato, if that was even possible. he took a second to process what he’d just been asked and smiled once he calmed himself down.
“well, typically employee’s aren’t supposed to give out their numbers…” george said walking closer to dream. “but it’s a good thing i own the shop, so i make the rules.” dream’s smile widened as he handed his phone to george. george quickly input his number, saving it under ‘gogy ;)’ and giggled as he handed his phone back.
“i guess it is a good thing you make the rules.” dream smiled as he put his phone in his back pocket.
“now, is there anything you’d like to look at today?” george said as he leaned on the side of the counter.
“anything for romance?” dream asks looking directly at george, a slight pink tinting his cheeks.
“well, green jade helps attract romance, and amazonite helps deepen love.” george says fiddling with the sleeves of his blue sweater.
“do you have a bracelet of either of those?” dream asks shifting his weight on his feet. george looks at his hands to see the two bracelets sat happily around his wrists. “i don’t think i’ve taken these off since you put them on.” dream said shaking his wrist showing them off as if george hadn’t of been the one to make them.
“i don’t have one of amazonite but i do have some of the green jade.” george said standing and reaching slightly around dream, arms brushing. he picked up a pretty brown chorded bracelet with a small green gem on it.
“that’s pretty, dude. you should get it.” sapnap said as he suddenly appeared beside dream.
“that’s the plan.” dream said nudging his friend.
“do you need help with anything?” george said turning his attention to sapnap.
“do you have any red ones on a bracelet?” sapnap asked looking at the bracelet rack.
“i might have some jasper stone bracelets.” george said walking back around the counter to look at the pile of pre-made bracelets that he hadn’t put on display yet. sure enough he had a few jasper stone bracelets already made.
“i don’t know what that means but it looks cool.” sapnap said as he examined the bracelet george handed him.
“it encourages justice while grounding and calming you. and if you wear it when you sleep you have a better chance of remembering your dreams.” george explained as he began to ring dream up. “together or separate?” george asked as he punched in the numbers.
“sapnap i’m not paying for that.” dream said as he pulled out his wallet.
“come on dreamyyyy, you know you want to.” sapnap said hanging off his friend’s arm.
“fine, i guess we’re together.” dream said as he handed sapnap’s bracelet to george. george laughed at the boys and rung them up.
“oh dream, if you’d like i can cleanse your bracelets for you.” george offered once he remembered how long it’d been since he sold him the bracelets.
“cleanse?” dream asked shifting the bracelets around on his wrist.
“yeah! i’ll take some palo santo and cleanse them, it would take just a second.” george explains.
“oh sure.” dream said going to remove his bracelets. george grabbed a piece of palo santo and lit the end, letting it burn for a moment before putting out the small flame. he carefully took the bracelets and let the smoke consume the small crystals, moving them around so every inch was covered. he handed them back and made sure the smoke was completely gone before setting the wood down.
“how often do i need to do that?” dream said, pushing his wrist forward, silently asking for george to help him. george put them back on his wrist with a smile.
“not too often unless you’ve had a stressful day. crystals will absorb that energy and it could be bad for them, so maybe once a week or every two weeks.” george answers as he helps sapnap put on his bracelet. “do you want to purchase some sage or palo santo?”
“i think i’ll just come up here and have you do it for me.” dream said with a smile. “wouldn’t want to mess my bracelet up or anything.” george smiled while sapnap just rolled his eyes.
“of course. that would be a good idea.” george said, smile widening.
and he kept his promise.
george had learned a lot about dream, and found out they had a lot of shared interests. such as they both enjoyed playing the same games. he quickly became close to dream and sapnap, playing games with them when he had time. dream came in every week to bother george and to get his crystals cleansed, but mostly to bother george.
“hey georgie.” dream said as the bells chimed above him.
“hey! ready for lunch?” george said grabbing his jacket and keys from the back room.
“no, i just drove here to sit and watch you work.” dream said sarcastically.
“you’re so dumb.” george said smiling. george and dream had been eating lunch together most days once they realized dream worked down the road at the coffee shop. once they found out their schedules were similar, it just kind of happened.
the two made their way to the small diner that they went to everyday just to order the same thing everytime. they sat and talked about whatever, seemingly never running out of topics.
“hey george.” dream said as he threw a soggy fry at george.
“dream!” george laughed as he threw the fry back. “what? you know words work just as well maybe better than throwing chips at me.” george said taking a sip of his strawberry milkshake.
“because it’s more fun to bother you.” dream said throwing another fry at him.
“oh my god, what?” george said finally giving dream his undivided attention.
“i was wondering if maybe you’d like to get dinner sometime?” dream asked popping a fry into his mouth.
“like a…” george said his face burning.
“like a date.” dream helped finish. george’s face was burning and his stomach was flipping.
“i think i’d like that.” george said with a smile, feigning confidence. he threw a soggy fry back at dream smile widening along with dream’s.
“good.” dream said throwing the fry back.
“stop throwing chips at me!” george said laughing.