Work Text:
Dream’s soulmate mark had always been a point of ridicule. Usually against his soulmate and not him, but still, it was a pretty awful thing to have tattooed on your arm forever.
“I think I’m gonna throw up.”
At least it was distinct. Dream tried to look on the lighter side of things like that.
Everyone who had a soulmate - about 3/4ths of the population but hey, who was counting - had a tattoo on in their inner forearm, one that formed a few days after birth. The tattoo read out the first sentence your soulmate would say to you in their handwriting. Dream’s tattoo, other than the actual words, was cute. His soulmate’s handwriting was sloppy but legible, and they dotted their i’s with unfilled circles. The period at the end matched. It was the only thing they seemed to not cut corners with, everything else written in a way clearly built for speed. Dream traced his finger over the swooping letters that ran into each other, fondness pounding through his chest instead of blood.
Even if his soulmate’s first words for him were absolutely ridiculous and more than a little gross, they were his soulmate. Just the thought made him feel jittery with happiness.
And so, naturally, to fit the tattoo, Dream attended a lot of parties. They were the exact opposite of his scene, considering he didn’t like alcohol, take drugs, or even drink caffeine so he couldn’t steal the Red Bull being used as a mixer. He would’ve preferred to stay home and play video games with his friends. Still, parties had a certain life to them that he could talk himself into enjoying. It was nice to socialize and dance and forget himself for a few hours.
This party was less intense than the usual frats he attended. The music still pounded and people were dancing, but for the most part, people just stood around and talked with red solo cups in their hands. Dream had already thoroughly exhausted himself by dancing with three different friends and now, he stood in the kitchen instead, lifting up the bottom of his shirt to wipe away forehead sweat. Someone wolf-whistled and before he could lower his shirt to see who, there was a hand on his stomach. He slammed his hands down to whack them, hoping it was Sapnap and not George bothering him.
They fell like a sack of flour and he sighed.
“Sorry George, I thought it was Sapnap.” He tucked his shirt back into his jeans and offered his best friend a hand up. George did not take it, just glaring up at him instead. He was sprawled out on the floor carelessly, his dark hair scattered around starkly against his pale skin and the white tiles, something that was quickly making Dream feel twitchy. “George, get up, there has to be so many diseases on the ground that you’re catching right now.”
“You’re such a germaphobe.” He rolled his eyes but took Dream’s hand, letting him pull George up off the ground. He slumped into Dream’s shoulder, the touchiness a clear sign that he had been drinking, he was tired, or both. As cuddly as George could be, it was rare for him to be the one to start any touching, especially in public. “Have you seen Sapnap?”
“You lost your boyfriend?” Dream asked, amused, and George groaned.
“I didn’t mean to! He’s just so short,” George complained, predictably, and Dream grinned.
His best friends, George and Sapnap, were what he considered picture perfect soulmates. He was mildly biased since he was a crucial part of them meeting, but they were still a great couple. They spent most of their time together, they bickered like an old married couple and were incredibly defensive of one another. They were sweet and the three of them were similar enough that Dream could watch them and daydream about being the same way with his soulmate.
“Any luck with the soulmate hunt?” George asked, as if he could read Dream’s thoughts, and he shook his head.
“Shockingly, have not met anyone who was about to be sick yet,” Dream joked and George laughed, patting his arm soothingly.
“You’ll get it someday. I have a good feeling about this week,” George said, eyes alight, and Dream smiled at him. Even if George’s whims weren’t exactly running the world, it was still reassuring when he usually would be the realist to Dream’s optimism.
Besides, Dream liked to think that to think that their soulmate tattoos were linked. After all, George’s left arm read ‘Hi, I’m Dream’s best friend!’ for a reason. Their paths were intertwined by fate.
“Guys! Guys guys guys!” Sapnap slammed into them out of nowhere, practically bouncing off of Dream’s chest, and they both jumped at the sudden intrusion. “Guys!”
“Sapnap! Where did you go?” George frowned and Sapnap rolled his eyes, pulling his soulmate into a sweet kiss. “Thank you.”
“Punz was showing me something but dude, the new transfer student is dancing on a table right now.” Sapnap waved his hand, eyes alight in amusement.
“We have a new transfer student?” Dream asked.
“Is he hot?” George asked.
“Yes and yes!” Sapnap bounced on his heels. “Come on, I wanted you guys to see.”
George and Dream glanced at each other and with a shrug, started following Sapnap back through the throngs of people. As they turned the corner into the dining room, there were a series of loud cheers and when Dream looked up, sure enough, a man his age was dancing on the table.
The first thing Dream noticed was that he was extremely cute. Light brown hair that bounced and fell into his light-colored eyes as he danced, rosy cheeks against pale skin, and a bright laugh that filled the room easily. He wore a white button-up, half the buttons undone, and black jeans that fit him neatly. By his feet was a sweatshirt that Dream assumed he had thrown off, bright purple and overly large, and every few steps he nearly tripped over it.
The second thing Dream noticed was that he couldn’t dance to save his life. He certainly had the enthusiasm and he was having fun, but his moves on the table were more jumping around and flailing than anything sexy. In an instant, Dream was painfully endeared and he pulled away from his friends to approach the table. People scooted out of his way, because that was what happened when you were over six foot, and he reached the front of the table just in time. The man’s foot got predictably caught in his sweatshirt, his eyes went wide, and Dream jerked his arms up to catch him as he tumbled off the edge. He fell perfectly into Dream’s arms and Dream stumbled back a half-step.
“Are you alright, handsome?” Dream asked, letting out a surprised laugh as he let the man adjust his footing. The other’s eyes went wide.
“I think I’m gonna throw up,” he said in a rush and as Dream’s brain went blank, he did so, hunching over himself to throw up across Dream’s shoes. The people around them let out a mix of noises, the sound overwhelming as every quickly cleared out from the impact zone, and Dream just stared at the transfer student in shock.
“Jesus Christ, Karl,” someone said and Dream glanced up to look at his friend Foolish, who had stepped forward to usher the other man away. “Here, come with us, Dream. I’ll get you new shoes.”
“Yeah,” Dream said breathlessly, shooting a worried look over to his best friends. They were both just looking back at him, clueless to what was going on, and he groaned as he was dragged away.
Foolish’s room was quiet as he set them both up in there, shoving a trash can into Karl’s arms and taking Dream’s shoes to wash out. Dream and Karl sat together in silence, Dream staring at him and Karl staring at the wall.
“Sorry,” Karl finally broke, cringing in on himself. “What an awful way to meet someone.”
“What does your soulmate tattoo say?” Dream asked instead of replying and Karl looked at him.
“No,” he whispered in shock, only half-joking, and Dream laughed.
“Yes. Show me.”
“Oh my gosh. No. No no no. You are not my soulmate, I’m going to be so embarrassed, oh my gosh,” Karl said, face quickly turning even redder than the boozed-up flush in his cheeks. He was still talking quickly and Dream wondered if he just talked like that or if it was a nervous thing.
“Show me.” Dream was full-on giggling now without even noticing until he tried to speak, reaching over and grabbing Karl’s right arm. He dragged it over and shoved the sleeve up, manhandling Karl while the other just let him. He just slumped into Dream’s side, hiding his face as Dream read familiar handwriting.
“‘Are you alright, handsome?’” Dream read out, then finagled his out arm around to show off his tattoo. “And then ‘I think I’m gonna throw up.’”
“I’m going to be sick again,” Karl said, muffled by Dream’s shirt, and he burst into wheezing laughs. “This is mortifying. What the fuck. What am I going to tell my kids when I get older?”
“We’re gonna have kids?” Dream asked.
“Yes.”
“Okay.” Dream let out another wheeze and Karl sighed, shoving him off and falling back against the bed. Dream squirmed back on the bed to lean over him, giving him a bright grin. “I’m Dream.”
“I gathered. Karl.” The other offered a hand to shake and Dream grabbed it, pressing a kiss to his knuckles. Karl burst into giggles that made his hair fall over his eyes. “I’m sorry about your shoes.”
“It’s fine. I kind of assumed something like that would happen, I’ve had my time to come to terms with it.”
“That’s even worse somehow,” Karl groaned, rubbing his face with his hands. Dream watched the movement closely as if he could memorize every aspect of Karl in a single night. He wanted to try. Even if it didn’t work, just being able to watch Karl and think that’s my soulmate was something. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Dream repeated, softer. He pulled one of Karl’s hands away from his face by the wrist, smiling down at him. Karl blinked back up at him, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “Your eyes are really pretty.”
Now that he was close up, he could see that they were gray, probably blue but too light for much pigment. He didn’t think people had that color naturally in real life.
“Thanks,” Karl said back, smile growing. “Yours are nice too. You’re really pretty in general, actually.”
Dream blinked, feeling his face heat up. “Huh. I haven’t gotten ‘pretty’ a lot. Usually handsome.”
“Well, that’s a shame, ‘cuz you’re beautiful,” Karl said. He moved his other hand so Dream could see his entire face, raising it instead to trace along Dream’s cheeks. “You have freckles and everything. I always wanted freckles when I was a kid. I mean, I have some, but I wanted proper freckles like yours, you know? Tons of them.”
“Yeah,” Dream said, his breath getting caught in his throat as Karl’s fingers traced along his skin. The touch was soft, as if Dream was made of silk, and he instinctively pressed forward into the touch. Karl smiled, turning his hand to cup Dream’s cheek instead. “Thank you.”
“You are very welcome, my good sir,” Karl replied and Dream huffed in amusement. Karl’s eyes traced down Dream’s face, clearly pausing on his lips. He could feel his cheeks warm even more and he leaned in closer. Karl let out a nervous giggle. “If I kiss you, can we blame it on the alcohol?”
“I don’t drink.”
“Oh. Huh.” Karl blinked. “Well, I still want to kiss you, you’re very pretty.”
“You’re told me.” Dream laughed, pressing ever closer. “If you wanna kiss me, you can. I might not be drunk, but I’ve always been impulsive and a romantic. It’ll check out.”
“Mhm.” Karl bit his bottom lip, tugging back soft pink with ivory, and Dream licked his own lips as he watched. “You know, I’m willing to take that. Come here.”
Dream leaned the rest of the way down to kiss him lightly. Foolish had made him brush his teeth but Dream still didn’t kiss him too deeply in case of a sour aftertaste, not willing to ruin the first kiss with that. Karl seemed pleased enough with what he was getting though, smiling into the kiss and rubbing his thumb against Dream’s cheek. Dream pulled back after a moment and Karl pouted, tugging him right back into for another soft kiss. And then another, and another, Karl pressing light kisses against Dream’s lips and cheeks mindlessly and Dream letting him with a smile.
It was cute, Dream thought idly. Karl was really cute.
He never wanted Karl’s affection off of him after this. And if everything went to plan, he would get that wish.