Chapter Text
If Dream had known what he had gotten himself into he would’ve left hours ago. Surprisingly, game development isn’t easy. He’s been sitting at the same desk for 10 hours, with very minimal breaks. Just so he could get this stupid code out to his stupid boss. Don’t get him wrong, Sam is a cool guy, he just really wants to get out of here.
“Dude. you’ve been here for hours. Go take a break or something” Sapnap, Dream’s best friend, who oh so conveniently also works at the same development, says while giving Dream a relatively hard hit on the back of his head. Dreams rubs his head while shooting Sapnap the dirtiest glare he could conjure.
“Yeah, I know. But I just have one more line and then we can head out.” Dream mumbles.
“There’s that little cafe on the way back home if you wanna check it out? I’ve been a few times it’s pretty cool.” Sapnap mumbles back, a little guilty for hitting Dream so hard. But hey, that fucker deserves it. He’s been ignoring Sapnap for days because of this stupid code. Sam definitely owes Sapnap some compensation for emotional damage.
Raising his arms above his head to hear a sharp cracking, Dream mutters defeatedly, “Alright let’s go. I can finish it up tomorrow.” Sapnap lifts a fist victoriously and whoops. Dream rolls his eyes and suppresses a smirk.
“Yeah yeah, let's go before Sam adds more to my desk.” Sap nods feverishly and runs to the door, holding it open for Dream,
“After you, my liege.” He rolls his eyes again and chuckles. This bakery better be worth it.
The bakery is pretty cute, with windows and skylights and plants everywhere. The door is oak, with a brass handle that’s cold to the touch. There’s a little bell that rings when the door opens, and Dream is immediately hit with the smell of bread and coffee. It’s warm, just warm enough for the two boys to shed their coats. Sapnap immediately runs up to the front counter to a boy with extremely fluffy caramel-colored hair, who hosts an extremely warm grin.
“Karl!!” Sapnap reaches out to hug the boy over the counter. Dream, who was watching all of this from a distance, gives a look to Sap, who had a light pink dusting the bridge of his nose and cheeks. Sapnap clears his throat and introduces the caramel boy.
“Dream, Karl. Karl, Dream” He says with a vague hand movement between the two.
“Hi! Welcome! I’m glad to finally meet the infamous Dream, Sap constantly talks about you!” The boy, Karl supposedly, greets with another warm smile. Dream gives a small wave and mutters a small “hi”. Normally he’d be way more talkative but work really wore him out.
“Okay, so I’ll have my usual, and uh Dream what do you want?” Sap looks at Dream while giggling over something Karl whispered. Dream, feeling a little self-conscious, scratched at the back of his neck. “I’ll just take a hot chai tea.” Karl nods with a small smile
“Okay, that’ll be $10.71.” Dream reaches for his pocket but Sap beats him to it, punching Dream’s arm lightly. “It’s cool, I’ve got it. I did drag you out here anyways” Dream puts away his wallet hesitantly and finds a spot to sit. He picks out a small table next to a window covered in frost, and soon after Sapnap follows him to sit.
“It’s a really cute spot,” Sapnap says, “and the employees are super cool.” Dream nods and pulls his phone out, scrolling through Twitter for a bit until he’s interrupted by a sweet accented voice.
“I have a black coffee, a hot chai, and a blueberry muffin,” the man says. Dream looks up from his phone to tell the boy he didn’t order a muffin when he’s stopped dead in his tracks.
To say the man was pretty was an understatement. He had chocolate brown hair that curled slightly, very pale skin, and the most contagious smile he has ever seen. Dream had never seen anyone so gorgeous. He could feel himself starting to blush, but he did nothing to stop it. He just kept staring until the man spoke up once again.
“Before you uhm, speak,” he said with a nervous giggle “the muffin is on the house. For uh, you.” He slid the plate towards Dream, while matching the blond’s blush. The boy quickly runs off behind the counter where Karl’s giggling can be heard.
“Dude, what was that?” Sapnap giggles. Dream looks up from his hands with a furious blush.
“I don’t know.” Dream says, looking a little crazy with his hair spiking every which way from when he was running his hands through it.
“He gave you a muffin,” Sap says hushed, holding back a wave of laughter.
“Shut up.” Dream glares, starting to unpeel the wrapper from the treat. “I’m sure it’s some stupid thing they do for new customers,” he says with a mouthful. Sapnap guffaws,
“No? Well, they didn’t do that for me at least'' he laughs, clutching his belly.
“Maybe it’s a new policy?” Dreams says, wincing a bit. That makes Sapnap break, laughing so loud that a few tables gave him dirty looks.
Halfway down the road from the cafe, Sapnap and Dream are walking. Both men are giggling, pushing, and shoving each other.
“I can’t believe he gave you a muffin and you just stared,” Sap says holding in a laugh.
“Listen, it’s been a tiring day. My brain isn’t functioning 100%” Dream whines, also holding in a wheeze. A moment of silence passes and Dream becomes curious.
“So. uhm, Karl. He seems nice” he says, hoping to get something out of the boy next to him.
“He is.” Sapnap sighs. Another moment passes but it gets interrupted by Sapnap jumping up
“Dream Dream!! Record me I’m gonna jump this!!” Dream laughs and goes for his phone, which isn’t in his pocket. His heart drops and he starts frantically searching, “shit shit shit… Sap, fuck, I think I left my phone in the cafe. I’ll be right back”
Running into the shop looking a mess, Dream stops to breathe. He grabs the brass knob and takes a deep breath. Sure, he might have lost his phone, but he has bigger things to worry about. Like the fact that he can see the man serving a woman with light pink hair a muffin just like the one he gave Dream through the window. If he’s being completely honest, he feels a pang in his heart. What if that muffin was just a first-time customer kind of thing? He shakes the thought from his head and pulls the door open. The same warmth from earlier hits him and he involuntarily relaxes. Karl catches his eye and gives a small wave, and Dream approaches.
“Hey! Karl was it? I was just here and I think I left my phone?” he says sheepishly, hand going to his neck again. Karl nods and giggles, pointing to the boy that made Dream’s heart stop.
“Yeah! George actually grabbed it, he’s about to go on break in like 2 minutes if you wanna wait a second,” he says with that smile. Dream nods and sits at the same table from before, bouncing his leg. He sees the man, George, talk to Karl, then he notices him flush, and seem to panic. Karl gives George a push and next thing Dream knows George, he’s never gonna get tired of that name, is at his table. He gives a small smile and stands across from Dream.
“Hi.” They both speak at the same time. Dream raises an eyebrow and George cocks his head to the side as if he doesn’t know what Dream is here for.
“So um, how can I help you?” he says with another nervous giggle.
“Oh, uh, Karl said you had my phone?” Dream says a little more sharper than he intended. George looks taken aback and flushes.
“Right, yeah. I saw you left it and I didn’t want to just leave it with a random person, but now that I think about it I am a random person... Shoot.” He cuts his own ramble off with a reach into his apron, and pulls out a phone with a lime green phone case. “Sorry about that. Can I get you something from your troubles? It’ll be on the house.” George gives a smile that feels too professional, and Dream shakes his head.
“Uh no thanks! That muffin you got me earlier was good enough. Although I do find it kind of weird that you guys just pass out muffins to any new customer.” George looks confused, cocking his head again before a look of disappointment takes over.
“Oh yeah.. Well um, if I can’t help you anymore I think I’m gonna go take my break now.” He says, looking extremely disappointed. Dream could definitely tell he misread the situation, but a boost of confidence shot through him knowing that it wasn’t just a customer muffin.
He leaves the cafe as the cold wind bites at his nose. As he starts walking he hears the bell from the shop chime, and he turns around to see George. He has a look of determination on his face as he looks around the street. The face melts into a warm smile as he catches Dream.
“You left your phone, again.” Dream notices that he won’t make eye contact with him. That’s probably his fault.
“Oh my god thank you. I probably would’ve had a whole anxiety attack if I left it again.” George nods and hands him his phone, but he doesn’t move. Before George could open his mouth, Dream cuts him off.
“I was just wondering, and you can totally say no, but is there a chance I could get your number? I’m sorry that was so random I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable, It was nice meeti-” but before he could finish George giggles that god awful contagious giggle and nods.
“Yeah. I’d like that. Here” he gives his phone to Dream and Dream does the same. They say their goodbyes and Dream walks off with a goofy grin as his phone buzzes:
MuffinMan: :]
Dream wheezes at the name George gave himself and continues walking.
Dream: :)