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The train ride back home is a long and painful one. It’s crowded, and they don’t feel like standing next to this many strangers right now. Regardless, they stay on the train. They can’t just walk back to their old home, it’s almost 20 hours away, and they don’t want to get their mother to drive them, because they’re almost an adult.
An adult who doesn’t have their driver's license after they drove off a cliff. And was arrested for releasing an entire colony of butterflies into the city the same day they were supposed to retake their driving test. It was kind of funny how this stuff happened, the universe just didn’t want them to get their license, it seems. So, they found themselves on the train, looking out a nearby window.
Familiar houses and shops start to appear the closer they get to their final destination, a smile creeping its way onto their face. When they finally arrive at their old town, they find they’re extremely tired, immediately setting off to get some caffeine. Who knew in the few years they were gone, they’d develop a caffeine addiction, despite being so disgusted by it when they used to live here?
They sigh, walking around the town for a while, pointing out the different locations they’d been to internally along the way. It was like a fun game of i-spy.
Eventually, they stumble into an unfamiliar shop, that must’ve been built after they left. A coffee shop, small and not very popular. Perfect, they had enough of people for the day. “Hi, can I get a small latte with 47 sugars?” The employee taking their order stops writing the moment he asks for sugar, whipping their head up. “You want a what?”
“A Small latte with 47 sugars, please.” There’s a moment of silence where neither person talks, the employee staring at them. They don’t seem angry or upset, more just deep in thought. They’re about to speak up, just leave and go to a different store instead, but the other person speaks first. “Sorry, did you by any chance live here a few years ago? I thought I recognized you.”
They smile, cracking their fingers- a nervous habit. “Oh, yeah, it was a while ago, though. Knee injury- Couldn’t attend a lot of upstairs classes so-“
“Ink?” They smile more, nodding. Ink wasn’t expecting to run into anyone who knew them, who could this be…? Maybe an old friend? They don’t really remember anyone they were close to, it was just too long ago. Okay, sure, it was only like 6 or 7 years, if they left when they were 12- but that’s still a long time.
The other person’s eyes light up, as they begin to prepare their order, staring at their sugar for a moment. “Didn’t expect to see you here, you really don’t recognize me? We used to be really close before you moved- but I guess I do look pretty different.” They watch the other make their order, memories still not quite coming back to them. “Wait, Dream?”
Dream smiles, turning to face them. “Hi.”
Ink’s smile grows wider as they begin to talk more, “You really do look different, wow, hardly recognized you! How’s Nightmare? Still getting bullied? I bet we could go beat them up properly this time, I have won several fights since we parted ways.” That is a complete lie, but they want to look cool in front of their old friend, who just laughs. “Um, not really. You know those apples in my backyard?”
Ink nods.
“Yeah, he ate one of the bad ones, freaking everyone out. His bones are covered in this black goo, and sometimes he can make tentacles come out of his back- that just causes back pain though, so just about the same amount of visits to the hospital. I’ll consider your offer though, they blinded him in one eye, so I’m down for revenge.” Ink’s eyes widen a little as they take in information, now watching as Dream puts more and more sugar into their coffee.
“Oh, and Blue? Are you guys still friends? I haven’t seen him around yet.” Dream pauses, his neutral expression turning into a smile once again, as he nods. “Yeah, we’re actually dating now. It’s been this whole thing for a while now, like, 4 years? He actually,” Dream puts down their cup of coffee to take off his black gloves, holding up his hand. There’s a golden ring on one of his fingers. Ink gasps, and proceeds to congratulate the other.
They feel a bit bad about missing all of this, but it wasn’t really their fault. They’re just glad they get to be back for their friends again. They wouldn’t be able to stay forever- they’d have to go back eventually, only being here at the moment to have a look at nearby apartments and college campuses, but maybe, just maybe, they can have a friendship like they used to.
“Hold on, I’ll call him to come by now so we can all talk again. Just give me a second…” The other takes out a small phone, which looked as if it was barely working, before calling their mutual friend. “Hey- yes, I’m okay, are you- oh, that’s cool! You should come by the store, you’ll never guess who’s here. No, not him- no- Blue, not her either- yeah! Yeah he’s right here-“
Ink looks off to the side, taking a sharp breath. Dream seems to notice, getting a little quieter.
“Yeah, that’d be great. Take a photo of the dolphin for me. Thanks, love you,” He ends the call. Dream gives Ink their coffee, with way too much sugar for any normal person, which they accept gratefully. Dream opens his mouth to ask what his earlier reaction was about, but Ink beats him to it.
“I’m, uh, not really a guy anymore, you know?” Dream’s face turns a dull yellow color. “Oh! So sorry! Um- so- what do I-“
“They/them,” They answer quickly, Dream nods, whispering his words a couple of times- echolalia. He used to do that a lot when they were younger, sometimes it was just to process information, and sometimes it was other stuff. If they had to bet on it, they’d say it was just to remember their pronouns. “And- and your name?”
“Still Ink, seemed neutral enough to keep.” Dream nods again.
And then the door opens, slamming into a nearby wall. Dream winces at the loud noise, and Ink covers their ears, turning to face the new arrival. Blue also looks so different, taller. He’s also drenched in water, weirdly enough. They remember something about dolphins? Maybe that’s-
“INK! HI! HOW ARE YOU? SO SORRY I KEPT YOU WAITING,” Blue hugs them, they force a laugh out, a little overwhelmed as Blue lowers his voice, “Long time no see, hm? How come you’re back?” Dream taps the counter with a nearby pen, getting Blue’s attention. Blue nervously laughs, moving to sit on the counter, wrapping an arm around his lover, “alright, alright, you get a hug too. But really, did something happen? I thought you weren’t going to be coming back- did your injury-“
Ink looks down at their knee, walking in a quick circle, “All good now. I uh- I applied to some of the colleges here- got into a few- wanted to have a look at them and the apartments nearby, seeing as the ones back home are kind of shit.” Blue’s eyes light up with excitement, as he starts to kick at the air.
“Do you want us to show you around the college we go to? It’s not the best, but you know, it works- hey, why don’t we just show you around on the way too? See if we run into any familiar faces, Nightmare, Error, Cross-“ he stops for a moment, thinking, “Hm, no, I don’t think you would’ve met Cross, but I guess we can introduce you to him.” Ink just nods, excited to be with their old friends again.
Blue hops off the counter, taking their hand, and walking towards the door, before turning to face Dream. “Is your shift almost over? Mike won’t mind if you finish up early, will he? It’s kind of slow today.”
Dream shrugs, taking off his apron, “I’ve technically still got 30 minutes, but I don’t think anyone else is stopping by today. I’ll just delete the security footage for today, or something, can’t yell at me for finishing early if he’s got no proof that I did just that.”
Ink just looks between their two friends with a look of confusion. Since when was Dream cool with this stuff? Wow, they really did miss a lot. Blue just leads them outside the shop, pointing out different nearby stores, a lot of them having been built recently, or just after they left. It’s kind of cool just how much the town changed in a few years.
They would’ve absolutely bought out that entire art supplies store if it was around when they were younger.
“Oh, wait- Error! Hey, Error! Look who I’ve got!” They suddenly find Blue running towards someone, so they just follow close behind, not wanting to get lost. Even though this is in the middle of the road, and they might just get hit if they’re not careful. They look up at the new skeleton, who’s supposed to be Error. When did Error get glasses?
“Ink?”
“Oh, hi, Error. How are you?” Error looks at Blue for a moment, before looking back at Ink, tearing up a little. He looks like he’s about to hug them, but at the last minute decides not to. “You’re back.”
“I am! Miss me?”
“You left me on my own- Yes I missed you- don’t do that again, you idiot.” They just laugh, it doesn’t sound malicious. “I missed you too.” Dream joins them, having finally managed to get the ‘open-closed’ sign to stay on the ‘closed’ text. He greets Error, before quickly having a moment of realization. “Oh, Ink, did you tell them about, um-“
“Oh, I forgot, oops.” Ink smiles at him, and Dream pats his head. How dare he, Ink is no dog!
“Ink left us for the neutral ground- they’re not a he anymore.” Error nods, Blue looks a bit confused for a second before Dream whispers to him what he means, and he suddenly just. Gets it.
.
.
.
“There’s no way that’s Ink.”
“There’s no way that’s Nightmare.”
Both skeletons stare each other in the eyes- eye? Wasn’t Nightmare blind in one eye, or something? They don’t remember but continue the staring contest anyways. It goes on for a moment, with Ink trying to disrupt them, causing Nightmare to lose. “I AM THE REIGNING CHAMPION OF THE STARING CONTEST, YOU WILL NEVER WIN AGAINST ME!”
“DAMN IT DREAM! I HAD THEM THERE! I WAS ABOUT TO WIN!”
Ink laughs. Yeah, maybe they will stick around. This is nice.
And then Twilight sparkle and Glamrock Freddy start having a dance party in the kitchen, blasting ‘E-girls are ruining my life’ whilst summoning the purple guy from FNAF.