Work Text:
Logan huffed as he stared into the dark cave. It was one of many littering the mountain-side where Zoey and Zian resided, but tonight they were out with Mateo and Izzie dealing with a grimspwan situation over at the Candy Realm. It felt like the Nightmare King knew that the dream chasers were rushing to figure out the secrets of Lunia's hourglass and in response, he and his forces were attacking even more viciously trying to keep them away from the hourglass for as long as possible. Logan was alright with that as at least then he would be at the forefront of the battle, jumping around in his furry (and admittedly small) form, using her emotions to propel herself around the battlefield attacking any grimspwan that tried to get close to anyone. After his emotions calmed down though he would change back into his regular form and that was, admittedly, a problem.
He glared into the darkness as he recounted how at the previous nights battle she had calmed down much faster than usual leaving her to shout advice on the sidelines as the rest of the dream chasers brought the candy chameleons to him so he would make sure they wouldn't wander off during the battle. Tonight though it seemed that they needed a less...flaky team member in terms of abilities. So here Logan was benched, having nothing to do but "help Cooper" (but when had Cooper ever needed Logan's help with something) while everyone else was having a fun time. She closed her eyes and for a second he could almost hear the whoops of the rest of his teammates as they fought. He groaned and walked further into the cave, her mind wandering to what Cooper might be doing in their free time. Probably still messing with Lunia's hourglass. That thing always seemed to be causing everyone trouble. Logan walked deeper into the cave looking for what he had stored in the cave a little earlier in the week. She hit her foot on something and squinted her eyes making sure it was the object she had placed and not some sort of cave creature. He grabbed it, turning it over in his hand, once, twice. With a satisfied grin she held it in her hand. A pack of yellow tulips that she had taken from her mom's gardening set. When they were both home more often they had the most beautiful garden you could have ever seen. Tulips, roses, hyacinths, anything you could ever want to fit on a tiny rooftop garden. As they had both become more work oriented the garden had started to die until it was a ghost of what it was. Logan tried to maintain it for a bit but it seems he didn't inherit either of his mom's green thumb.
Logan shook her head, trying to remember why she was here in the first place. Her teammates needed a more reliable person? Well she'll show them reliable. Even though he hadn't succeeded in getting her hourglass (hey it wasn't his fault that he was afraid of quicksand) he could still try and muster up some dream sand. He had only succeeded in turning him furry and blue but maybe with a bit more push ( you aren't trying hard enough a voice whispered) she would be able to do it. She thrust her arms forward, holding the seeds in his cupped palm. Logan squeezed her eyes shut trying to imagine the buds growing out from her hand. Opened her eyes and...nothing. He squeezed her eyes shut even tighter trying again, this time grunting with the effort. She stayed like that for a while, beads of sweat trickling down her forehead as she concentrated on trying to make it grow, explode, glow, just do anything at this point. Just as he was about to give up he heard a whoosh and opened his eyes to find- nothing.
"Dude what the heck?" He muttered as he inspected the seeds. Nothing had seemed to change, it had only grown more wrinkled than it was before. Logan scrunched up his nose staring at the packet of seeds, anger swelling up. He was amazing at everything else, so why couldn't he be good at something like this? Something so...simple in concept as well. I mean it was literally just picturing images in your head! So why was this so hard? Logan's mind began to race, everything becoming a buzz. She slumped against the cave wall, mind buzzing. He tried to pick herself up but froze when she saw movement in front of her. He tried to ask who it was, but she felt her throat close up. She watched in silent horror as a shadowy figure slowly walked up to him. She tried to scream, to move, to do something but to no avail. The figure looked into Logan's eyes and all of the thoughts that Logan had tried to push out of her mind came flooding in.
"It's because you're too weak" the figure crooned, waving their shadowy hands in front of Logan. " That's why no one wants you. They would rather hang out with people stronger, more capable than you" They laughed as Logan saw visions of his friends walking ahead and laughing without him, he saw his mom's figures as they left for work that day only to return late into the night, he saw the wolves, turning their backs on her as soon as she started hanging out with the dream chasers more. Logan tried to move, tried to fight back but nothing happened. Her breathing got faster and faster and the figures laughter got louder and louder until-
"Logan?"
Cooper had stayed behind from the fight today not because he wanted to, but because he just had more important things to do. Well okay, it was true that the grimspawn in large amounts had made him a bit nervous, and especially the fact that more and more grimkeepers were emerging but if he had the opportunity to, he should do something to stop them, by any and all means. It just happened that on one of their workdays the Nightmare Kings forces decided to attack. Fine by him, now he had the whole landing to himself to work on Lunia's hourglass. Well, the whole landing to him and Logan to "help" but they didn't think Logan would want to do much of that, and even if he did, Cooper felt as if it wouldn't get very far. Cooper paused for a second looking up and around. Logan had wandered off somewhere, muttering something about seeds a while back so he knew he was the only one around, but Cooper felt almost like he was being watched.
"Must be the wind or something" he thought, turning back to Lunia's hourglass. He had been working on it with Mr. Oz during most of his time in the Dream Realm and it was a pain in the ass to work on. He had taken up the offer not only because he had wanted to help, but because he had hoped that it would be a way to unwind from all the things that they needed to do in the waking world. Assignment after assignment, project after project, build after build- it was all extremely overwhelming and he had hoped that Lunia's hourglass would help him calm down. "Manage your stress' ' the therapist had told them.
"Fat chance" Cooper muttered to himself, turning the hourglass in his hand until he heard a whoosh blow from behind. He whipped around, hourglass at the ready. "W-who's there" he called out. The landing was silent other than the noise of birds chirping. He shifted uneasily. They had sworn they heard something...
The woosh was louder this time, coming from right behind Cooper. He yelped, turning to find...a piece of paper? Cooper walked towards the floating sheet of paper and upon closer inspection it seemed to be... his math homework. Cooper sighed in annoyance and picked up a screwdriver. "Logan I know this is some sort of prank. You can't fool me again, you know. Though it's pretty impressive that you made the papers float...Logan?" Cooper turned around in a circle doing a full scan of the landing. No Logan in sight. His breathing picked up a bit as he turned around to face the floating homework. He slowly walked up to it, dropping Lunia's hourglass and picking up their own. They got their sand ready, feeling the grains hovering over his fingers, ready to create anything he thought of. As he slowly crept up towards the paper it suddenly crumpled. Taken aback at the sudden movement Cooper took a step back and watched in horror as the paper uncrumpled itself, only to now reveal what seemed to be a never ending line of homework blocking access to the rest of the landing. Cooper hesitated, trying to think of what to do next until the paper seemed to decide to choose for them.
In a sudden rush of movement the homework wall began to move in on Cooper, a wall of dozens and dozens of homework assignments moving in perfect synchronization to crush Cooper. Cooper yelled and began to run towards the door. Almost as if it had read his thoughts the door opened, revealing the swirling yellow sand that would take him anywhere but here. Without hesitation he jumped through quickly shutting the door behind him. He felt it rattle once and then it shuttered once and fell silent. They took a couple of deep breaths, hand still on the doorknob and turned around to survey the area. It looked like they were on the mountain tops where Zoey and Zian took residence. He took one look back at the door and knew that it had wanted him there for a reason. He sighed and slowly released his hand. As soon as they did the door disappeared, only leaving a couple of stray grains of sand.
“Just great…” Cooper sighed. No way back until he had found or done what the door wanted them to do. He grumbled and began walking along the winding path of the mountain. He looked around at the surrounding area. Nothing but rock and…he froze and looked behind him one more time. The homework had returned. He felt his breathing pick up as he took one step back. Their eyes widened as the paper crumpled itself and…nope nope nope. Cooper would not be dealing with this today. Not again. Not while he was supposed to be relaxing. He turned around and began to speed walk down the path as it began to get steeper and steeper. He heard the familiar woosh and glanced behind him. He yelped and broke into a run as the papers began to multiply and follow him again.
He rushed up and down, the papers picking up speed, almost crashing into him until… he made a hard right turn into the cave opening and the papers whooshed up and over the cliff's edge.
Cooper stood, legs shaking, staring at the edge which they had fallen over. He heard another woosh and decided that the best decision as of current, was to hide in the cave until someone came to help dispose of the haunted (?) homework papers. He grabbed his hourglass and, using it as a light, walked deeper into the cave until he caught something in the corner of his ear. He heard rapid, ragged breathing. He paused for a second considering his options. They could either A, help this potential person or potential threat through…whatever they’re going through or B, go back outside where the homework might be waiting to strike him down.
He walked deeper into the cave, hourglass glowing brighter and brighter the deeper he went until the source of the breathing was found.
“Logan?”
Logan’s eyesight cleared as he saw Cooper standing in front of him waving their hourglass. Logan groaned, sitting up from where he had previously slumped in a panic. Cooper waved the hourglass in front of his eyes once again and this time the words came through.
“Dude are you alright?”
Cooper looked down at Logan who was shaking less intensely now and watched as she drew herself up with her shaking arms. He took another shaky breath and nodded his head slowly.
“Y-yeah just… I don’t know dude. Something freaky just happened. I-I heard this woosh and then all of a sudden-”
“Did the papers come after you too?”, Cooper interjected. Logan looked at him with a confused look and shook her head.
“No dude, what I was going to say was a shadow figure came up to me. It was weird though they didn’t… necessarily attack me. They just paralyzed me and said some…” Logan looked down at the ground and then shook her head. “But that’s not important, what about papers were you going on about? I didn’t see any papers.”
Cooper looked down at their shaking hand and ran their other hand through his hair. “I-it was nothing. While I was working on the hourglass these…papers appeared. They tried to catch me but the door sent me here. I didn’t know why until… ya’ know.” He motioned down at Logan.
“What were you doing here anyways?”
Logan shifted uncomfortably, slowly standing up. “I was…Just moving some stuff here you know… like I don’t know. Just in case?” Way to go doofus she thought to herself. She had always been good at lying to get out of sticky situations but for some reason she could never lie properly around Cooper. Maybe it was the way Cooper had that natural “teacher” stare, or the way he always knew when Logan was lying. Logan sighed. This wasn’t going to be an easy one to get out of.
Cooper glared and tapped their foot against the floor. “Really now. That’s the reason why hm?”
Logan nodded her head. “Mmmhm. Yup. That’s what I was here for.” He glazed around and then had an idea. “What were the papers? Were they just regular papers or were they something else?”
Cooper thought long and hard. They knew Logan was hiding something, it was just a matter of how to have Logan say what in a way where they don’t force it out of him. Their hourglass glowed as they were stuck with an idea.
“I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll tell you what the papers were if you tell me what you were here for.” Logan opened his mouth in protest but Cooper held a finger up. “And no, they are not just regular papers, there was actually stuff on it.”
Logan paused for a second, deep in thought. After a couple of seconds she nodded her head.
“Deal. But on the condition that you tell me what was on the papers first okay?” Cooper nodded his head up and down. “Deal.”
Cooper leaned up on the pillar opposite to Logan and took a breath in and out, hoping to calm their nerves.
“Now that I think back on it, it sounds kind of stupid but… I don’t know. At the time it looked really dangerous and-”
“Dude, just spill it.” Cooper’s eyes snapped open and he looked at Logan staring back with wide eyes. Cooper sighed and just shook their head.
“It was homework. Just pages and pages of homework I have to do. I know it's stupid but-”
“That’s not stupid at all. Dude that’s…terrifying” Logan laughed, cracking her usual wide smile. Cooper was a bit taken aback but then a flush raised onto his face as he scolded himself. Of course it wasn’t stupid, I’m stupid to think it's stupid. He sighed and Logan stopped laughing as a more concerned look replaced his smile.
“Dude are you…okay? I mean for something like that to show up in your dreams? You must be like…really stressed about it.” Logan looked away rubbing the back of her neck. Cooper just stared at the ground in silence.
“Yeah I…Guess so. I mean I know I have to do them but that was more of a waking world problem ya’ know? And now it’s my dream realm problem too and I just…” He took a deep breath in and frowned. Logan looked at him and slowly put her hand on his shoulder. She looked away and frowned.
“I know I’m not the best when it comes to homework and stuff like that but… you know if you ever need anything I’m always here for you right?” Logan's brow became more furrowed as a steady blush rose onto the back of his neck. Cooper smiled softly and sighed. Yeah that's right… he had Logan. Come to think of it, he hasn't remembered one time where he’s actually asked for help on something. He had always thought that it was unnecessary, that people had better things to do. Looking at Logan, it was nice to know that he could for once.
“Thanks dude.” Cooper smiled and placed his hand on Logan's shoulder. “Now I hate to ruin the moment butttt…your turn now.” Cooper smiled with a gleam in their eyes. Logan groaned and leaned against the wall dramatically.
“You know it’s getting early, I think we should wake up now…” Logan whistled, making a motion to pinch himself. Cooper laughed and pulled his hand away from his arm. “Nuh uh. Not until you tell me what you were doing here. And I can tell when you’re lying, so no funny business.” Logan sighed and crossed her arms.
“Alright, fine. But you need to promise not to laugh” Logan said, pointing an accusing finger at them. Cooper nodded his head and Logan took a deep breath.
“I came here to try and dreamcraft. But like. Actually dreamcraft, not what I usually do.” Logan held up the packet of seeds and sighed. “I tried to make them grow, to do anything but…Nothing.” She pocketed the seeds and slumped against the wall, trying to avoid Cooper's eyes.
“I know I screwed over any chance at being an actual dream keeper by leaving the forge early but I don't know… I guess I just want to be more reliable when it comes to things like that. I know I’ll never do it as well as you guys but I thought maybe I could just have something to fall back on.” Logan closed her eyes, scared to see her friend's reaction. Cooper thought long and hard until his hourglass glowed again.
“I have an idea.”
“I feel so stupid right now.”
They were standing across from each other, each holding an item in their hand. Cooper had one hand on his hourglass while Logan's hands were clutching the seeds again. After a debrief on the plan (and a lot of convincing from Cooper) they had agreed to try it.
“I mean if you were able to give me energy using some of your dream crafting in theory I should be able to too.” Cooper shrugged. Logan grumbled but it was hard to argue with the logic. But then again who really cares about the logic of it all, they’re in the dream realm for pete’s sake. Logan nodded his head once, the signal to begin. Cooper smiled and readed his hand.
Logan held out her hand, just as she did before and closed her eyes. She imagined the tulips in her mom’s garden, how they would both look at them with such pride. She imagined the bright yellow and blues, the purples, and how they would seem to glow in the dark. He felt a slight pressure on her chest but didn’t open her eyes. He knew it was Cooper by the way the hand was gently placed, how it slightly shook but then calmed at the beat of his heart. He felt a warm glow grow from his heart all the way down to his arms, to his hands that held the tulips. He smiled and thought of fish of all colors and sizes floating around the flowers, adding more to his little scene. She heard Cooper gasping and slowly opened her eyes. Her mouth opened in amazement as she looked down at her hand, past where Cooper's hand was resting on her heart. There were tulips of every color blooming around the two of them. Logan’s eyes slowly drifted around the cave as she watched in amazement as fish of several colors swam around.
He looked back at Cooper, watching as the others' green eyes drifting around, surveying what they had made together. When Cooper’s eye’s finally met his they both smiled. Not too bad.