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*
Love in a Bottle
One would think that after the Halloween and potions and puppy animagus disaster, Sapnap would be wearier of unlabeled liquids that he didn’t put in the fridge. He definitely should have steered clear of the jar of what looked like pearls in liquid form. But it smelled so good!
It started like this: as soon as Sapnap opened the fridge, he was hit with a heavenly smell. Vanilla, pumpkin, and other complementing spices. It was strangely familiar, though Sapnap couldn’t place where he had smelled it before. It didn’t take long to realise what was causing the smell – there were several glass bottles filled with pearl-like milky liquid, with a date written on the lids of each bottle – and when he picked one up and sniffed it, the smell was stronger. And though he knew it was a bad idea, Sapnap just couldn’t help himself. He needed to have at least a sip of it.
Dream would never know, right?
So, he eagerly uncapped the lid from the bottle and took a small gulp of the milky substance. It wasn’t even enough to be able to tell that any was taken at all. It was hard to stop there, though. It tasted just as good as it smelled – like pumpkin pie topped with caramel, vanilla, and other spices. Sapnap almost took another sip, and the bottle was still pressed against his lips, when he heard:
“Sapnap?”
Sapnap yelped and choked on the next gulp of the drink, spilling some of it down his shirt. He hastily pulled the bottle away and slammed the lid back on. He turned around to face Dream and –
“Sapnap?!” Dream said again, this time sounding panicked.
But Sapnap wasn’t listening. His stare was locked on Dream, who looked more beautiful than ever before. He was dressed in his wixen robes, which were a green, embellished with gold, that matched Dream’s chartreuse, green eyes. His copper hair was tied back, as much as it could be, being in the awkward in-between stage between long and short, and a few pieces were loose from the ponytail, which curled and framed Dream’s face. His cheek had a smear of some kind of paste, probably from potion brewing, which made him look silly, and it caused Sapnap to giggle.
With his robes, hair pulled back, and bright eyes, Dream looked every bit the potions master he was.
“– nap! Sapnap!” Dream snapped his fingers in front of Sapnap’s face, making Sapnap blink back to awareness and then frown. Dream’s brows were pinched, and he looked awfully upset for some reason. Sapnap hated when Dream was upset, nervous, or angry.
“Why are you so upset?” Sapnap asked, genuine. “Can I help?”
Now Dream looked worried.
“Uh, Sapnap, how are you feeling, buddy?”
Sapnap gave Dream a weird look but answered nonetheless: “I feel fine. Why?”
Dream sighed into his hands, muttering. “Okay, wrong question.” He looked back up and made eye contact with Sapnap. “How do you feel around me, specifically? What do you think of me?”
Sapnap wasn’t listening again. Instead, he almost got lost in Dream’s eyes. They were so pretty. They were a beautiful green, with an almost golden middle. Sapnap sighed in admiration. Dream snapped his fingers in front of his face again, and Sapnap blinked harshly. Right. Dream had asked him a question; he didn’t know why he was acting so absent-minded.
How did Sapnap feel about Dream? What did he think of him?
Well, that was easy to answer. Sapnap loved Dream. The witch was Sapnap’s best friend and life partner. Sapnap found Dream otherworldly, kind, passionate, and beautiful. He appreciated everything Dream did for him; he was greedy with Dream, always wanting more, more, and more. He especially wanted more kisses like the one he got at the Castoffs, when Dream was high on happiness and kissed him spontaneously. But Sapnap wouldn’t say any of this aloud, lest he scare off Dream with his wants. The two were only destined to be friends, after all.
“Oh my god, this is worse than I thought,” Dream muttered.
Sapnap wondered what Dream was talking about until Dream was grabbing him by the shoulders, making direct eye contact, and saying, “Sapnap, none of what you’re feeling right now is real. You don’t love me like that. You don’t want me to kiss you. You’ve just consumed a love potion, and now you’re under its effects. But don’t worry, it should wear off soon!”
Several things hit Sapnap at once. First, he had said his inner monologue aloud, which was utterly embarrassing. Second, for some reason, the embarrassment didn’t feel as bad as he thought it would; it was like it was a secondary feeling to the love he felt for Dream. Third, he had, once again, drank a potion on accident – and this time it was a love potion, to boot. Fourth, his feelings very much were real, but Dream didn’t think that was true because of the love potion (oh, if only he knew that Sapnap had been feeling this way long before drinking the love potion). And fifth, Sapnap was probably spewing his darkest secrets and acting so absent-minded because of the love potion, which was awful because Sapnap had a lot of embarrassing feelings about Dream that he would rather keep hidden.
Sapnap wanted to back track what he had said about loving Dream, maybe make a joke out of it so that he could salvage his friendship, but all that came out was: “No, I know my feelings are real!”
Dream sighed.
“This is going to be a long few hours.”
*
Dream tried to keep Sapnap by his side, not wanting the man to get into any trouble while under the effects of the amortentia. Who knew what Sapnap would post online or say to their mutual friends when under the influence of one of the most powerful love potions ever created? Just in the kitchen, Sapnap had spewed out a monologue of how much he loved and appreciated Dream and then followed it by asking for more kisses like the one they shared at the Castoffs competition. And while Dream definitely wouldn’t mind kissing Sapnap again, he couldn’t bring himself to take advantage of the younger when he was intoxicated by a love potion.
After all, Sapnap didn’t really want any of this. His current feelings were fabricated by the potion. It wasn’t real love; it was just obsession and infatuation. If Sapnap actually liked Dream, he would have said something sooner, like when Dream spontaneously kissed him at the Castoffs.
Instead, they hadn’t talked about it. They hadn’t even mentioned it since the competition.
Dream had sequestered himself in his dungeon to continue brewing potions, and Sapnap had dug himself into his work. They cuddled from time to time, but besides that, nothing had changed.
Dream almost wished something had changed.
*
By the gods, it was difficult to deal with an amortentia poisoned Sapnap. Dream didn’t have to try very hard to keep Sapnap by his side because Sapnap seemed to want to stick by Dream’s side all the time … like, arm pressed to arm, Sapnap gripping Dream’s bicep, looking up at him with a love-drunk gaze. They were in the dungeon, where Dream brewed his potions, and he was glad that Sapnap was keeping away from all the dangerous tools and ingredients. But it also made it difficult to go through his potions journal, one-handed, to find the exact recipe he used for the amortentia potion. Some batches he made were weak, some stronger and longer lasting – his clients had different uses for the potions, and he liked to have a wide variety for Valentine’s Day, which was coming up soon – and he was debating whether it was worth it to brew a love potion antidote or just weather the storm.
Sapnap giggled when he reached out and curled a piece of Dream’s hair around his finger. Dream’s heart beat wildly, but Dream scolded his heart. None of this was real. He reached out, grabbed Sapnap’s arm, and pulled him away. Sapnap pouted at the separation, but Dream turned away from his friend. When the potion wore off, Sapnap would be embarrassed, but thankful that Dream didn’t take advantage of him.
“So,” Sapnap said, trying to start a conversion for the nth time, “why were you brewing love potions, anyway? Doesn’t that break some kind of consent laws or something?”
Dream blinked.
That was the most logical Sapnap had sounded in almost an hour. Maybe the potion was wearing off already? Dream should have checked the batch number of the bottle Sapnap drank from, that way he could have known for sure. But in the meantime, he was willing to answer Sapnap’s question.
“Well, MACUSA has laws in place saying what kinds of potions you can brew for personal use, and what kinds you can sell – but love potions have the strictest regulations. I know I sometimes … bend the rules,” Dream admitted, thinking of the human body parts he used for his potions, and other illegal potion ingredients he sourced, “But I would never sell a love potion to someone with malintent. I use a truth potion that I invented – a weaker version of veritaserum – that I make clients drink before buying any of my more … dangerous potions. I ask them the standard questions, like what they’re using my potions for, before selling anything to them. You would be surprised by the amount of people who use love potions for more … kinky times with their partners.”
Sapnap sighed dreamily. He grabbed onto Dream’s arm, hugging it to his chest. He gazed up at Dream with hooded eyes. “You’re so smart, using a truth potion to interrogate your customers.”
And Sapnap was back to being love-drunk. Great.
Dream shrugged Sapnap off again, turning back to his journal. He muttered to himself. “I should probably start on a love potion cure … He doesn’t actually like me … Gods, what do I do …”
*
When Dream checked the fridge for the amortentia potions, he was hit with the smell of apples and cinnamon. They didn’t have any treats that had apples or cinnamon. Instead, he knew it was the smell of Sapnap’s shampoo. Why he was smelling Sapnap’s regular soap from the amortentia potion was not something he wanted to think about right now. Instead, he promptly ignored the smell and grabbed the bottle that noticeably had less potion in it compared to the others. He checked the batch number and cross referenced his journal, where he jotted down which batches had which ingredients. He frowned and double checked the batch number. That wasn’t right … Sapnap had drank from a weaker batch, so it shouldn’t have affected him so much. It also shouldn’t have lasted more than a few hours.
Dream sighed. He would need to start brewing a love potion antidote, lest Sapnap still be stuck under the amortentia’s effects when Valentine’s Day rolled around. They were supposed to be streaming that day, and they couldn’t do that if Sapnap was too busy flirting with Dream and sticking himself to his side.
*
“Sapnap, get off me –” Dream grumbled, trying to rummage through the pantry. He was checking to see if he had the right ingredients for the love potion antidote, but Sapnap had glued himself to his side again. Dream really didn’t want Sapnap to come in contact with some of his more dangerous potion ingredients on accident, like his acromantula venom or armadillo bile mixture. He wasn’t sure he had any unicorn horn paste on him to reduce the burns from either. “I’m trying to make the love potion cure!”
“And I’m trying to tell you that you don’t need to brew the cure,” Sapnap said, not for the first time. He grabbed Dream’s arm and pulled him close, making eye contact with a serious expression. “Everything I said was true – you’re just too stubborn to accept that the potion only made me tell the truth!”
Dream shook his head and pulled away. “No, no – you’re still under the effects of the amortentia. It’s one of the most powerful love potions in the entire world … and you’re human. It probably has a stronger effect on you than wixen. It’s only been a few hours, and we need you to be cured before our stream tomorrow, on Valentine’s Day.”
“Dream, I promise, I love you, for real –”
Hearing Sapnap proclaim his love for Dream was making Dream’s heart break; none of it was real. Dream couldn’t handle it anymore.
“Sapnap!” Dream snapped, and the window over the sink cracked from accidental magic. He watched Sapnap visibly recoil in response. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He waved his hand wordlessly and the window repaired itself. Dream wished he could do the same for his heart. “Just … let me do this. You’re acting out of character. I should have had the antidote on hand, anyway, in case my clients also needed it. I’m just … killing two pixies with one stone. Let me brew the potion – it will only take one hour at most – and then you can take your dose, and we can all go back to normal.”
He grabbed the ingredients he needed and turned to head back to his dungeon. He completely missed the heartbroken look on Sapnap’s face.
*
Finally, Sapnap left Dream alone.
Maybe that should have been the first red flag.
*
As Dream started the potion base, organising his ingredients how he needed them, and prepping the other ingredients – like counting out the liquorice root, pouring out the exact among of castor oil, and measuring the gurdyroot extract – his phone suddenly buzzed in his pocket several times. He kept it on silent most of the time, and had notifications disabled for most apps; he received too many notifications from his social medias to keep them on. But he still received notifications for his friend’s social medias, whenever they posted something, and Dream frowned. He didn’t remember his friends saying anything about posting before Valentine’s Day. Most of them agreed to wait until they were all streaming together.
He took a moment away from the potion to check his phone, and his stomach dropped when he saw the notifications. It was from Sapnap on Twitter. He quickly clicked on the prompt, and it opened to several rapid-fire tweets.
Sapnap @sapnap
why is dream kinda … 🥵
Sapnap @sapnap
daddy dream, save me
Sapnap @sapnap
save me, daddy dream
Sapnap @sapnap
if any of you guys knew what dream looked like irl I’d have to beat you off him with a stick
Sapnap @sapnap
I get to see dream every day. are you jealous
The tweets had blown up and each already had well over thirty thousand likes and almost a million views. People were freaking out in the replies. “DNF IS DEAD” and “DREAMNAP FOR THE WIN” were trending on Twitter. Dream could feel his careful control slipping. He had caused all this by storing his amortentia potions in the fridge, knowing that Sapnap already had a history of drinking things that weren’t his from said fridge. The animagus potion was proof of that. And now Sapnap was thirst tweeting on Twitter – on his main account – and would severely regret this later. Dream should have kept Sapnap by his side so he could monitor his behaviour before something like this happened.
Now Dream had to do damage control.
*
“Sapnap!”
“Yeah?”
“Why would you post that stuff?!”
“What? You didn’t like it?”
Sapnap had a mischievous smirk on his face.
Dream could only sigh for the hundredth time.
*
Dream got Sapnap to delete the tweets, but only after over a million people had seen the tweets and probably screenshotted them. Then Dream dragged Sapnap down to the dungeon, where he sat the man on a stool to watch Dream as he brewed the love potion antidote. Maybe this way, nothing more could happen before Dream was able to administer the antidote.
*
Dream dropped in the last bundle of liquorice root into the cauldron and stirred counterclockwise slowly. The potion started to turn a transparent, light, pink-purple colour. As he stirred, he tried to talk to Sapnap, but the younger was turned away from him, arms crossed in frustration. He was probably frustrated because Dream had shut down another love confession less than five minutes ago. Sapnap, under the effects of the potion, was really persistent.
“And again, why did you drink from a random unlabelled bottle in the fridge, after what happened last time?” Dream asked, referencing Sapnap drinking his animagus potion and turning into a puppy on Halloween. It had been cute, but scary; Dream hadn’t known how the potion would affect humans.
Dream waved his hand and magically turned down the heat on the fire below the cauldron. The bubbling in the potion slowed down.
Sapnap huffed, still not looking at Dream. “I couldn’t help it – it just smelled so good …”
“And out of curiosity … what did the potion smell like to you?” Dream asked, trying to sound nonchalant. He continued stirring.
Sapnap gave him a weird look over his shoulder. “It smelled like vanilla and pumpkin and spices.” Vanilla and pumpkin and spices … Dream’s heart was in his throat. That was what his shampoo and soaps smelled like, because he liked to buy the expensive stuff. In the same way that the amortentia smelled like Sapnap’s shitty Old Spice apple and cinnamon shampoo to him. He must have stared off into the distance a bit too long because Sapnap frowned. “Is it not supposed to smell like that?”
Dream coughed into his fist, choking on his next words.
“Amortentia smells different for everyone. It’s supposed to smell like what they find most attractive, even if the person doesn’t acknowledge or is unaware of their fondness for the object of their affection.”
Understanding settled in Sapnap’s expression.
“Huh,” he said, then: “I must … really like pumpkin pie, then.”
Dream wanted to cry.
*
Dream cut the fire at the bottom of the cauldron. He waved his hand and the vials and bottles he prepped danced over through the air, scooping up the potion from the cauldron, until the cauldron was completely empty. Dream waved his hand again, and the vials and bottles followed him through the air upstairs, toward the fridge, where he would cool the love potion antidote and finally administer it to Sapnap.
Now, if only it didn’t feel like a final walk toward his death.
*
Sapnap caught Dream’s eye one last time. Hazel met green. Sapnap was holding the vial of love potion antidote. It shimmered a light pink-purple, and it smelled like black liquorice. Black liquorice was never a favourite of Sapnap’s. He didn’t want to drink the potion – he didn’t want to have these feelings and the openness to express them taken away from him. But if it would make Dream happy, then … he guessed he had no choice.
“Are you sure I can’t convince you that I actually love you?” Sapnap asked. The dread of needing to drink the potion sat heavily in his chest. “I promise, it’s not just the amortentia.”
Dream gave him a tenuous smile.
“I know you think what you’re feeling right now is real, but … well, just drink the antidote, and we can talk about it after.”
Sapnap sighed.
He stared down at the vial.
He downed it like a shot.
It burned going down his throat, just like alcohol.
Almost immediately, Sapnap’s mind felt cleared. It was like his brain had been filled with cotton candy before and he hadn’t even noticed. He blinked several times, his eyes feeling like they had lost the rose-tinted glasses. He looked across the room, over at Dream. That’s when the embarrassment hit him full force. He had … he had confessed his love to Dream multiple times. He had hung off the witch’s arm like a bimbo. He had thirst tweeted to get back at Dream for not accepting his love confessions.
And Dream …
Dream had rejected him every time.
Tears filled Sapnap’s eyes.
Dream may have kissed him at the Castoffs in a fit of happiness, but he clearly didn’t want Sapnap the way that Sapnap wanted Dream.
Sapnap set the empty vial down and hastily left the room, not daring to look back.
*
Dream felt awful.
He had watched as Sapnap drank the love potion antidote, blinked away the effects of the amortentia, and then his entire face lit up with a blush like a Christmas tree – and not in a good way. His eyes became red before he bolted out the door, to the living room, and up the stairs to his bedroom. He didn’t even say anything to Dream, probably so embarrassed by his previous behaviour that he had no words. Even with the hope that Sapnap liked him back – with the amortentia potion smelling like Dream’s soaps to him – Dream knew it had been a long shot. Sapnap running away confirmed it: he really didn’t like Dream.
But, even with the embarrassing day spent sighing dreamily over Dream, and probably not wanting to see or talk to Dream right now, Sapnap deserved an apology. Dream needed to set things right … and maybe get his own fridge for the dungeon.
With a heavy heart, Dream started up the stairs and to Sapnap’s bedroom.
*
Sapnap screamed into his pillows. His entire face felt red. His stomach swooped with dread and upset. He had totally embarrassed himself in front of Dream, and after multiple rejections, he now knew that Dream didn’t even want him like he thought. The kiss at the Castoffs had meant nothing. Sapnap’s day could not get any worse …
That was, until he heard a knock at his bedroom door.
“Sapnap?” Dream called.
He was wrong, it could get worse.
He almost didn’t want to answer Dream, but knowing his best friend, Dream wouldn’t let things lie. He would continue knocking or just barge in if he thought it was needed. And Dream, though he didn’t like Sapnap the way Sapnap liked him, still cared about his friends. Checking in on a friend after they accidentally drank a powerful love potion was definitely something his Dream would do, just because he was so protective.
“Come in,” Sapnap groaned into his pillow.
He propped himself up on his elbows, peeking through his peripheral vision as Dream’s head popped through the door, the curls framing his face swinging with the motion, before Dream entered the room fully. Sapnap could see that Dream looked worried.
He was probably uncomfortable, seeing as how Sapnap confessed his love multiple times. Their entire relationship, gone, just because the stupid love potion made Sapnap blurt out his emotions.
“How are you feeling?” Dream asked, voice soft.
Sapnap groaned again, covering his face, which was still flaming red.
“Yeah,” Dream said sympathetically, “Amortentia does that to people. I’m … I’m sorry that you had to go through that. I never wanted you to suffer because of my potions … nor make you do or say things you never wanted to … and I promise, I’m getting a fridge for my potion dungeon, next week! No more potions accidents will happen!”
Sapnap blinked, confused at the wording Dream used. “What … what you mean, ‘do or say things you never wanted to’?” He asked.
Dream shuffled his feet, head turned downward. “Well, amortentia takes away the user’s choice and will. It forces them to become infatuated and obsessed with the first person they see after ingesting the potion. It’s not love – not really. You can’t make love in a bottle. But you can get close enough with love potions. And I never meant to make you uncomfortable or embarrassed by forcing you to like me like that. I shouldn’t have even kissed you at the Castoffs – that was wrong of me, and I’m sorry.”
Sapnap was hit with the sudden clarity that Dream thought that Sapnap didn’t like him in a romantic way. He thought that everything Sapnap said while under the influence of the amortentia was fake. And, sure, Sapnap had acted in ways he wouldn’t normally – but those feelings? How he loved and cared for Dream? Those were very much real.
“Dream,” Sapnap said, at the risk of being rejected again, “I really do love you. The potion … the potion didn’t force that.”
Dream froze. Then: “Did the cure not work?”
Sapnap looked up to the heavens, praying for patience. He threw his pillow at Dream, who wordlessly deflected it with magic, though it didn’t look like it was a purposeful move. Dream blinked dumbly.
“Can you just believe me for one second?!” Sapnap demanded. “Take my words at face value! The potion made me act weirdly – I’m not that obsessed with you – but I do love you. You’re my best friend and life partner. I enjoyed the kiss at the Castoffs, so don’t you dare apologise for that; and, if I’m being honest, I kind of wish you would kiss me like that more often. And no, this isn’t the potion talking. It’s just me, hoping that … that you won’t reject me again.”
“Pandas …” Dream said, sounding choked. “You actually mean it?”
“One hundred percent.”
“You do know why I rejected you so often, though, right? I would never take advantage of you when you’re under the influence of a love potion. I would never do that to you.”
“That’s very noble and all, but I kind of just want you to shut up and come here and kiss me.”
“Aye, aye, captain,” Dream joked, giving a mock salute. But he was already making his way over to the bed, looming over Sapnap, placing his arms on either side of the younger.
“Shut up, idiot,” Sapnap laughed, “and kiss me.”
*
The kiss was everything Sapnap wanted and was so much more than the chaste, spontaneous kiss he received at the Castoffs. Sapnap propped himself up by the headboard for better access. Dream climbed onto the bed, straddling Sapnap’s hips as he lowered and closed his eyes, lips meeting Sapnap’s. He nipped at Sapnap’s bottom lip, sucking it into his mouth, before he paused and flicked his tongue out to lick into Sapnap’s. Sapnap opened eagerly for Dream. Dream’s hands, so large and warm, ran up and down Sapnap’s sides. Their tongues swirled together, and they kept kissing until Sapnap was breathless and dizzy. He was finally forced to pull away, causing Dream to chase his lips.
“Dream, Dream –” Sapnap mumbled, “I need to breathe, idiot.”
“Sorry for wanting the kiss to never end,” Dream chuckled. “You’re a good kisser.”
“I’m not stroking your ego like that,” Sapnap warned. “But … I do love you.” He nipped at Dream’s lips.
“And I never want to stop kissing you, if it can be helped.”
“I love you, too, Pandas,” Dream said, allowing a chaste kiss.
“Now, less words, more kisses,” Sapnap demanded petulantly.
“I’m not arguing with that.”
*