Chapter Text
Dan was in 12th grade when the stranger started appearing in his dreams. He didn’t notice at first, but as time went on, he saw a pattern forming. Every Wednesday when he would go to sleep, his dream would consist of this, stranger. He could never remember fully what the person looked like, but he was tall, like him, and he had the best laugh.
As Dan started getting older, so did the dream man. After a while, he started to remember certain characteristics the man possessed. Almost every morning after the dream he wrote down one thing. The first on the list being his height. Tall like him. The next week he remembered his hair, a stark black against his pale white skin. Then he would recall the way the ends of his eyes crinkled when he smiled, or how he made the stupidest jokes. Night after night this continued.
And this continued for a long time. After a stressful day, Dan would fall asleep and quickly become comforted by a warm embrace. Dan never questioned this, he assumed it was just in his head, a way for his brain to calm itself. Heck, he even gave the man a name, well, sort of a name. He called him Amazing, because that’s the only thing he could remember from the dreams. His amazing voice and his amazing eyes and his amazing laugh. This man was Amazing.
It was about three years after his first dream that he could recall a conversation he had with the mystery man after he woke up. It was short, but sweet, and gave him the feeling of a bright flashlight in his heart, illuminating his soul.
"What's it like, outside, I mean?" Amazing had asked. They were in a field, with tall grass, and Dan remembers leaning against the other's shoulder, pausing before responding.
"It's cold, a lot, but on the right days, it can be warm," He replied. Dan did not know why he said what he did, but it seemed to suffice, because Amazing wrapped his arm around his shoulder and held him. It was bright and calm and oh so very comforting, all Dan wanted to do was stay like that forever. He woke up after that, back into his grey apartment with it's grey walls and cold floors. Dan did not think it was possible to miss his bed more than he had that day after their conversation.
The next night, as Dan dreamt, Amazing did not come right away. He was concerned, until his saw his familiar angelic glow from the tall grass in the field. Dan rushed over and sat down right next to him, his hand brushing the other's. Amazing smiled, but there was poorly hidden sorrow behind it.
"This might be our last meeting, Daniel, I want to come to your world and see what you see," said Amazing, staring into Dan's chocolate eyes with his own oceanic ones. Dan did not want this. He would never want this, his world was so cold and harsh, it would break someone as nice as him.
"No!" Exclaimed Dan, "You can't! I don't want you to go, what if I never see you again? What will I do without you, Amazing?" He begging, grasping Amazing's shoulder and holding onto him, as if he would disappear that second.
"Oh Dan, don't be upset. I just," he paused, "I want to feel what you feel and see what you see, because every time I touch you," He took Dan's hand in his own, "I feel your pain, and I want to help..."
Dan didn't think, or maybe he did, because all he knew when he leaned in closer, when their faces became just inches apart, was that he did not want to see this person go. He didn't want to be alone again after so many years in a cold world. He wanted too dream and enjoy it, and he wanted to have a reason to make it to the next morning. But before he could lean any closer, he woke up, and one word was etched in his mind. Amazing.