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The morning’s sunlight snuck through the curtains, aiming right for Dream’s eyes in an attempt to wake him. The guardian squinted at the intrusion of the light, turning his head to face the opposite wall in protest of its beckoning. Despite not knowing what time it was, it was surely far too early to be up after the long night he’d had. He never should have offered to help Ink sort his colored pencils.
“Dream!”
Speak of the devil. With a quiet groan, Dream pulled his blankets over his head and let out a long-suffering sigh. Once that was out of his system, he sat up and tossed the blankets off his torso. After letting out a yawn, he throws the blankets off his legs as well and is sliding out of the cozy bed. He grabbed his circlet from his bedside table and gently set it atop his skull, turning to the mirror on the wall to adjust it as needed. Once satisfied, he took a quick glimpse down at the simple white long-sleeve shirt and gray slacks he wore and decided there was no need to get dressed for breakfast. Just this once.
“Dream!” Ink called again as he was rushing to the kitchen doorway, only to yelp in surprise as he crashed right into the one he was calling for. Ink took a joyful hop backwards while Dream stumbled a few steps back, still managing a kind smile as he rubbed his eye socket with the heel of his palm. “Careful.” The guardian reminded, his voice heavy with sleep. “What’s got you so excited?” Dream went on to ask, watching with amusement as Ink put his hands on his hips and puffed out his chest. That was typically Ink’s “I accomplished something most people see as a simple daily task” pose.
“Well, Blue left behind some ingredients last night, and I decided to make us a bit of breakfast!” Ink boasted, peeking open an eye and clearly expecting to be congratulated. Dream instead sighed, peeking past Ink to look for signs of damage to the kitchen. Ink turned to look with him, his eyelights shifting into a yellow question mark and green swirl. “What are we looking at?”
“There’s no smoke or scorch marks.”
“Dream, that’s mean!”
Dream snickered, gesturing into the kitchen for Ink to lead the way. Ink was happy to lead him to the island counter of their shared home. He grabbed a plate from it and turned to show Dream with a proud “ta-da!”
Sliced apples placed around a small bowl of caramel in the middle. Oh. Oh this was too good of an opportunity to pass up. “Ink… what’s this?”
Ink blinked slowly, lowering the plate as his excitement deflated. “What’s wrong? I didn’t cut my fingers with the knife or anything. I even washed the apples off!” He sounded so distraught, but Dream wasn’t done with him just yet. He was feeling quite mischievous this morning.
“Ink,” Dream looked unsettled, leaning back a bit to emphasize his clear discomfort for the plate of seemingly harmless apples. “My mother was an apple tree. That would be cannibalism.”
The plate clattered loudly on the kitchen floor when Ink dropped it, not breaking by some miracle, but Ink’s mind on the other hand, had absolutely been shattered. One eyelight was a blue exclamation point, the other a red x. It made Dream think of those x’s on game shows when a player got a strike for a wrong answer.
Silence lingered for a long moment, long enough that Dream started to wonder if the joke had gone a little too far. Then, much to his surprise (and relief) Ink doubled over laughing, grabbing the island counter with one hand for support while the other wrapped around his midsection.
“That-!” Ink tried to say, but his own laughter cut him off. It took a few seconds for him to gather his breath, and when he did he grabbed Dream by the shoulders and shook him back and forth. “That was brilliant!” Ink praised, much to Dream’s relief and delight. He hadn’t always been good with jokes and pranks, but he felt a swell of pride for having done it right this time.
“You had me going for a second there! I was like, “oh shit, how did I forget something like that?” Ink chuckled, retrieving the plate and picking up a slice of apple that had hit the floor, popping it into his mouth with a toothy grin. Dream smiled back and also took a slice, dipping it in the caramel before taking a satisfyingly crunchy bite.
Ink leaned forward suddenly and pressed a feather-light kiss to Dream’s mouth, grinning as the guardian blushed lightly. “Hm, yeah, the apples taste better with caramel.”
“Ink!” Dream chuckled and pushed the artist back, snatching the plate and heading for the living room as he continued to eat the slices and made good (over-abundant) use of the caramel. “Thanks for the breakfast!”
“Hey, that’s for both of us!” Ink complained, following along at Dream’s heels as they made their way to the living room.
“Can we watch a game show this morning? Like that… family feud, was it?” Dream asked, catching the question mark in Ink’s eye before the artist nodded in agreement. “Sure. I didn’t know you liked those.”
“They’re growing on me.” Dream said with a soft smile, plopping himself down on the couch. Ink sought out the remote before joining him, cuddling up into his side as he turned the channel.
Maybe it wasn’t too early to be up after all.