ORPHANED

:: ninety ::

the cold sweatshirtless trek towards The Grind managed to wake up the blonde more than any energy drink he had ever tried before could. the cold effected him to such an extent that when he did manage to push past the doors of the coffee shop, he was almost sent to his knees from the heat on the other side.

"oh my god." he spoke to himself as he passed karl, who sat in his usual spot at the counter, a mystery pastry sat on a plate in front of him.

"where's george?" sapnap waited for the blonde to tie the apron around his waist before handing him a coffee cup filled with an undisclosed warm liquid. "i knew you were going to end up walking here without a sweatshirt, drink that."

dream sent an untrusting look towards the cup in his hands, that spread a heat into his skin bringing a picture of the brunette into his brain. "what is it?" he looked up from the cup to meet sapnap's expecting gaze.

"it's poison." sapnap stared back as if the blonde was dumb. "it's coffee dream, did you really think i'd invite you over here before i left just to poison you."

dream returned his eyes to the cup. "well,"

"it'd be your last chance to get him out of the picture." karl set down his phone, finally engaging in the conversation.

"you know what, that's true karl." they both shared a nod before turning back to sapnap.

"you drink first." karl leaned over the counter a bit to feel more connected to the situation.

sapnap scoffed, turning from the cup that dream offered to him. "karl you can't be serious, you watched me make it."

karl tilted his head, bringing a finger to his chin, pretending to think back to it. "that's debatable, i wasn't watching you, there were plenty of times you could've slipped something in."

"oh my god you guys are so..." he trailed off, staring at the cup.

"why don't you want to drink it sapnap?" dream followed sapnap's eyes until they both were staring at the cup in his hands.

"you really want me to drink from it first? would that make you feel better?"

dream turned to karl to make sure they both agreed to the terms. "i think it would make me feel better."

sapnap took the cup from the blonde's hands. "and to think i was trying to be a good friend and have something ready for when you got here." he took a sip from the cup. wiping his lips on the back of his hand before handing the cup back to dream. "there, im not dead, it's s safe to drink it now."

"hmm, i don't know about that. dream i think you should wait a few minutes, it might not be a fast acting poision."

"karl you are just spitting facts after facts today." dream set the cup down next to the plate in front of the faded pink haired boy.

"george would be so sad if he heard you say that." sapnap's eyes bounced between the two, unimpressed. "do you guys really think i'm just going to drop dead here?"

again dream and karl shared a look, shrugging for a collective second. "well."

"better to be safe than sorry." karl nodded.

"and what are you going to tell my mom when i die to poison before the most awaited vacation trip in my family?"

dream pondered an answer, but karl was quicker than him.

"you should've thought twice about trying to poison him." as per ususal, karl's joke was followed by his laughter, that alone being enough to snap sapnap out of his sassy attitude. they laughed for a while before sapnap again proposed the same question from before.

"so where is george? weren't you with him?"

dream pursed his lips, "was i supposed to bring him?"

"was i supposed to bring him?" karl mocked from where he was focused on his phone. both sapnap and dream turned to stare at him. the pink haired boy looked up from his phone, smiling before even making eye contact with the others. "sorry, you just said it funny."

sapnap shook his head, returning to the conversation. "i was going to text him, but i figured you'd tell him for me." he stepped up to the register to help an elderly customer who came to the counter.

in the short time dream had to think of an answer, he picked up the alleged poisoned coffee, craving the warmth that had stayed basically untouched. he watched sapnap step away from the register and lean against the counter next to karl.

"so dreamy, where is he?"

dream subconsciously averted his eyes from sapnap. "he wasn't feeling good, so i didnt bother waking him up to ask."

"is that also why you don't have a sweatshirt on today? because he wasn't feeling good?"

dream felt deja vu.

he looked down to stare at the t-shirt he wore too late into the season for it to be considered normal. "i didn't think i'd need it."

sapnap hummed, "really, because its not like it's forty degrees out today."

the conversation seemed to earn karl's attention. his eyes flipping between the two.

"he's always cold." dreams voice was much quieter this time around, almost as if he was embarrassed to admit he might've cared a little too much for the brunette, who would stay perfectly warm in the enclosure of his apartment.

"of course." sapnap smiled as he walked away from the blonde, leaving him to deal with karl's giggles.

"you've never given me your hoodie when im cold."

"thats because george would quite literally murder you."

"true." karl laughed himself back onto his stool.

sapnap walked out from the back with wide eyes. "guys. i don't feel so good."

both dream and karl watched as sapnap dramatically pretended to drop dead in front of them, laying on the floor for two whole seconds while the others debated how to react.

"dream oh no you're drinking it." karl's hands found their way into his hair, as they both turned to the cup in the blonde's hands.

—

i broke my thumb nail and typing is so difficult now because not only do i have to come face to face with my stupid stubby finger, but normally i had to compensate for where my finger would press the screen and i'm just completely missing all the letters on the left side of the keyboard now. (i had to bust out my laptop and google docs for this chapter)