"Can I help you? Or would you like to take the bell home?" A dark and beautiful voice spoke. Dream looked up and saw the Dark blue and black Arabian dancer dressed woman entered. And even though she had a dark mask covering on, he could see the beautifully dark detailed makeup on her face.

He gave an apologetic smile. “i’m sorry, i got carried away. it sounds beautiful, like your voice-” He covered his mouth.

She looked taken aback by his comment. She giggled. "You think my voice is pretty~? And who do I have the pleasure~ to have this said by." She teased.

A yellow blush crept along his cheekbones. At least she wasn’t mad. “um… dream.” 

She froze. She looked more closely at him and her eyes widened and took a step back. "Pardon me your majesty. I just have to get something from the back. Take your time and browse my collections in the front casings here. I'll be right back." Before Dream could say anything she left to the back room.

Raven's pov

'Shitshitshitshitshit!!!! The king himself is here in my shop! What the Hell is happening?!?! I thought I was being discreet enough to not be caught?! Ok, just calm down Raven. He's probably here just to shop, yeah, to shop. But why in Hell's name is he in MY shop?!' 

Raven would've freaked out more if it weren't for the whispers of the shadows trying to coax her. They also warned that their "guest" is aware that someone is here now. 

"Okay! Just… Gag him or something to keep him quiet. I can't afford to screw this up!" She whispered to them. You see, with collecting antiques and being a practitioner of magic she always had the gift of also having unexpected guests and roommates come and go from her shop. The ones that stay help her out in her business and side business. While the guests are shown to the afterlife so that they can either rest in peace or be reborn. Luckily she's never had any "unpleasant" guests or residents. So far. 

But now there's her current problem. The one right out front looking through the jewelry and tarot cards in the display casing. 'Alright. I can do this… I can do this…' 

She grabbed a handheld mirror and placed it in a small box. The mirror was supposedly from before Dreamtale went up in flames. One of the only few in existence. She doesn't remember how she got it. She had it for as long as she could remember. Ever since her time in the streets, scavenging for food. She found it one day in an alley where a strange old man had given it to her. He told her to keep it till she found the one for her. He said it was a gift from his deceased wife from the previous Dreamtale. He said that she should have it to give it to her special someone when she was old enough. 

She didn't really seem to care but she took it anyways and kept it for all this time. She brought it with her back out in the front and put it on a random shelf to look like she was getting something. To make her lie believable.

“i’m sorry, i didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. i should have given a fake name..” Dream had felt her negativity dampen his positivity a tad. He felt bad, he was supposed to be discrete, not go around telling people his name. He looked at her, spotting the box. “what’s that?”

Her attention was drawn to where he was pointing. "You want to see it? There's nothing interesting in it."

“if i’ve learned anything in the ten minutes i have been in this shop, everything is interesting. everything has a story to it. so what’s in the box?” 

She smiled gently. Happy to know that he feels the same way for antiques like she does. She brought the box over and opened it for him. In it was an eclipse gold colored metal grafted hand mirror that had an ancient looking language carved on it.

Dream’s sockets went wide. “the sun soul mirror..” He approached slowly, knowing the mirror all too well.

Raven raised a brow in confusion. "The what…?"

“the sun soul mirror, it is the other half of the moon soul mirror. they are a set that my mother and father had when we were boys… i can’t believe it survived as well..” Dream was in awe. How’d she get her hands on such an item? That was well before the rebirth of Dreamtale.

"Soooooo, in a way, they're like a wedding ring?" She asked curiously while picking it up and looking at it.

“yes! exactly! the mirror is supposed to help the owner find his or her soulmate, that’s how my parents found each other, and i think it’s how my brother found his girlfriend since he has the moon soul mirror.” Dream realized. 

"Pfffffffttttt!!! Your brother. The king of darkness. Has a girlfriend?" She chuckled. 

His sockets widened again as he realized he said that out loud. “shit.”

Raven realized he didn't mean to say that. "Pfffffffttttt, Hahahahaha!!! You're a hoot and a holler, you know that bellboy~"

He blushed again at her laughter, and blushed brighter at her comment. “b-bellboy!?”

"Pfffftttt! Well. You do like this bell and from the way you're looking right now, you're like a cute little bell~." She cooed.

He externally cringed at the flirtation. He never knew what to do in situations like these. ‘Maybe distract her? Yeah, that’ll work!’ He thought. “w-wanna s-see how i-it works..?”

She shrugged giggling at his discomfort. "Sure. I've had it since I was small, so why not?"

“ok!” He walked over, peeking over her shoulder at the pretty object. “so since it gives hints about your soulmate, all you really have to do is think about the ideal person for you. what would you want him or her to be like, appearances, etc.” He explained. 

"Hmmmm, I want him to be strong, kind, funny to mess with, open minded, strong stomach when it comes to my antics, a good soul, forgiving, loving, creative, and just…. A good person in general…." She trailed off thinking about snippets of her past.

“he sounds like a good person…” Dream thought about what the people of his side of the kingdom had become. He certainly hoped there were still people like that in his kingdom. “what do you see in the mirror?” Since it was her mirror, he couldn’t see what she saw. 

She started to see that the mirror was morphing into one of light. She had to look away since it was so bright. But she saw something else in it. She squinted in the light. She saw a raven in a large nest with several little chicks wanting food from their mother. And then came a large white bird. She couldn't tell what sort of bird it was since it looked to be a mix between a dove and a hawk. But she could see that they were mates as they nuzzled their beaks together. Finally the nest was surrounded by what appeared to be a crown. It looked familiar. But she didn't know from where. It then returned to normal. She was a bit dazed but she told Dream of what she saw. 

“o-oh.. wow. That was surprisingly more detailed than i expected the mirror to be. i always figured the hints would be vague or something…” He commented as he pondered the vision.

"Would it help if I draw or describe the crown or some other details?" Raven offered.

“sure, maybe it’s someone i know?” What other royalty did he know again? There were the Toriel’s and Asgore’s of the aus, an occasional Sans or Papyrus, also from the aus, his brother, was Ink or Error considered royalty? Error 404? 

"Well the crown had a thin but solid band of gold. No jewels on it. It honestly looked more like a subtle but fancy headband like those Elves from the story books would wear. But at the front, on each end it curled on upwards and the other end, downwards. It kind of reminded me of golden vines? If that makes any sense?" 

Dream’s sockets had went wide.

“c-can i see that mirror a moment..”

"Hmmm? Yeah sure. What for?"

“confirmation.” He replied quietly. She handed the mirror carefully to him as he shakily held it in his phalanges.

He nearly dropped it at what he saw. They were trees. A bright oak and a dark pine, standing tall beside each other. The oak seemed to protect the pine as the pine also protected the oak. Below the two trees were hybrid saplings, children of the oak and pine. Dream turned luminescent yellow. “o-oh my…”

"Well…? What'd you do? Do you see something else in it?" Raven asked, confused.

He nodded, trying to process what this all meant. Him and Raven, Raven and him… 

Together.

"Well…? Who's my soulmate! Don't leave me in suspense, bellboy!" She said impatiently. Raven never thought that soulmates existed and even if they did, she wouldn't have one. Mainly because of how everyone treated her like a scavenger. And in a way, she was. But she at least deserved to be treated as a person with an identity. She bounced in place subtly like a child excited for Christmas. Dream could see the hint of excitement and happiness. Especially in her eyes. Even if they were covered by a dark veil.

“well… ok… i guess you’re my little blackbird now.” He replied with hints of nervousness, excitement, and joy.

Raven was confused at first but after a few seconds, it clicked. She raised her veil over her head and stared at him in wonder and curiosity. It was only now that Dream could make out the intricacies of her painted face and makeup. There were swirls and strips that looked like vines of plants and whiskers of an animal. Some dots here and there in assorted patterns. And the makeup for her face was well done. Especially the almost black lipstick that was prominently showing and accentuated how plump and seductive her lips were. And he couldn't help but stare at dark midnight blue eyes that seemed to reflect the lights in the room like stars. 

"Are you serious…? You're not pulling my leg now are you…? Cuz if you are…" she said in a warning tone.

“i’m not very good with jokes…” Dream replied. “the crown you described is mine.” He continued with complete honesty. “it was given to me by my father, it was his sun crown. nightmare has our mother’s moon crown.”

Raven couldn't form the proper words. On one hand she was ecstatic that she found her mate but on the other she tried to kill him. 'Shit!'

She felt guilty but didn't show it on her features. But she did show shyness that was unlike her personality.

“um… are you ok..?” Did he say something wrong? Did he screw up already? “blackbird..?”

She snapped out of it with a blush. "S-sorry! It's just all very sudden and just a little overwhelmed. Do you really want to be together with… someone like me…?" She said softly. "I mean I know we barely know each other, but… usually people don't take well to me or my appearance because I'm one of the few Negatives' that were mixed up during the registration process. So can you blame me if I was told that the King of Positivity was my mate?" She said as she felt ashamed of herself. "I mean, I don't care what people say about me, but what if they turn on you BECAUSE of me? I-I don't want you to sacrifice your love for your people over someone like… me." She said darkly as she stared absently to the mirror.

.........