Dream's pov

I slept amazing after the night that I had. I felt like I was floating on clouds. I took a quick shower and changed into one of my uniforms, putting my crown on last. ‘I wonder..’ I smiled brightly, making a peace sign as I took a selfie for my Blackbird. I sent it along with a text.

Bellboy: “Good morning my little Blackbird! I hope you enjoy your little Bellboy in all his royal glory, lol!”

Yes, I was in a very good mood. I went down to my brother and the guys. “good morning!”

“someone is happy today.” Ink commented. 

“i am! where’s nightmare?” I asked. I’d hoped to be able to talk to him since I hadn’t yesterday. Maybe explain some things?

“off looking for you since you never answered.” Killer replied.

“i can see why too~ the female took all of your time~?” Horror teased.

“i-i, what-?” I stammered, blushing. 

“never thought you’d be the first between you two, honestly, i’m shocked.” Horror continued, chuckling.

“i don’t understa-”

“do i have to spell it out? i know you screwed a girl, her scent is all over you!” He snapped, getting annoyed with my play on innocence. 

I shrunk away as the whole table gave me bewildered looks. 

“he’s not denying it.” Dust muttered.

“well… it’s true, that’s why. she’s my soulmate..” I replied reluctantly. 

I was immediately bombarded with questions from Ink and Blue and my brother's boys. And that was when I received a text from my phone. I tried to hide my phone from the guys but a black tentacle wrapped around my phone and snatched it from me.

‘Crap. he’s using his scary voice!’ 

“i-i can explain!” Glancing around, I found myself alone. Of course they knew better than to stick around when he was using his scary voice. I was alone in this. 

“oh please dear brother, do explain.” Nightmare stared at me with a furious cyan eye that made me choke on my words. “i’m waiting.” He pressed.

“i-i love her!” I managed to choke out through his piercing gaze. His shoulders slumped a little. 

“you just met her dream, how can you say that without knowing anything about her?” His ferocity faded into disappointment.

“i- the mirror-”

“even mirrors can tell you so much. even if she’s your “soulmate” you should at least wait and get to know her instead of acting off your instincts. besides, why did you peek in my mirror?”

I looked down. “it… wasn’t your mirror… it was hers. she owns this neat little shop and pulled out the sun soul mirror..”

Nightmare paused. “the sun soul mirror? it still exists?”

I glanced up, nodding. “in her shop, yeah. i don’t know how she got it, but i figured she had it for a reason so..” I trailed off, trying not to deepen my grave. 

“hmmm… we are not done with this conversation. i can’t help but feel partially responsible for this since i pushed you out of the castle, so i’ll let you off with a warning this time. don’t do it again.” 

“but night-”

"not until i think you know her well enough. i’m not going to keep you from her, just don’t get handsy.” He warned before giving me my phone back and leaving.

I checked the message Nightmare had opened. It was a picture of Raven naked with her paint markings on her body. Only having a long midnight blue silk cloth covering her more "intimate" parts. I blushed heavily.

I shut my phone off for the time being. She probably had work soon. I don’t wanna know what sort of punishment Nightmare has in store for me if I do break the rules and get caught..

Nightmare's pov

I don’t really know what to feel right now. Shocked? Pissed? Both? I never thought of Dream as the type to fall into instinct so quickly. Stars, what a mess. I went into my bedroom and went to my nightstand where I kept the Moon Soul Mirror. I’ve only used it once to even see if something like me could have a chance at love. It turned out that I could, which had made me feel better. The vision had been of the sun and the moon sharing the sky, living side by side in harmony. Little stars had stretched out between the two. They could represent the people of the kingdom, or they could represent more… intimate relations. I don’t know. And that was around the same time I went out to explore the nightlife of my side of the kingdom and had found Sunny. If that wasn't luck, I don't know what was.

There was no doubt in my mind that she was my soul mate, it was hard to believe at the time, seeing how young she was, but everyone was young compared to Dream and I. We were about 526 years old so.. Now that I found her, I can actually get to know my Sunshine and eventually we can rule together, expand the family if she wishes, all that stuff that I’d always wanted, but never thought I could have. I wonder how she is doing today?

I decided to drop by her restaurant and get a fresh meal. As I turned the corner on the street I saw her diner and saw that one of her workers had thrown out a slightly beaten but angry man.

“And stay out you dickwa- Oh- oh…. H-hey gooptipus- er- King… Nightmare… um… here for Sunny? She’s actually not here today, it’s her day off, but if you want her address..”

"That would be most appreciated." I nodded to the feisty red-head.

“Ok, so-” She shot a glare at the still listening man. “I’ll just write it down..” She pulled out her notepad and scribbled down the address before tearing out the page and handing it to me. 

I skimmed the paper, fairly sure I knew the general area at least. I disappeared into the shadows and shortcut to said area. It didn’t take very long for me to find her home. 

It was a tannish yellow small two story home that had some white trim. It has high fencing with some chain link. Which, I can't blame her. Even in this nice part of the kingdom, you have to be on your guard.

I walked up to the gate and got past it rather easily. I AM made of goop and negativity after all. I gave a firm knock and waited. After a few minutes, I knocked again, slightly harder, thinking she hadn’t heard the first. ‘Is she ill?’

I finally heard a groggy, "I'm coming!" Did she just wake up? As soon the door was open, her curly and wavy hair was a mess and she was in a yellow tank top with white and yellow plaid designed shorts that hugged her curvy waist. Both she and her place smelled of…. sunshine and vanilla. Where have I smelled that before. But before I could think on it more, she was fully awake and she looked panicked.

"O-oh! Hun! Moonpie! What're you doing here?!" She said panicky.

“are you ok? i had stopped at the diner, but your friend said you weren’t there and gave me the address to this place… i would have called beforehand, but i don’t have your number. i’m sorry to just drop in like this..” I stated quickly, getting nervous about my sudden actions. ‘Was I being to rash? I just yelled at Dream about this an hour ago, granted the situation was different but-’ I was broken out of my panicked thoughts by my Sunshine. 

"Oh honey! You're fine. You just caught me off guard. Here, c'mon in. Just stay in the living room while I tidy upstairs real quick." She had let me in and I inspected the place. Nice open floor plan, dining room was on the right, the kitchen on the left and straight ahead of me was a good sized living room that had a few couches and a large TV on the opposing wall. I walked to and sat in the living room. The main entrance/dining room/kitchen was a nice shade of green and the living room was a pleasant light shade of dull yellow. Where I sat on the sofa I saw that she locked a door next to the living room that appeared to go into a basement. And beside the door was a set of stairs that went upstairs to which she promptly ran up. More than likely to be more presentable.

It took over twenty minutes for her to get ready and come back down. Her hair was fixed and she now wore a short yellow and white short sleeves shirt along with blue jeans that looked like it hugged her in just the right places.

"Sorry about the wait, Moonpie! Didn't want to keep looking like I went through a war. Hehehehehe~" she giggled as she sat beside me.

“you look amazing no matter if it’s a war look or..” He gestured to her. “this.”

"Hahaha! Thanks! So what brings you to my humble abode~" she said jokingly. I wanted to respond but the smell was bugging me in terms of where I smelt it from.

"Is something wrong?" She looked at me questioningly.

“that scent..” I mumbled, trying to figure out why it was so hauntingly familiar.

She looked questioningly at me. "Well why don't we watch some TV." She said as she turned it on. The channel news was on. 

On the screen below showed what looked like a business number. 

“...”

'The scent. Of co---' But before I could finish my sentence I heard a scoff from my right. It was Sunny? She was giving off negative emotions?

"That baroness… you wouldn't believe how much she's had her hand in making the lives of this side of the kingdom MISERABLE! She's the main reason why parents these days have to give up their kids to her in order to pay off their debts to her. Some say, no, I know, that she uses these children as slaves and hide them when respectable company is over. Although if it's her consorts or people who indulge her actions and what she does on the side, they are allowed to see and abuse them. Just "emotionally distraught" and "hysterics" isn't even enough of what she deserves…" she growled out the last part.

I shut off the tv, leaning back against the couch. “i think that’s enough tv, sunshine.”

She looked so worked up. How come I didn't know about this?! I mean, I've had business meals with that woman. Of course the baroness was always vain and prissy. Never expected that level of cruelty. Especially so quickly.

‘I can think of a way to deal with her later, I refuse to let this continue… but now…’ “what else would you like to do?” 

Sunny seemed to slightly cool down and smile at me. "Well, we could bake something in my kitchen? I have this lemon and blueberry cake recipe that I planned on making for the diner tomorrow. But you can have the first slice once it's done." She playfully winked at me.

“i… have never baked before. is it fun?” I tilted my head cutely out of curiosity.

She blushed a little before her smile came back tenfold. "Yeah! Cooking and baking is really fun once you get the hang of it! I'll show ya! C'mon!" She said as she got up and dragged me to the kitchen.

She then proceeded to get the necessary ingredients out for the cake. She showed me how to properly crack eggs without the annoying shell pieces falling in the bowl. Which, by the way, was a pain in the ass to get right. She also taught me how to add the ingredients to the right measurements and how to whisk without making a mess. Tentacles come in handy when dealing with multiple tasks. But a royal pain to learn how to control the strength of it while stirring…. I choose not to comment on the mess that ensued.

Soon enough, we got the cake in the oven and now it was just a waiting game to see if it came out right and then what Sunny says is the best part. Putting the vanilla icing on the cake. She made some the day before and had to let it chill overnight. She says that it's the best part because we can lick the bowl afterwards. Which honestly, I'm kinda looking forward to.

While we waited we commented and talked about our day and what's happened so far. I told her about Dream's new mate and how I had to practically put a figurative leash on him from getting handsy. She laughed that adorable laugh of hers along with a few cute snorts. She always seems to know how to brighten my already sour mood. And afterwards, when she got bored, she flirted with me a few times using baking puns. I gotta say, I was both thoroughly impressed and flustered at the same time. 

It seemed like forever till the timer went off to take the cake out. Luckily, the cake didn't stick to the pan and turned out alright. She got out the vanilla icing from her fridge and grabbed two spatulas for us to use. Gotta say, I have to give professional bakers some credit where it's due. Icing a cake without ruining it is hella hard! Especially if the cake is tender and soft. After our long battle with perfecting the sweet treat, we were finally done.

“mm. that smells wonderful. and it looks edible too. i truly hope that it’s not a wolf in sheep's clothing like blue’s cooking is..” Just thinking about his tacos made me shiver. 

She laughed at my unfortunate experience. "Only one way to find out!" She chirped as she sliced a thin piece of the cake on a small plate. She grabbed two forks for us to use. We each took a bite and honestly, it melted in my mouth like butter and the taste of lemon accented with blueberries seemed to sizzle and make my tastebuds scream for more!

“mm! this is the best thing i’ve ever had!” I was quick to take another bite.

She seemed to agree with me. But then seemed to make a contemplative face, thinking. "It is good. But I know a dish of mine that tastes even better!"

“something better than this?” I asked, once again doing that cute head tilt thing. 

She blushed again but she smiled mischievously.

"Yep! My Moonpie~" she winked at me.

I blushed heavily. “o-oh- uh…” ‘What the hell is that supposed to mean?!’ 

......