Chapter Text
1996, the human world; Earth. Nothing special about it... or at least that's what the humans think. They go on with their little lives, have some pleasant experiences, some other... not so pleasant, and when the sun sets, it's time to rest their little heads.
"Tune in next time for daring discoveries, touching tales, and questionable quizzes! And for me, of course"
A cheery female voice rang from the TV. Two people watched it in the darkness of a room full of trinkets, the TV lighting up the scene... and a night light plugged on the wall.
The second person turned to the first, whose glasses reflected the screen and covered his eyes
“You're thinking something... I can tell by the look on your face. It's not good when you come up with something-”
The first person simply smiled, without taking his eyes off the TV.
“Oh nonsense! You saw it too, something is off with that one fun lady promoting cars. I believe we can step in and help…”
The second person simply sighed, and pulled out a newspaper. An ad magically appeared on the paper, something about a mentalist witch doctor... who claimed to be able to help with ongoing nightmares with immediate results. Listed along with it was an address, but no phone number to contact. In-person visits only.
“Nightmare-curing magic, huh? Well, I definitely haven’t tried THAT yet.”
Annabelle Tenna had tried everything to try to lessen her partner’s night terrors, which seemed to only be ramping up in intensity by the day. Even when Sammy tries to knock herself out cold with extra strength nyquil mixed with five melatonin it still isn’t enough to fully let her brain rest.
Her cohost’s lack of sleep was starting to clearly show while on camera. Even though she wore a practiced, toothy smile, her quips were slower, she had difficulty focusing on more than one thing at a time, and she did an awful lot of trying to rub her eyes when the camera cuts. Usually her laid back disposition balanced Tenna’s exuberant personality, but now it just looked like she was struggling to keep up.
Anne remembered how one night, while working on sketch ideas and lounging in Sammy’s office, she said something that stuck with Anne: “You know, I’d even sell my soul to the devil if that meant I could get just one full night of sleep.” It was a silly joke, but Tenna knew that she might have really meant it.
She hoped that no souls would have to be sold today as she got in her car once her off-day and headed to the address on the newspaper.
The address was not on a busy road, thankfully. Anne arrived at a seemingly regular street, until she stumbled upon the only pink door in the area. "Number 444" said the address... and there it was. It looked like a flower shop of sorts, by the door there was a shop window with several different plants, but also teas, crystals, and other trinkets associated with spiritism or magical remedies. No open or closed signs on the door though..
As she stepped through the door, a little bell jingled, though it didn't sound like a regular bell? Something was off about it..
It was a small shop, pretty crowded by all the different stuff that was displayed. But there was a clear abundance of plants all around, especially white chamomile flowers.
The air smelled of incense, a bit too much probably. It nearly covered the smell of the flowers completely. Overall, the place was so.. odd that it didn't look real. Somehow, there was a calming aura all around the shop though.
Nobody seemed to be at the front desk, but there was a bell to ring.
Anne peered around, looking for any sign of life in the cluttered room. When she found none, she pressed the bell and waited, shifting from foot to foot and glancing around the various objects in the room. She found it odd how she didn’t feel anxious about whatever encounter she was about to have. Anne pulled her sweater vest down a little bit, looking for things to do with her hands. She wore a white button down with a yellow sweater vest, bell bottom jeans and loafers. She hoped she wasn’t underdressed. She hoped she wasn’t overdressed. She waited.
...
But nobody came? Was there someone at all? Perhaps she had to ring again?
A little peeved that it seemed that this establishment was clearly lacking proper customer service, the woman rang the bell again, looking around for maybe a worker or something.
BUMP!!
“AH- FUCK-”
Someone bumped their head from under the desk, seemingly startled by the sound of the bell. How he didn't hear it the first time was a mystery. A short man appeared from underneath and looked up at Anne, rubbing his head and mumbling.. not nice things.His blonde hair was slicked back, and he wore a white dress shirt with a fancy pink vest over it. On the collar laid a fluffy cravat tie.. pretty old fashioned for the current era. It took him a second to realize there was someone waiting, his eyes squinting with a clear annoyed look... was he sleeping on the job? Then his eyes suddenly widened
“OH- I'm so sorry ma'am! I didn't see you there”
“Oh! Are you alright? I didn’t mean to scare you… I thought no one was here-!” Anne spoke apologetically, instantly blaming herself for the man hitting his head, instead of questioning what he was even doing under there.
“Yeah I was fine.. Ugh…” He growled, rubbed his head some more, before profusely running his fingers through his hair to comb it. “Don't worry about it, Ms... Oh- Ohhh…”
It seemed like the man finally realized who he was talking to. He then forced a grin. “Shit, Ms Anne Tenna herself! Oh wow what a pleasure! What brings you here?”
With the man’s compliment, Anne suddenly didn’t feel bad anymore.
“I saw an ad in the paper… something with nightmares? I have someone who’s tried everything already, so it shouldn’t hurt to add another to the list, right?” She laughed a little, trying to brush off the unease of remembering just HOW MANY remedies they’ve tried. It was almost embarrassing.
He laughed with her, though it wasn't genuine. “Yeah exactly, you've come to the right place! Please, come in. The uh- doctor is waiting for you.”
With a practiced smile, he guided her to the back shop. Trinkets and plants only followed in every part of this place. Before Anne and the blonde guy could reach the room, a black man as tall as Anne walked out. He was quite odd looking; long locs that ended in pink and yellow, glasses, a cravat thing that matched his companion and a fun-looking, turquoise cloak over his shoulders full of swirls. To Anne's surprise, he also wore a sweater vest... but it was probably just a coincidence.
“Well I'll be... Ms Anne Tenna? It's a pleasure to have you here! Huge fan.” He beamed a smile, his overall presence radiated calmness, almost like the vibe of a sweet grandma surrounded him. “Oh please, come in, come in! I'll be happy to help you with whatever you need!”
“Oh stop, I’m flattered, really!” Anne replied.
It was always so hard to stay humble when receiving so much attention from adoring fans. Her attention then turned to the man, a little shocked that they met at eye level — she usually was the tallest in the room, taller than most men even, so it was a surprise to say the least. Then, his appearance struck her. His hair was so pretty! And his coat was so luxurious! How would someone who ran a spiritual shop have that kind of money?!
“Oh he watches your shows, alright,” the blond man mumbled, seeming a little bit jealous.
The taller man gave his employee(?) a look to shut it, not in anger but sort of embarrassed. He didn't address that any further.
“Come inside! Though- I thought your friend would be the one joining us today”
Anne looked away, embarrassed that she didn’t think about something as obvious as that. “Huh? Oh…haha. I guess that would have made more sense.” She probably wouldn’t have agreed to come anyway. “Does this mean it won’t work? Does she need to be here? Because I can drag her here-”
The man softly giggled at her embarrassment, but gave her a reassuring smile.
“No she doesn't need to be here, don't worry. But I find it sweet that you came to seek help for her.”
He led her into a room, equally full of plants and trinkets and incense aroma, but there was a desk with some comfy looking armchairs on each side. He pulled out one of them so Anne could sit.
“Come and tell me about it, I'm all ears.”
Anne sat down in the pulled out chair, and thought for a moment. “Um, well- My cohost, Sammy- why am I saying this, you probably know that if you’ve seen the show of course! Haha. Hah.”
Nervousness suddenly overtook her, unsure if she should be telling anyone about Sammy’s nightmares. It felt so… personal.
“Where was I? The dreams- nightmares. They’re not good. I don’t know what they’re about, she never tells me, but I’ve heard her screaming before in the middle of the night. Crying once. But she was still asleep!
…I don’t know, she just has been so exhausted. We tried everything. We tried tea, warm milk, melatonin, alcohol, listening to music, nyquil, A LOT of nyquil…” Anne rattled off, counting off her fingers.
The tall man sat at the other side of the desk, and listened to her carefully, nodding from time to time. He grew serious...
Those nightmares sounded like a real challenge. He didn't stop Anne from mentioning all the different things they tried, it only furthered his belief of something -else- going on in that head of Sammy's. He intertwined his fingers and rested his chin on them.
“Hmm... A real toughie. And she hasn't told you anything? Have you heard her talk in her sleep?”
“Well, sort of? She mumbles mostly. Can’t make much of it out…”
He thought for a moment in silence. “... I have to admit Ms Tenna, this is one of the most complicated cases I've heard.” He seemed concerned now, his mind rushing over remedies that could help Sammy.
“Yeah…”
Anne looked down and sadness started to creep in her mind. Maybe her nightmares couldn’t be helped? They’ve been practically eating Sammy alive as of late, and it was time for some further intervention.
“I don’t know if this helps at all, but it makes her feel better after she wakes up if I squeeze her real tight…”
She suddenly realized how that sounded and what it implied, trying to backtrack immediately.
“-W-When I see her for the day! It’s- she said it helps her, you know! And I don’t wanna be a bad friend…!”
Her comment brought a smile back to the man’s face and chuckled. He knew exactly what she was talking about and his smile showed it, much to her demise. It was impossible to backtrack, but he went along with it.
“Compression helps with anxiety and similar feelings, you're doing her a big favor.” He then stood up from his seat, the beads of his hair jingled in contact with each other. “Alright, it's not impossible to fix it! I may have something around here that could help.” He walked up to a huge cupboard filled with tiny drawers all over, opening each as he looked for something.
The shorter blond man had been eavesdropping from outside the room, and peeked in from time to time.
“Oh he's looking in the cupboard- that might take a while.” He walked in towards Anne, smiling. Honestly all of this reminded him too much of his time before he met Dream, and wasn't too happy about it. But they had to keep up the act. “Would you like some tea in the meantime?”
Anne suddenly felt hopeful once again.
“Really? You think it will work?”
She watched as he dug through the drawers, unable to really see what was inside from the angle she was sitting.
“Oh! Sure, that sounds lovely!” She didn’t know what to expect when going to a woo woo spiritual magic shop, but she was having a wonderful time.
“Of course! Despite the long list of things you tried, there are still things beyond your imagination,” he said chipper as he still faced the cupboard.”
The blond man nodded at Anne and turned to the shopkeeper, raising an eyebrow. “Are you gonna look through every drawer, Tens?”
Anne whipped her head towards the employee.
“Huh?” She could have sworn he called his boss the same nickname that Sammy calls her. “Tenna” was a very uncommon last name to say the least, and how many other names have “ten” in them? “Excuse me?” She was more confused than anything.
The man’s eyes widened as he met eyes with the woman, knowing he had perhaps fucked up.
“Uhh-”
The other man flinched a bit in panic before he turned around, interrupting the blond one.
OH haha how unprofessional- Sorry, Tennant is my last name. We've gone over this, Mr Sanders.” He smiled widely at ‘Mr. Sanders’, trying to keep up the act and hide the nervousness.
“RIGHT- Yeah sorry, we're uh, working right now. I'll go grab the tea, Mr Tennant.” He hurried out of the room. God he wished the act was over already.
Anne nearly smacked herself in the face from her own stupidity. “Duh.”
“Oh, yeah, no, no problem, haha… misheard! I misheard you, that’s all.”
“Way to go, only thinking about yourself again”, she thought to herself. “Of course you don’t own that nickname… that would be dumb.”
“Sorry about that! Haha.”
“Oh no no don't worry! It happens often with similar names haha!” He tried to lighten up the mood before going back to looking into drawers.
While Anne waited, she suddenly heard a soft twinkle on the side of the room.. Between the leaves of plants, something glowed dimly. It had the shape of a star... and it had a mouth? When it saw her it smiled at her, and even blew her a raspberry! Her eyes widened, trying to figure out what that glowing star was. A projection? A toy of some sort? She leaned forward, trying to get a closer look at it from where she was sitting across the room.
The star twinkled again, like it was teasing her. Upon a closer look, it seemed like it was floating, but it really wasn't clear if it was a projection or a toy, or something she could pinpoint..
“Here you go! We uh- only have chamomile tea as of now, I hope you don't mind.”
‘Mr Sanders’ unknowingly got in the way of Anne and the weird star, putting a fancy looking teacup on the desk. It had detailed space motifs, with golden highlights.
Her intense focus on the star was broken when the man walked into her vision. “Hm? Oh. It smells delicious, thank you!” She picked up the teacup, trying to sneakily peer around and get another glimpse of the star, before giving up and taking a sip. “You two have been such wonderful hosts, really. And I love the decor! It’s very magic-y mystical-y crystal-y forest-y! Consider me a fan.
Unfortunately for Anne, when she peeked again, there was nothing there.
The blond man chuckled and looked around the room. “Thank you! Though it was all mostly his idea. Of course I did give him the best of my advice, so part of the credit is mine.” He slicked his hair back with a proud grin. He wasn't gonna let go a compliment so easily, despite it being Dream’s -- aka Mr Tennant’s -- idea.
The tea tasted like no tea she had ever tried before; it left her with a fuzzy, comfy feeling inside, like taking a warm beverage wrapped in a blanket while it's a cold day outside.
Anne had time to drink most of her tea, Spamton grew impatient as he saw Dream still looking... but finally, Dream took out something and turned around to them.
“Here it is!”
He came back with an object in his gloved hands, and revealed it to Anne with excitement. It was... a pastel pink dreamcatcher, quite a small one to say the least. It looked like a regular one you'd see in stores, except this one held a crystal in the middle. Perhaps rose quartz?
Either way, it looked carefully crafted.
“I assume you've tried dreamcatchers before, but this little guy is different. If you put it under Sammy's pillow before she goes to sleep, it will keep away the nightmares.”
“Under her pillow… okay.” She tried to commit it to memory, not wanting to forget it somewhere and then have all this kind man’s work be for nothing. “How, exactly, will this help? Sorry, I’m just a bit curious, that’s all.” She continued to inspect the dream catcher, looking for any small details that might give her some sort of clue. There were lots of little stars, moons, planets, and even some Zs engraved, painted or displayed around the little dreamcatcher.
“It's the crystal in the middle, it's like a lighthouse beacon to attract good dreams and blind away the nightmares. But um... many people have come and left without even trying it. Magic remedies are... laughed upon unfortunately... so I understand if you have doubts..” He twiddled his thumbs, looking down with a frown.
Just hearing him sound so disappointed made Anne feel bad, even though none of it was her fault. She had come looking for help, and dammit she was going to get help! But still, she felt the need to reassure the man.
“Whaaat? No, no of course I’ll try it! You clearly know way more than I do about all this. I gotta put my faith in the professionals!” She gave a sympathetic smile. “Magic is only real if you believe in it, that’s what I always say. And I do believe in it!”
Anne’s words made the shopkeeper feel so much better, but especially the last sentence hit close to home, and his heart. "She believes in me!"
He'd shed a happy tear, but he felt it would be too much of a reaction so he only beamed a big happy smile.
“I wouldn't expect anything else from the great and inspiring Ms Anne Tenna..!
Then it is settled, you can keep the dreamcatcher! Here-” He opened a drawer of the desk and gave her a necklace string to attach to the dreamcatcher. “I'll even give you this in case you want to keep it with you or Sammy during the day”
“Why would I keep it with me? Will that make it work better somehow? It would make a funny little necklace…” She smiled a little at the idea of making Sammy wear the dreamcatcher around — something she would never do.
“Anything you believe is possible will be possible,” he said without details, leaving it up to her imagination. “Is there anything else I can help you with, Ms Tenna?”
“Nope, I think that’s everything! Thank you so much for the help Mr. Tennant, I’m so excited to try this out!”
She held the dreamcatcher up to the light, seeing how the crystal reflected it. “Oh, and what do I owe you for this?” The crystal had a magical feeling to it, both by touch and by the look of it inside. Anne could swear she saw some little glitter sparkles swirling in there when she held it up to the light.
“Oh for being you and for being so patient, you don't owe me anything!”
“wHAT-” the employee exclaimed from behind, disappointed he wasn't gonna see any money from this.
“What? Really? You’re way too kind!” In the woman’s mind she was pumping her fists, celebrating that she wouldn’t have to fork up a ton of cash when she already paid so much for every other item that supposedly would cure Sammy’s night terrors. She felt a little bad about just taking it without giving anything in return, but only a little. Hey, free is free!
Dream waved his hand dismissingly as he couldn't stop smiling, knowing she was absolutely right. Random acts of kindness for the win! “Aw it's nothing really! Anything to help the cohost of your show to get back on track!”
He stood up and offered his hand for a handshake. He gave her a toothy grin, with prominent canines... it was almost like looking in a mirror
“It's been a pleasure meeting you!”
“You too!” Anne shook his hand, smiling the exact same way.
Both him and Spam accompanied her to the exit, waving goodbye at her. Once they made sure she was gone, a split tail popped out from behind Dream; it jingled as he wagged it happily. Meanwhile Mr Sanders -- Spamton groaned.
“I can't BELIEVE you didn't charge her for that!”
Dream crossed his arms. “And what would you do with that human money?”
“I dunno, buy a pack and a bottle..? Also you took that long because you had no idea what to give her didn't you?”
“Yyyup!”
“And that dreamcatcher you gave her?”
“Allll completely made up! It's just to know where we have to go look, hehe.”
Spamton rolled his eyes and smiled. “You're lucky I love you, Tens.”
“I love you too! You need to do a better job next time though, hehe.”
“Whadja do today?”
Sammy’s vision dozed off as she watched herself brush her teeth in front of the bathroom mirror. She had showered for the day and gotten into an old oversized t-shirt and boxers, what she wears nearly every night to sleep. Toothpaste dripped into the sink below as she spat it out, making a disgusting throat noise as she did so.
“Oh, nothing really.”
On the large bed in the center of her room, Anne lay under the covers in her own pyjamas, the classic button-down kind. It had cute little stars all over it. Her poofy hair was in a protective silk bonnet. “Did you get any work done today? I remember you said something about being behind. Y’know, it’s not like I physically can’t do my own paperwork…” She pouted a bit, drawing her finger around on the layers of blankets on top of her.
“No, and no.”
Sammy rubbed her eyes. Dark circles had formed underneath them, making her face look sunken-in and almost dead. She turned off the bathroom light and plopped on top of the blankets, not even bothering to climb under them. “You don’t even read them, you just sign without looking. It’s bad practice.”
“Since when were you about good practice?” Anne teased, trying to pull the blankets out from under Sammy, dragging her slightly before she got up. Sammy laid down on her back, staring up at the ceiling with dry eyes as Tenna scooched closer to try to wrap her arms around her.
“Yeah, yeah, very funny…”
She stared silently at the ceiling for another moment before speaking again.
“Why did you even invite me over? You know I’m just gonna wake you up at four a.m. screaming.” She turned her head away from Anne, trying and failing to hide how bad she felt. She also thought Anne was an idiot, sacrificing her own sleep for the next day, and for what? Just to lie with her for a couple hours? Sammy’s face started to heat up at the thought.
“Don't you worry your little head now. I have a good feeling about tonight.” Anne curled her legs around Sammy’s exhausted body, wrapping her arms around her and resting her chin on her head. Sammy just rolled her eyes.
“Sure. have fun believing that.”
The dreamcatcher sparkled a little before it was completely hidden by Sammy’s pillow, Anne pushing it farther while she’s distracted.
“Oh I will!”
Anne kissed Sammy’s cheek sweetly, giggling a little to herself as Sammy reacted to it like a child would when getting kissed by their grandma. Anne reached back to turn off the light, then settled back into her position around her partner.
“Have fun while it lasts…”
Sammy mumbled as she put a hand over one of Anne’s, before closing her eyes and attempting to maybe get an hour or two of sleep.