Dream Au Gift Part 1
Been working on this for awhile as a gift for @hey-hey-j cause Dream au is taking over my brain! I think this will be 4 or 5 parts as I work to finish it. I have added a few of my own headcannons so I apologize in advance! I cant help myself :I anyhoo! Dream au part one! Go check out Hey's amazing art as well as other people contributions that have made this so much fun to experience in the dream au tag!
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Floyd is singing.
It's another gig, in another random establishment, in another town, with another random group of trolls. The shock of finding another Genre had worn off some years ago, and while it was still amazing to learn about the history of their worlds and vastly different lifestyles, he found himself wandering aimlessly, looking for that next place that’d allow him to play.
He didn’t like to think of it as a ‘means to an end’, but sometimes it felt like it. Like there was no real purpose anymore, like he was forcing himself to continue as guilt pulled him further and further down.
His eyes glance over the crowd, some swaying to his tune, others ignoring it as background noise. Green meets pink for just a moment as his eyes move, before flickering back once more. He blinks a few times, as that familiar shock from years ago visits him again, as he takes in this new type of Troll watching him so intently.
A flush darkens their green cheeks as they look away with an embarrassed hand rubbing at their neck. And for the first time in a while, Floyd feels something.
.
Hickory has never heard such a beautiful laugh, nor has he laughed so hard in quite some time. He finds himself telling this mysterious troll things he’s never shared outside family. He feels at ease, he feels seen, he feels warm and… happy.
So maybe that's why, as his stay here comes to an end, he finds himself extending an offer to his fellow traveler.
A chance to see a few new sights, to hear new music, and to continue getting to know one another.
He’s pleasantly surprised at the ‘yes’ the other breathes, seemingly surprised himself. The smile that comes after is one Hickory promises himself he’ll make happen as often as possible.
.
A soft kiss pressed to his forehead brings a surprising amount of comfort, easing that ache just a bit. Hickory wraps a soft blanket around his shoulders and urges him towards the sitting area out front. He sits in the fresh morning air tiredly, eyes closed and head tilted back as that familiar contentedness wraps around him.
He never thought he’d feel so at home with someone again. But Hickory, no matter where they traveled, had a way about him that left him feeling warm and loved. And as he comes around him, a soft graze of his hand over his shoulders, offering him a steaming mug, despite his weariness he offers a smile.
“Headache any better?” Asked softly, as he takes the seat across from him.
“A little, yeah.”
The look he receives is concerned, and Floyd knows he must look a mess to garner such a thing,
“If you want me to stay-” A calloused palm resting atop his own hand.
“No no, you go.” He raises his own hand to intertwine their fingers, “I’ll be fine.”
It wasn’t Hickory’s first job, nor would it be his last, Floyd wouldn't let a little headache stop the yodeler. He liked his work, he was good at it, and Dockory was there to watch his back.
Floyd knew he’d be back.
.
The place is a mess.
The destruction left in the wake of giants too much to comprehend beyond his panic.
No one has seen him.
But there is no… no sign of him either.
Which means Floyd was taken.
And Hickory would find him. He would find him. Because he was alive. He had to be.
Please…
.
Barb stares at the two yodelers warily.
Things had been… tense… since everything. She’d been apologizing a lot- awkwardly, stiltedly- and helping with repairs and the likes where she could. The Funk Royals had been keeping an especially close eye on her, but it felt more like what she remembered of her parents during childhood than anything else- not to say it didn't make her paranoid and want to curl in on herself simultaneously.
But during everything, she had been going out of her way to do things, to try and make amends. So for the two bounty hunters to come to her? Well it was a little odd.
She had held their music over their heads, dangled it on a string, on top of threatening them. These two were the first to approach her at all, and she wondered what was so important that they would come to her over a month after everything.
The shorter one speaks up first,
“Uh, thank you for seeing us, Your Majesty.” It's just as stilted as her own conversations had been, his accent heavy, and despite their short encounters, Barb knows this is very unlike him.
Or maybe not being under threat just made people act differently?
“Yeah, it's… chill. What's up?” Someday maybe she could talk as easily as the Pop Queen, or as elegantly as the Funk Leaders, or as smooth as the Techno DJ, or even as prettilly as the Classical Conductor.
But she doubted it.
The taller side eyes the shorter, hesitant,
“We… need some help.”
Reluctant.
Well. Barb knew how that felt.
She could do this. It'd be a step in the right direction right?
.
They aren't expecting mail.
And the critter delivering it is unfamiliar and gone as quick as he came.
The letter is written in swirly handwriting, pretty and slightly crooked. A contrast to the actual words, a threat, a warning, a plea.
A fake.
Despite the years, Bruce knew this wasn’t his brother's handwriting.
“You have to go.”
His wife, beautiful and magnificent, stands at the counter behind him, looking down with a concerned tilt to her brow. They’d talked about this a million times, but this… this was the first actual sign.
“It sounds like a trap.” He points out, a weak argument really, he knows he won't be able to stand by.
“Then you’ll be careful.” She turns, signaling to their friend, grabbing the small pack he’s had since the forest, and filling it with supplies.
“I can’t just leave you and the kids, the restaurant.”
“I’m pretty sure Cove has pink-eye, and the restaurant will be fine. You need to go Bruce.”
The pack is placed in front of him, their friend already standing at the bar hat on his head, Bruce takes a deep breath,
“I’ll be back.” He promises, his gut stirring with too many emotions.
“I know you will.” They share a kiss filled with reassurances and love and everything Bruce needs to go through with this.
“Where to Bru?”
“Somewhere called Mount Rageous.”
.
Part 2>>