When the Stars Die

Chapter 17

(I feel like at this point everyone just wants one of the characters to drop dead. We're 17 chapters in and no one has died.)

Life had spent the whole time, from morning to afternoon, preparing herself for when she broke the news to Nightmare.

She'd prepared herself to face a wide variety of reactions. Joy, anger, sadness, disgust.... anything like that. Dream had helped in whatever way he could. Dream believed that the two most likely reactions would be anger and sadness, with disgust being a likely third possibility. She'd prepared herself for Nightmare to react in the worst way possible. And by worse way possible, she had been expecting him to start throwing a fit at the news.

She didn't know if this was a worse or better reaction than what she'd been expecting. He... why was he laughing?

"Oh Life, you're getting good at making those jokes of yours!" Nightmare grinned at her. "Last time we were all together like this, which was at one of those balance meetings, you were just getting the reins of the basics!"

"Um, wow." Life frowned, feeling a bit offended by that. "Nightmare--"

"No no, no need to explain what's so funny about it," he dismissed her. "I get the joke. You had me worried there for a second!"

"Nightmare--" she tried again.

"How long have you been planning this?" He asked her. "It must've taken forever to forge all of these papers."

"Nightmare, what the hell?" She huffed, glaring at him. "I was expecting you to take this seriously. You're always criticizing Dream for not taking things seriously."

"I don't need to take it seriously, it was a joke," he responded.

Life stared at Nightmare in disbelief. Was he really in denial that Dream had a child? That was his niece! Nightmare brushed himself off as he stood up, but was still holding the photo in his hand. She swallowed nervously as she felt that the air was much more tense than before. She narrowed her eyes at the four tentacles that were sprouted from Nightmare's back. Were they.. always so tensed up?

"Say, Life... about what time does my brother do to sleep?" Nightmare asked her. "Would it be possible for me to visit him this late?"

"Um.... I don't think--" Life began, but was cut off again.

"Great!" He smiled wide as he clasped his hands together. "I'll see you later, then!"

"WAIT!!!"

Life shrieked as she stood up, reaching her hands out to grab onto the shorter monster. But he was already gone, and she was left clutching the air. She stood there for about thirty seconds before she grabbed the folder of papers, taking off in a mad dash towards the infirmary.

"Don't do anything stupid, Nightmare..." She breathed out, hoping to the Fates that she didn't just make a drastic mistake.

~~~~

"Alright Lux, it's time to start settling down."

"But--!"

"No buts. It's time for me to get some rest too."

The little fireball whined as she floated back over to Dream. Life had been kind enough to go back to Reapertale to fetch some baby toys for Lux to play with. It had taken a bit for her to get used to them, as she didn't have much of an opportunity to play with Dream always having to be on the move. He had no shame in admitting that he was delighted to see her being able to enjoy her youth. He did have some shame, however, in admitting that he couldn't give her more of that time.

She nuzzled up against his cheek, displaying her affection. Dream stroked her cheek with his thumb. He couldn't give her as much affection as a parent normally would, due to both their size difference and fragility. She wormed her way into the safety pouch, nestling down to sleep. Dream laid back against the pillow of the bed, humming softly. He couldn't wait to finally be allowed to walk around again.

Still.... he couldn't shake the feeling that they weren't quite out of the mess yet. He couldn't really explain it either. He just had this bad feeling that they were unprepared for something.

There's no use in staying awake and pondering it, he told himself, getting into a comfortable position. There's always tomorrow.

With this in mind, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. Something I wish I could do so effortlessly.

Dream didn't shift at all as Nightmare teleported into the infirmary. The Guardian of Negative Feelings walked up to his bed and stared at him for a few solid minutes, observing his face and breathing pattern. Once he confirmed he was asleep, he moved a bit closer. What he was about to do would be weird, absolutely, and people would probably look at him oddly if they witnessed it. But there was no one around, and besides. It wasn't like Dream would know it either.

First thing he had to do was get Dream elevated a bit. He focused his magic onto his soul, biting the inside of his cheek and scolding himself when his brother made groaned. Right. He had to be careful with him, as he was still recovering. Once he had Dream floating in the air a bit, he let his tentacles slide up to him. This was the weird part.

If he was going to confirm what Life had said.... he needed to see it. Which meant he had to lift up Dream's shirt.

When he did, he was momentarily blinded. He hissed under his breath as the bright light from the pouch hit his one visible eye. But he fought through it, bringing Dream closer so he could see it better. Inside of that little pouch was that even smaller fireball, the one that perfectly matched the one in the picture that Life had given him.

So... it's true then.... Nightmare let Dream's shirt fall down as he laid him back onto the bed. He really has a... he has a....

He shook his head. He needed a moment to get his thoughts together. He looked around for somewhere to sit, and when he couldn't find one, he opted for being suspended from the ceiling. With Dream asleep, he couldn't ask any of the questions he had. He could try to use the Dreamvisitor, but that wasn't guaranteed to get him through to Dream. He couldn't help but stare at his brother's sleeping form, his index fingers against his mouth.

Nightmare let out a sound similar to a squeak when he felt something in his neck. His tentacles loosened and he fell from the ceiling, bracing himself for the impact with the floor. But that never came. He opened his eye and looked up at who had caught him, and although it was extremely blurry, he could see the goat ears and large eyes. Life shifted him in her arms, carrying him on her shoulder as she turned to leave the infirmary.

Nightmare was out cold before they even left the room.