One shots (mostly platonic tbh)

Bbh realizes how fucked the vault is

The cell was usually quiet. Bad would pass by and not a sound would be heard, nothing except for his own footsteps and the thick wall of steadily flowing lava, bubbling and sizzling.

It was unnatural. Dream wasn't quiet, he wasn't supposed to be. Dream was supposed to ramble on about whatever new interest he'd picked up, going on for hours, bad sitting patiently by his side, listening.

He wasn't supposed to be quiet.

Bad would hesitate, eyes moving to the lever controlling the lava. Oh, how easy it would be to pull it. How easy it would be to marsh into that cell and figure out what had happened to his friend.

But he didn't. He never did.

Then things started to change.

Bad was sure he was hearing things when it first happened. An agonized scream, echoing through the hall, originating from the main cell.

But as it happened again, and again, and again, and again, Bad couldn't ignore it any longer.

It was his turn to feed the prisoner.

The lava lowered, and Bad took a deep breath, his grip on the food bowl tightening. A pearl was flung across the lava, landing inside the cell, like it always did.

"Uh, hi, Dream! I...I brought your food" Bad greeted.

Dream offered no response in return.

Bad frowned. He carefully approached Dream, ready to fight if need be. But as he got closer, the trembling became apparent. Dream's body was shaking uncontrollably, hitched breaths sporadically sounding throughout the cell. And the blood. Oh God, there was so much blood.

"Dream?" Bad attempted to get the other's attention, but nothing happened.

Bad sighed, worry and a slight panic rising in his chest. He carefully placed the food bowl on the floor and slowly reached towards Dream, giving his shoulder a light tap.

The reaction was immediate. Dream's body recoiled, although the wall behind him made that attempt quite pathetic. His head snapped towards Bad, and glazed, tired, yet vigilant eyes quickly scanned the cell before locking onto Bad.

Bad's hand was left awkwardly hanging in the air, he wasn't sure how to proceed.

"Dream, it's just me, Bad, your...friend" he tried to assure the other.

It had the opposite effect. Dream's gaze was seemingly still focused on Bad, but he did not react when Bad carefully waved a hand in front of him. He was somewhere else, and not somewhere good. Dream's arms had moved to hug himself, dirty chipped fingernails digging into the skin.

Bad wanted to reach out and pry those thin bony fingers away from the already sickeningly scarred skin, wanted to hold Dream's hands tight in his own so they could not be used for violence anymore.

But he didn't.

He feared Dream's state would worsen if he tried to touch him again.

Bad only watched as the nails dug deeper, as the blood began trickling down Dream's arms, drip, drip, dripping onto the obsidian floor.

Bad used to like red, until he was freed from the egg it was his favourite colour. He still wore it as a nice accent colour, but right now the sight of it made him sick to his stomach.

"Please stop hurting yourself, Dream" Bad pleaded gently.

Dream, if he even heard bad, did not listen.

"Please"
It wasn't more than a whisper.

Drip, drip, drip, the blood had collected into a neat little pool, red against black.

Bad felt useless, but he was not going to leave Dream, not like this. Bad settled in front of dream, sitting criss-cross, leaving a bit of space between them. He brought the food bowl closer but otherwise remained still, waiting out whatever horrors Dream was facing in his mind.

Bad quickly lost track of time. Had it been a minute? Ten minutes? An hour? Bad didn't know.

Dream's fingers slowly relaxed, flexing slightly. His eyes were still vacant, the tears now running down his cheeks being proof of a change though.

"Dream?"

Dream still did not react, but the shaking had diminished, and the tension in his body was mostly gone, though Bad suspected that was the work of exhaustion.

"Are you feeling better?"
Bad didn't expect a response.

A quiet groan left Dream's lips.

"I-im just gonna...just gonna leave your food here, in this bowl, feel free to eat whenever" Bad placed the bowl in front of Dream.

Bad left.

Bad cried.

Bad opened another bottle.