The Blinding Light of Sunrise: The Las Nevadas Arc - AU Short Stories

Chapter 18.5 The Death of a Dream - Nihachu

"He's coming apart at the seams, like you couldn't tell," Niki said, pushing away the mug of coffee Dream had just placed in front of her.  From the sixth floor window of his suite she could see her own reflection at the little cafe table in the breakfast nook super-imposed upon the view of the casino.  She didn't need to say who she meant for Dream to know it was Wilbur.  He'd been the lead in all of their conversations as of late.

Dream took his own coffee and sat.  Taking off his mask, he hung it on one of the chair ears.  The white oval and smile reflected in the window. "Sometimes things have to come apart to be made part of something better," he said, taking a sip.  He let the mug rest against his lips, breathing in the steam through his vaguely bent nose that ended in a large scar at the bridge.

Niki rolled her eyes.  "Evolutionsbremse," she muttered.  Her normally soft tone became distinctly sharp. "Do you have any idea how long he's been falling in love with Quackity?  Any idea at all?  It's been years!  It's become part of his identity.  And you take that away from him in a day?"

"He made the choice to be rid of Quackity, himself."

"Don't pretend you didn't help him make it.  And now you just expect him to be ok?  What?  Because you've had some talks about destiny with him.  Do you think you can replace Quackity so easily?  Du bist ein Narr!"

The side of Dream's mouth turned up in a half-smile that appeared slightly longer for the scar at the corner of his lips, one of a number that marked his mouth from Quackity's beating.  "I'm not sure what you're saying, exactly, but I do enjoy that you're one of the only people in this world who isn't afraid to insult me to my face.  That's how I know I can trust you." 

Dream took out a throwing knife and began using it to clean under his fingernails.  Niki recognized it immediately as one of five she'd set up to be triggered as he left his room.  Her heart raced; he wasn't using it by accident.  But did he know, or merely suspect, her part in it?

The half-smile grew to a full one, both terrifying and handsome despite the light mottled cast of his skin and the scars that criss-crossed his face.  "Phil would say anything to help his son and Wilbur lies as a matter of course, but you... well, we both know what game you're playing."

Niki fought to remain calm, to not look to the door for a way to escape, to not stare at the blade.  She turned her coffee mug, seemingly more interested in her cup with its red star sign and the words Viva Las Nevadas in neon cursive scrawled across its front than his words.  "Do we now?"

Dream ran his fingers through his hair, bringing up the tuft of white and letting it fall.  "Truth is such a rare thing when you're at this level, I can't help but value our mornings together."

"Where you tell me of the rightness of your actions and I tell you you're an Arsch mit ohren?"

Dream shrugged.  "It's fast becoming my reason for getting up. You're my cold ray of sunshine at dawn, my cinnamon roll with a razorblade tucked within the folds.  You give your unfiltered opinion of me and my... goals, let's say, and I cannot tell you how much I value that."

Niki granted a fake smile.  "You flatter me.  But if you value my opinion then listen to me and don't let Wilbur destroy Kinoko Kingdom.  Don't even let him go."

"I need him there, he's that best explosives man I've got."

"That's a lie and you know it.  As I recall, you didn't need him to turn L'Manberg into a crater.  You're indulging him, you don't need him.  You want him and you think by feeding that part of him that craves destruction and chaos, you'll get to keep him.  You'll possess the one thing Quackity loved the most, control the first man who openly defied you.  Gott!  Do you even see how screwed up your motives with him are?  You don't care about Wilbur at all!  Just what he represents to you! You ply him with the one addiction he can never satisfy and act like your partnership is his choice-"