How to Establish Your Gang and Take Care of the Children in It (On Hiatus)

Rule 7: Don't Hurt Your Cannibal Friend, Even if You Are Sad

It was actually strange, how quickly the other two accepted him, Cross decided.

People weren't supposed to be immediately trusted. Threats were supposed to be kept watch over, observed, then dismissed or accepted depending on the circumstances. It just wasn't right to have immediately stepped over the line between foe and friend, not in the least because their first impression of him had been of an attacker.

But maybe that was just how it went. Maybe other universes weren't as strict in standards as his had been. Maybe being immediately accepted was something other universes did.

Still. That didn't mean it wasn't weird to see both Nightmare and Horror accept him without even a second thought.

Actually, no. Scratch that. Horror accepted him without a second thought. But there was always a slight double take, a tiny hesitation, an almost unnoticeable expression of wariness whenever Nightmare looked at him. And strangely, that made Cross feel more, not less, at ease than any amount of friendly smiles or joking pickup lines on Horror's part. At least one of the two knew that friendly didn't automatically mean friend. Amicable didn't actually mean ally. Threats were still a threat, at least until they were proven to be a friend. It was good to know that at least someone still knew basic survival skills.

No, Cross corrected himself once more. Horror knew them as well. There was no way he didn't, not with the AU he'd lived in. He just... felt safe now, and acted accordingly.

What would it be like to feel safe? To just... not feel the weight of your sins? To be able to smile like everything was actually okay?

It was a feeling Cross didn't think he'd ever be able to feel.

What, am I getting in the way of your happily ever after? Chara asked with a smirk. Don't worry, pal, I won't do anything but watch. Pretend I'm not here! You've gotten so good at that lately, after all.

"Shut up," Cross muttered. He was far out of earshot of anyone, but both Nightmare and Horror had a habit of popping up randomly, and he didn't want them to hear him talking to, well, nothing.

It had been almost two weeks since Nightmare had woken up. He'd taken one look around X-tale, decided he wasn't going to stay there for long, then had taken Cross and Horror to this castle. He'd almost immediately after crashed on the couch and slept for two solid days, in which time Cross had taken to explore the castle thoroughly.

Worried I'm going to ruin this for you? Don't worry, Cross, I don't need to. You're already good enough at that on your own.

"Shut up," Cross repeated, glaring at Chara.

Why should I? You've given me nothing better to do than speak, so I might as well talk about things that are true. Truth is so much easier to use to hurt than lies.

Cross growled softly, then stopped and sighed. "I don't care. Nothing you say can hurt me if I don't let it."

Yeah, keep telling yourself that, Chara said with a snort. You're bad at lying, Cross. I know it hurts. And you know it's going to hurt more as soon as they see you for you. If you had just listened to me in the first place, you wouldn't hurt at all. Because you are going to hurt soon enough. You'll ruin everything, and they'll leave you.

"Will you just stop already?" Cross asked instead of responding.

Chara stood in front of him, crossing their arms. They grinned knowingly. Why? Because I'm right? Sooner or later you'll wish you'd listened to me. They don't care about you. No one does. You're just setting yourself up for failure.