Andlátkyn; Vandr Sanses unin Alagaësia

Budding Mysteries, Budding Blossoms

After stared at the figures before him, not sure of what to say. He was exploring the corridors of the castle and came upon a courtyard, only to find it occupied by a scrubby garden and a strange small tree, two figures on either side conversing softly.
He hesitantly stepped forward, recognizing the one closest to him to be a skeleton.
A few paces later and he stopped short.
It was Dream.

By then, the guardian glanced over. "After! Long time, no see, isn't it?"
"I uh. Yeah. Last I saw you in person was back in the Multiverse, wasn't it?" He anxiously replied, wondering if the person on the opposite side of the tree was Nightmare. He almost winced when they turned and confirmed it. An icy gaze lanced through him.

"I'm.. not interrupting anything, right?" He quested, considering just teleporting the heck out of there.
"No, we were just having an overdue sunbathing hour." Dream replied in amusement. Nightmare grumbled and turned away again.
Giggling, Dream spoke. "He apparently gets grumpy without them!"

The darker gasped, and without warning an entire branch of the odd tree just bent over and smacked the lighter guardian, who just cackled in amusement.
"It's true! You stopped being prickly the moment we went outside!"
"Lies. You're slandering me."
"It is not! You're already better!"
"Slander. I'll not tolerate this verbal abuse."

Dream just snickered into his hand as Nightmare grumbled incoherently under his breath.
"I'm afraid the others were right, my brother is a cat."
"How dare you." The other turned and smacked him, glowering without nearly as much heat as After expected.

He flinched as the tree shifted again, this time tilting sickeningly to the side before splitting into two halves on either side of Nightmare, revealing itself to actually be attached to not just him, but Dream as well- it was some form of his tentacles and the vines on Dream merged into one, still connected to either twin.

"That's not a tree!" He couldn't help but choke in shock, stumbling backwards.
Both gods paused in their play fight, blinking at him.
"Well, technically I think so." Dream said thoughtfully, struggling to stand straight with his vines so tightly attached to his brother's drooping tendrils.

"A tree attached to both of you? I'm sorry, that's.. unsettling…. Does it hurt?"
"Only when tugged too hard. It's a part of us." Dream paused, thinking. "Or rather, we are one tree? I'm not so sure anymore."
"That's terrifying, thank you."

Nightmare finally snorted in amusement. "Most certainly." He agreed. "Perhaps some day things will become clear, but now is certainly not that time."
"Oh! Nightmare! We have time, what if we saw if you could rest?"
The darker blinked, then suddenly understood.
"Now is not the time at all."

"Do you not sleep??" After questioned, at a loss.
Both twins paused, then burst into laughter.
"No! We do sleep, it's- well, complicated! We haven't found a word to encompass it properly, but we sort of.. become one. Physically. It's a nice feeling." Dream explained, staring off to the side. After was somewhat mortified.
"What does that actually.. mean?"

"Well, normally I'm resting, but I want to see if we can switch things around. Brother?" He regarded the darker, who seemed hesitant.
"I.. suppose." He muttered.
At that, Dream threw his arms around him, beaming.

After was left staring at Nightmare's lone eyelight, a soft purple seemingly bleeding into the frozen blue. The other studied him tensely, then something eased.
"This likely will appear grotesque to you, so I'd suggest looking away."

He was all the more concerned upon that sentence, about to ask what that meant when the single socket slid shut and the dark guardian began to melt before him.