Aconitum

Blood and Dust

Dust wasn't particularly plagued by his past. No no no, he was plagued by his present. It's a big difference if you ask him.

See he had this tiny problem, like a squeaky door hinge or a hole in a shoe. He woke up covered with blood and his namesake. Covered might be a strong word for how it started out, with just some in his blankets or on his jacket, recently though? Covered was definitely his word of choice.

No one in the house knew of course, at least if they knew they were really good at pretending they didn't. Dust was also good at hiding it. After the panic he felt each morning he'd immediately take a shower to wash away the caked on dust and the red from his fingers, he'd also examine his clothes to double check that there was no suspicious patches or other giveaways.

So forgive him if happened to be distant and to busy thinking about that to pay much attention to Killer.

He didn't mean that in a cruel way or even an annoyed way. Just sometimes Dust had bigger things to worry about then silly puns and bad movies.

He didn't want to hurt Killer but eventually it became clear that was happening. Sometimes he'd zone out while Killer would be talking and Killer would just be gone; left the room to go do somethings else gone. Other times Killer would ask him a question that had Dust knowing something was asked of him, but he wouldn't be able to understand the words. As if he had been asked in a language he didn't speak.

What the tipping point was exactly was unclear, but Killer made it known when it was reached. First he offered to listen to whatever Dust had going on. When Dust refused he began showing up around him less. Using Nightmare was a bit of a low though.

Nightmare tended to be unaware of dramas and other things of the such around the house. Especially when it came to Dust and Killed and their constant fake wars and competitions. While Horror would have known what was up immediately, Night would be completely in the dark. The sudden hovering of Killer was clearly suspicious, but Dusts best friend claimed innocence when questioned by Horror.

So Dust was there, still stuck in a loop of waking up and immediately being distressed followed by a day of stress when he saw the clear way Killer avoided him.

He tried to talk to Horror about it, not the blood or dust, never the blood or dust. He talked about the Killer situation. Horror listened, Horror is a good listener but that doesn't mean he has some magic solution. So while Dust had less of a load on his shoulders he couldn't escape his squeaky door hinge.

While the blood and dust could hold out forever, Killer could not. For some reason after what felt like an eternity Killer came into Dusts room with a pack of playing cards and he apologized.

The apology was weird. In the sense that Dust certainly didn't deserve it. Killer talked about how he obviously wasn't there enough and about how he had somehow failed Dust.

That made Dust break down. He had started crying and talked about the blood and the dust and how he was afraid of himself, how he was afraid he might hurt Killer or the others. He talked about how he considered leaving but he wasn't brave enough to be alone again and before he could continue with anything else Killer shushed him.

"You would never hurt us Dust," And, "If you want my help I'll be here," were spoken distinctly.

Dust accepted the help and Killer came up with a smart solution. Killer would stay in his room that night awake and if Dust teleported in his sleep he'd go get Nightmare to track him down to where so they could help him.

"That way no one has to get involved if it's nothing, but if it's something you'll have help,"

"And you think you have to will to stay up all night?" Dusts teasing fell flat but Killer grinned in sympathy anyway.