A Nightmare's Honor

An Awkward Conversation

{M} Yellow Apprentice POV:

"It's too late for that. I thought I could trust you, and you lied to me. I don't care what you have to say."

M slammed the door to his house in my face, and my heart lurched. He's right... We made a promise to each other, and I didn't keep it. But what was I supposed to do? Should I have told him about Sabre and Sky? They would have been disappointed... same with the Nightmare King. But-... But even so... isn't what I've done been a betrayal? I-

"Yellow Apprentice?"

I stiffened, slowly turning my head to face the speaker. I relaxed only the slightest bit when I realized it was the Red Leader. He glanced at the door to M's house, then back at me. To my surprise, he sighed, seeming to droop slightly in his posture. Strange...

"May I have a word with you? I have a few... questions I'd like to ask." The Red Leader gestured for me to follow him.

I stood there a few moments, unsure of what to do. Normally, I would have the excuse that I was busy and needed to get back to the many papers that needed to be attended to in the Yellow Kingdom, but, seeing as the Nightmare King had given me the day off, it would be rude to not accept his invitation. Giving an inward sigh, I nodded, following the Red Leader to... his house?

We had taken a back way to his home, passing no Red Steves along the way. Instead of going in through the normal entrance, we entered a back door that I had never noticed before. Once we entered his home, the Red Leader brought me to a long couch, and had me sit down while he remained standing.

"So... you wanted to talk to me about something?" I asked him somewhat nervously, unsure of what he could possibly want to talk about.

"Yes. It's about the Red Apprentice..."

Oh boy, here we go. Something tells me this is going to end more like an interrogation than a civil conversation... I tapped my fingers nervously on my lap, waiting for the Red Leader to continue.

"I've noticed recently that something is... off. He rarely leaves his house now, and he usually denies any visitors. I know the two of you are close friends. I see the two of you meeting quite frequently. I thought, perhaps, that you would know what the problem is."

I gulped, not meeting the Red Leader's gaze. I was unsure of what his response would be when he'd find out that the problem was me, but I decided that this may actually be just the opportunity I needed to fix things with M. "Well..." I explained the promise we had made, and the predicament I was now in because of the meeting with the leaders.

"Hmmm..." the Red Leader took in my words, giving a low hum of thought. "So the Red Apprentice thinks that because you didn't tell him about the two non-Steves, you broke your promise, and therefore his trust..."

I gave a nod, not meeting his gaze. He was taking this well, to my relief, but his sudden silence was making my pulse rise with worry once more.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. I stiffened as the Red Leader began to leave me to see who it was. Before he even took four steps, however, the door burst open, and a very excited Professor Red ran into the room.

"Red Leader, you'll never guess what I just discovered! It's-" the Professor cut off his words, suddenly noticing me. His eyes narrowed with suspicion, and I glanced away.

The Red Leader sighed, looking at his front door that was now broken off of its hinges and on the floor. He gave the Professor a look of annoyance before speaking. "What seems to be the excitement? Is what you're about to say too important to fix my door for?"

When the Red Leader spoke with an edge of sarcastic annoyance, the Professor suddenly noticed the broken door. "Oh. Uhh, I'll have the Assistant fix that later. But yes, it's very important! Only one problem, though. Why is the Yellow Apprentice here?"

"Don't worry about him," the Red Leader brushed off the question. "What discovery was important enough to break my door for?"

The Red Professor eyed me once more with suspicion, then stepped closely to the Red Leader, whispering something to him. The Red Leader gave him a quizzical look when he finished speaking.

"...Why?" he asked the Professor.

The Professor whispered something else to him. Immediately, the Red Leader gave him a partial glare. "That's not a valid explanation."

The Professor sighed. "Just- it's important, alright? I promise I won't do anything you wouldn't approve of!"

The Red Leader raised a doubtful eyebrow. "And I can trust that you're serious this time unlike all the other times you claimed that, because...?"

He let the silence settle, waiting for the Professor to give an answer. When the Professor couldn't think of anything to say, the Red Leader sighed. "Fine. But this is your final warning. Next time, I'll post guards to watch your every move and make sure you don't blow something up... or experiment on anything without my permission. Understood?"

The Red Professor nodded, though, despite how immediate his nod of agreement was, something about his response had seemed hesitant. ...Maybe it was just my imagination?

"Yellow Apprentice, if it's alright with you, the Professor just has something he'd like to talk to you about at his lab. Some questions about energy, or something like that," the Red Leader said to me, a sudden feeling of dread washing over me.

"Well, uhm... I- I really should be going now..." I stammered, desperately trying to come up with an excuse to not follow the Red Professor into his lab.

"Ah, nonsense! I'm sure the Nightmare King can spare you a few minutes longer!" the Professor exclaimed.

Then, without warning, he grabbed me by the wrist with an astonishingly strong grip and forced me off the couch. As he walked me to the door, I gave one last desperate glance behind me at the Red Leader. But he was nowhere to be found...