Loyal Servant (Crossmare) (Rewrite)

Between-Arc Oneshot: Communication is Key

Cross had been walking down the hall, paying more attention to his book than where he was going. He didn't particularly want to pay attention to his reality at the moment, but that idea backfired when he walked head on into Nightmare. Cross could guess he probably saw him coming but hasn't bothered to step aside. Cross moved back, looking up at Nightmare with a blank expression. He stared at him in turn, neither saying a word.

A thick tension settled between them. Cross held his ground. Nightmare's tendrils coiled and twitched. After a long bout of silence, Nightmare growled. "Watch your step," He warned, stepping around Cross. For the first time in a while, Cross had to actually lean away to avoid the whack of a swaying tendril. Jerk. His irritation doubled for a moment before he let out a heavy sigh and went on his way.

Fell and Horror were standing in a nearby doorway, where they had witnessed the pair's surprising cold exchange. Fell looked towards Horror. "That can't be good," He muttered. Horror shook his head. Unfortunately Killer and Dust weren't in the castle. "Okay, welp... I'll take Cross. You get Nightmare," Fell told him before he moved to follow Cross off down the hall. Horror hurried after Nightmare in turn, that oversized cat of his chasing him on heavy paws.

...

Unbelievable.

Cross tossed one of his smaller red knives, easily striking the target for the fourth time. The other knives had all hit, probably stabbing deep enough to pierce the bark on the other side of the board. His frustration only strengthened his throws, which were already powerful enough.

I don't know what I expected. It's Nightmare. He's the god of negativity. I obviously should have seen it coming.

He also didn't see Fell coming until he spoke. "You're tense," He said. Cross startled a bit, the sudden interruption screwing up his aim. His knife scraped by the tree, landing in the grass a meter or two past the trunk. He gave Fell a glare, the skeleton lifting his brows. "And very angry too," He added. "What's all that about?"

"It's none of your business," He shot back, aiming yet another blade at the target. When he flung this one, it hit the bullseye dead on. The success sort of helped to ease him, but not enough to make him feel alright. Maybe another three strikes will do the trick.

"You looked awfully standoffish with Nightmare. I've never seen you act like that before," Fell told him, taking a seat on the nearby bench. Cross had no interest in joining him, remaining focused on the target. He stepped back, just to try and add more of a challenge. His plan to ignore Fell didn't work too well, as he just kept talking. "I thought the two of you were all lovey-dovey. Only took me a couple hours to figure out you two were definitely lovers."

"Lovers argue," Cross told him, still managing to hit the target with little difficulty.

"About what?" Fell asked. He was obviously prying, but at this point, Cross didn't care. Usually he'd only talk to Killer about something like this, but he wasn't here and the situation would drive him mad before long. He looked over, scanning Fell. He'll do for now.

"If you want to know what's wrong, then fine. I'll tell you," Cross agreed, turning his gaze away again. He didn't want to see Fell's initial reaction. "Nightmare proposed to me."

He heard absolutely nothing from Fell for a solid thirty seconds. Eventually he snapped from the daze and spoke. "Wait, what? You're upset that he- Nightmare. The king. The literal god of all things grim. He proposed? That's... Wow," Fell struggled to catch up. Cross had figured the news would be shocking. "I thought you would have wanted this?" He then questioned.

"Oh, yes. I absolutely wanted a proposal," Cross replied before he marched right up to the target. He was sick of just throwing blades at it. "But you know what I didn't want? Him to ruin it by then saying that it would have to be kept a secret!" He snapped, stabbing the target. Cross didn't care that he was completely destroying it. He just kept going. "Because being a mortal makes me inferior in the minds of gods! So we can't openly marry! Because we're not like Dream and Ink! We're obviously different and worse!" He went on to complain, stabbing the target a couple more times. He then let out a yell of anger, effectively slashing the entire thing in half. He turned to Fell, who looked unsettled. "We've been together for so long and he's ashamed of it! He's ashamed of me!"