After work the next day, Ccino hurried up with cleaning for once. He never usually did this because he never had a reason to. He was not able to wait to meet up with Nightmare. He walked up stairs, thinking of how the meetup might go. He reached his hand to his warmed up face... am I blushing? After he dashed to his bathroom, he saw his purple face stare back at him from the mirror, causing it to become even more purple. This is embarrassing... He went to his room, tossing his apron to the floor and throwing on his blue hoodie. "I'll just find a way to hide my blush." He threw his hood over his skull and searched around his room for something to cover his face. Aha! He found a mask with a sideways three looking thing on it with pink cheeks.(a corona time mask 😷 but different shape bc It need to wrap around his head) He pulled down his hood to put it on, putting it back up afterward. He teleported to Outertale and started looking around for Nightmare. He jumped at the sudden finger tapping on his shoulder from behind. Turning his head, he could see that it was Noot noot. His face brightened, "Hi Nightmare!" He spoke louder than usual. Nightmare unconsciously recoiled and scrunched up at the positivity. "The hell are you wearing a mask for?" The look in his eyes told Ccino that Nightmare found it weird. "No reason." Ccino kept himself from stuttering as his face lit up from under the mask. Nightmare sighed. "Ccino I'm not stupid, I can sense emotions. Take off that stupid mask." Ccino felt the pit slightly come back at nightmare's words as he obliged, shoving the mask into his pocket. Ccino got a second to think and wondered why Nightmare never asked him what was wrong before. Maybe he didn't ca— "Ccino," Ccino looked up, snapping back into reality. "Come on, follow me" Ccino nodded, now following the king of negativity through the starry AU. They came to a stop at a more secluded area. Nightmare sat down and patted the spot next to him for Ccino to sit down. He sat down and partially smiled at Nightmare. Ccino froze up as he felt an arm wrap around his shoulder. He almost forgot what physical affection felt like.. again. Nightmare grinned at Ccino's bright purple face, having some cyan creep up on his own face. Wait, this isn't supposed to be genuine. I'm doing this to use him... More blush came to Nightmare's face as he tried to make it go away. His gaze darted towards Ccino, hearing a quiet chuckle come from the cafe worker. "Not funny." Nightmare huffed, looking away. But, then looked back with wide eyes as he felt Ccino rest against his side. The smile that had disappeared krept back to his face once more. This is the perfect way to get him closer to me. I'll love feeding off of his negativity. That's what he told himself anyway. "Ccino," Nightmare called, getting Ccino's attention. "I..." He hesitated as he felt his face heat up more. Why is it so hard to say? Why do I care so much? He tried to repress his emotions, continuing his statement. "I love you." His blushed had calmed a bit after he repressed his emotions, his face more blank. Ccino's, however, was a bright purple. "I..." Nightmare noticed that he was also hesitant to say it. He couldn't understand it. "I love you too..!" Ccino's face lit up with joy. Nighttime came to them way too quick. "I think you should go back now, it's late." Nightmare stated, but then saw Ccino's lonely face as Ccino nodded. It was a face Nightmare wanted to feed off of. But at the same time, he wanted to bring a smile to Ccino's face. "I can go with you." Ccino smiled. "Okay!" His voice was still quiet. Why is he so quiet? Not that I'm complaining, i hate when people are loud. Nightmare pondered on why this could be the case but then came to a halt, remembering that he is going with Ccino. They teleported back at the same time. Nightmare ended up at the entrance of the Cafe. Ccino was past the entrance of the upstairs. Ccino realized that Nightmare had never been up there before and walked down. He waved his hand, beckoning Nightmare to come over. Once they were both upstairs, Ccino fed his cat and felt a rumble. "You're hungry." Nightmare pointed out. "Are you eating?" Ccino tensed up a bit and wasn't sure how to respond. "I'll take that as a no, why?" Ccino's head lowered and looked at his now fidgeting hands. "I... I- I just didn't have the energy to recently." "Well, not eating won't help with that. I'm making you something to eat." Ccino nodded his skull, "I can make som—" "No, I'll make it." Ccino didn't want to burden him, but decided there was nothing he could do. He walked off to sit at his couch and waited. Once Nightmare was finished, he went over to Ccino and handed it to him in a slightly aggressive manner. Nightmare's face was stern and fatherly. Ccino didn't need to hear words to know that Nightmare wanted him to eat. Ccino began to eat, when he wanted to stop, Nightmare gave that same look. Ccino finished it and Nightmare took the bowl from him to wash it. Ccino was baffled. Why is he helping so much? Nightmare came back. "Are you tired?" "Yes, but I'm always tired." Nightmare sighed and sat down next to him on the couch. "Are you okay?" Ccino tensed once more. It was the question he had hoped for but also dreaded the idea of. He wanted someone to care but he didn't want to burden them with his emotions. He hesitated, "No..." "Why?" Ccino didn't really know why he still didn't feel okay. He wasn't alone anymore but he still felt so lonely. "I just feel lonely..." Nightmare paused for a moment and found the perfect opportunity to make him feel bad. "Why? I'm right here. Is it not enough for you?" Ccino felt tears roll down his cheekbones and drip off of his jaw. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean it that way... I'm so sorry..." Nightmare felt his chest grow heavier but pushed through it. "I'm going home." Nightmare stood up and teleported away. "No, wait..!" Ccino sobbed, not realizing that Nightmare was still nearby, feeding off of his negativity. He got off of the couch and reached out for the knife in the knife block. Nightmare's tendrils curled with curiosity and twitched a bit with concern. Ccino ran to his room with the knife. He pulled down his sleeve, now pressing the knife against the untouched ivory color of his wrist bones. They began to leak a fresh red color as he sliced the first time. "I deserve this." Nightmare could hear him from outside his door. He felt a mixture of emotions, not sure if he should stop this or not. He decided not to. I don't care about him. He told himself. Ccino looked down at the singular cut, deciding to do it again. He sliced down, harder this time, making more blood trickle down his wrist. The pit he had in his stomach, which had grown after nightmare left, felt like it had filled once more. Nightmare teleported somewhere else as he heard ccino approach the door to his room, still nearby for the negativity. Ccino washed off the knife with hot water before putting it in the strainer to dry. The water had washed away the blood but, as a precaution, ccino decided that he needed to bandage it. This would be just until it dried up. Ccino laid down on his bed and drifted off to sleep within a few minutes of getting comfortable.
Word count: 1,329 words
