Who Are You and Why Are You Me?

Sharing Is Most Definitely NOT Caring

{I'd love to give a good excuse, but I dont really got nothing. Sorry for the long pauses between chapters, I'd say I'll do better but I dont wanna give unrealistic expectations to you all. Happy holidays!}

POV: Blue

Touching a hand to his returned bandana, Blue looked at Error. Or rather the person in Error’s body. He had a pretty good idea of who it could be, but he wasn’t going to say anything just yet. Better leave it a secret until they wanted to share it.

Instead, he gave a simple nod and a slight smile, both of which were promptly returned. Turning around, Blue made his way back to where he had been sitting next to Cross at the table. Footsteps indicated that the others had followed suit.

“If I may ask—“

“Food first,” Horror said sharply, cutting off whoever was in Ink’s body. An angry look crossed his face, before it settled back into an impassive mask.

Blue patted the seat next to him while looking at Dream in Error’s body. They looked at him, glancing at Cross next to him before walking towards the two. Cross stiffened just a bit, before seeming to remember that Error was currently inhabiting his own body and was not, in fact, the one walking towards him. 

Grabbing the plate next to him, Blue started piling pancakes onto it, adding enough syrup to make almost anyone sick to the nonexistent stomach. Seeing it, Dream gave a larger smile, waving his hands happily before reaching for the plate. 

There was silence for the next ten minutes as they all ate, those who were here first being polite enough to stay quiet as the newer ones ate the pancakes with vigor. Even Ink, surprisingly enough, was quiet, though the fact that he was bouncing in his seat meant it wouldn’t last long.

Once everyone was finished, there were some glances thrown about, all of them wanting to see who would start the discussion they all wanted to have.

Someone cleared their throat, drawing everybody’s attention to where Ink’s body sat. A quick glance at Horror, before he began.

“So, I trust we can all say that we are not in our own body’s?” 

Blue almost did a double take. He had never, never heard Ink talk remotely like that. Way too weird.

Nobody was denying his words though. 

“Thought so. I believe it would be beneficial if we all clarified who we were,” he stated matter-of-factly.

“Dream is in Error’s body,” both Blue and Ink said at the same time. They glanced at each other, before a snort to Blue’s left startled the three of them into a laughing fit. Well, Ink. Blue and Dream stopped rather quickly, but the now taller artist kept giggling for almost a full minute. 

“And how the hell did you two figure that out?” Blue’s body asked. More laughter from the three of them, before Ink sobered up enough to answer.

“Nobody but Dream can stomach that much syrup and like it,” he said, still giggling occasionally. 

Either Blue was the only one who found Killer giggling lightheartedly weird, or everyone else was too cowardly to say anything.

Glancing to his left, Blue saw a faint yellow blush on Dream’s now much darker skull. He gave another quick laugh before smiling at his friend, who returned it rather sheepishly.

“Right. Well, I am Nightmare, the one in Blue’s body is Killer and the one in Dream’s is Dust. And everyone else?” 

Blue raised a bone brow, pointing towards his bandana and saying nothing. Nightmare, in Ink’s body, simply glared, frowning before turning his gaze towards Cross. Blue felt him give a start before clearing his own throat.

“I’m, uh, Cross.” Nightmare nodded before turning to where Error and Ink sat, side by side. Blue had a brief moment of wondering if Killer and Cross normally sat together before Error’s snarl cut through his thoughts.

“I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again, I don’t have to answer to you. You’re just as much of an abomination as the rest of these mistakes.” 

The resulting glares from the two of them seemed colder than Blue’s own magic. There was silence for a bit, the glares seeming to get more and more intense before Ink cut in.

“Well, I’m obviously Ink, and Horror is in Nightmare’s body. So, now what?” the artist asked, nerves obvious in the way he stopped bouncing.

His words seemed to have the intended effect however, because Nightmare broke the stare between king and god to look over at where Horror and Dust sat, still leaning against one another. His face seemed to soften as he looked at the two.

“Are you alright Horror? I know it’s likely not the best feeling—“

“Ya mean having my spine feel like it’s ‘bout ta snap? Yea, it’s not the best, but I’ve had worse.”

A whine sounded to Blue’s left, Dream having started to look at the Horror and Dust as well.

“Dust, you-u-u ok-kay?” they asked, staring at Dust in their own body. Glancing at him as well, Blue could see faint pain lines etched into the skull, and Dust’s now yellow eyelights seemed rather dim as well.

A quick nod from the other, before both Dust and Horror winced. Dream let out another whine, glitching slightly as Nightmare started to stand up. 

“Don’t worry ‘bout us. We’re fine,” Horror grumbled, deciding to watch Dust’s face rather than make eye contact. 

“Maybe so, but you’ve never had to deal with so many emotions at once before.” Blue looked over at Nightmare, the confusion etched on his face matching that of everyone else in the room.

“Whaddya mean by that?” Killer asked, and wow his look of annoyance was not one Blue had ever made. Or at least, he didn’t think he'd made that face before…

“One o-of our abilitie-ies,” Dream mumbled, body glitching even more. “More of a c-c-curse though. We can se-ense emotions-s-s, but it can get overwhelming-ing.”

Blue glanced over at Dust and Horror in concern. Both of them looked like each moment was another bolt of pain through the skull. Blue couldn’t even imagine what it must be like…

Actually, his LV flare from earlier didn’t seem that great either…maybe the whole body-swap thing was worse than he initially thought.

A sharp remark from Dust with Dream’s voice cut through his thoughts. “Hey Blue. Quit with the intense thinking, you’re making it worse.”

Blue smiled sheepishly, which seemed to be a new thing for Dust if everyone’s shocked faces was anything to go by. He made sure to squash down his embarrassment, not wanting to make it worse for the two of them.

“There are ways to help make it more bearable, if the two of you would like to learn them,” Nightmare said. He looked worried, if only because anything other than a smile on Ink’s face was obvious.

Small smiles from the twin’s bodies were his response. Blue was strong enough to admit when something unnerved him, and the fact that Dream and Nightmare’s bodies were so close without them being in battle was strange.

Blue cut off that train of thought before he started speculating again, doing his best to tone down his emotions. A quick glance to his left showed a very concerned looking Dream, a similar expression to his right on Cross’s face. 

Blue sighed, standing up and drawing everyone’s attention to him. “How about this. Dream, Nightmare, you two do your best to start teaching Dust and Horror how to shut out everyone’s emotions. The rest of us will clean up and discuss our own abilities here. Sound good to everyone?”

Eight faces with varying degrees of acceptance looked at him. A glitched sigh next to him signified his first answer.

“Sounds li-i-ike a good plan.” Dream got up, making a beckoning gesture to the others before walking out of the dining room/kitchen. A brief pause before Nightmare followed after them, Dust and Horror right behind him. Blue looked around at everyone else before clapping once, a grin on his face.

“Well, time to get started!”