No Matter What (A Dreammare Fic)

Chapter 10: Papers, Please

Terror opened the door to his study slowly and strided in, waiting halfway for Dream to enter. Nightmare was far too delighted for his tastes, and together with Dream's ever-present positivity he felt a headache coming on. "You've already been here, but feel free to take a look around."

Dream's first steps were tentative, although he expected no danger. Nightmare had always had a love for books, and his study was obviously an expression of this--there were several book cases, both upright and mounted to the walls. His study was dimly lit, and the semi-gothic architecture of the manor played well to the vampiric feel. He knew of the sprawling library that lay only a floor down, but it appeared Nightmare has certain books he preferred to be closer at hand.

Nightmare had taken residence behind his desk, which was piled in neatly organized stacks all over the surface. At a glance, all of the papers appeared to be either legislature or petitions, in small, formal fonts. Dream slowly walked over, and noticed a packet of papers had slipped onto the floor just within Nightmare's blind spot.

He bent over to pick it up, aware Nightmare couldn't see it, and noticed the dull ache that spread over his lumbar. He straightened back up, papers in hand, and resisted the urge to rub at his vertebrae--the ache hadn't abated whatsoever, even with the change of position.

He righted the crumpled pages, and smoothed down the stapled edge, flipping onto the front page. Curious. The packet appeared to be a report about inter-universe infrastructure, with the findings being less than ideal. The title was verbose, but boiled down to "Transportation Architecture and Infrastructure Between Universes of the Empire." Dream sat down on one of the plush armchairs near Nightmare's desk absentmindedly, and began to read deeper into the report.

The chair was rather soft, and Dream found himself running his fingers over the fabric as he read. The sensation was so different without his usual thick gloves--more soothing, he supposed. The wood framing was shining, looking to be polished. Mahogany, perhaps. Dream glanced at Nightmare, oddly fascinated with the way his tentacles flicked behind him. Embarrassed and hearing Killer's earlier words in his mind, Dream dived back into the packet.

Terror watched Dream out of the corner of his eye--he wasn't sure which report that was, but if Dream was so fascinated by it, he certainly wouldn't mind less reading.

The report he was currently focused on was a request for a change in the cross-universal business laws, although it would never go through no matter how well thought out it was--it would never get past the Treasurer nor the Secretary of Commerce. Terror shook his head. Most of the Council would be opposed to the legislation, he was sure of it, but he might as well present it to them. He placed it on the proper pile before turning his attention to something else.

Are you just going to stare? Terror questioned Nightmare, who had settled as much as an intangible ghost could onto the armchair next to Dream. The ghost had a soft look on his face, a small, sad smile replacing his usual neutral look. He was almost reading over Dream's shoulder, but it was obvious the words weren't what he was focused on. Nightmare was usually enthused to read the reports of the empire, no matter how asinine. However, he was currently far more engaged by watching.

Nightmare exhaled. Dream's reading face hadn't changed one bit--he still screwed up his gentle features into a pinched look as he absorbed the information. He leaned further into the chair, laying his head on his arms as he watched Dream read. He wondered, briefly, if Dream had picked up reading since the incident. Or writing, for that matter, considering he had never seemed interested in either before.

Normally, he did his best to adhere to the laws of physics, minus gravity--he only went through open doors and the like--but it seemed his vigilance had faded away as he gazed at Dream, seeing as he was phased halfway into the armchair. 'Hm?'