~The Arcade~DSMP//DNF//fluff

Quiet

Alex had finished cleaning the old claw machine and was now sitting across from Karl at the small table. Karl hadn't taken his eyes off of the ghost, worry clouded both of their vision as the white bandages wrapped around Dream's head began to slowly seep through with crimson, almost black blood. It was just small dots, but still worrying because of how carefully Karl had wrapped the bandages.

Their worry only increased when they heard the others stirring in their sleep. George was the first to wake, which was good, Alex knew the others would ask questions about Dream's skin. George sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He saw Alex first, sitting at the table with his head resting on one hand on the table and the other propped up on his leg.

George looked around and saw Karl sitting with his hands resting in his lap, good posture, and his eyes on something he couldn't see around Alex. George stood up slowly, still tiered from just walking up. He grabbed a chair and pulled it across the carpet to the table the others were sitting at. George didn't understand why they were so quiet.

As soon as George sat down he looked across the table to where the other's were looking. George's eyes grew wide, he stared at the poor ghost across from him. Dream sat with his knees huddled to his chest, his head rested on his knees, his jawline disappearing behind his legs so just his nose and eyes were visible. He had the bloody bandages around his hairline. His eyes were squeezed shut, trying desperately to block out the light and spinning around him. His hands squeezed his legs, the bandage over his right knuckles soaked in his crimson blood.

"W-what happened?" George whispered, he was quiet, but because the room was quieter his voice was easy to hear. George cringed when he saw the ghost squeeze his legs harder.

Alex glanced at Karl before standing, grabbing George's arm harder then he had wanted to, and walking him outside the arcade. Alex closed the door as quietly as possible and turned his attention to George's confused look.

"S-sorry. I didn't want to be loud." Alex explained, George still not understanding.

"What happened to him?" George spoke slightly louder this time, worry clear on his voice.

"I couldn't sleep so I went to take a walk for a bit, when I came back I saw him in the claw machine. He was having a nightmare. He was like crying and whispering things and then stopped. I didn't understand, clearly he hadn't woken up yet. So I leaned on the wall and watched him for a bit, and then suddenly he slammed his head on the side of the machine." Alex explained, rambling, "I-I tried to wake him but he seemed out of it, so I woke Karl up and stole a quarter from somewhere or another and used it to play the game and grabbed him with the claw. He didn't understand, but he asked what happened and I told him and he seemed upset, I didn't wanna upset him so I stopped talking. He- Karl thinks he has a concussion, and he fucked up his hand pretty bad too."

"He looks like he's in so much pain," George said to himself, "I just hope he's ok, I wanna ask about the nightmare but I don't want to upset him."

"I think the best thing you can do now is try to be quiet and leave him alone. It's best not to upset him." Alex told him.

The two returned inside quietly, sitting back in their chairs. Karl smiled softly at George as a greeting, George returning the smile sadly. Karl turned his gaze back to Dream, still making sure he doesn't fall back asleep.