Vampire Verse [Dreammare] ~☆

Moon Dance

  

   Lords Dream and Nightmare packed everything back into their baskets before brushing themselves off from any wrinkle that may suggest what kind of cuddling they might have been up to.
   Then they were able to go back down to the village.

   Lord Dream tried to not let Nightmare's story get in the way of doing his job. There was still a few people who hadn't gotten to greet him yet, and while Nightmare never said who of the village people beat him, Dream couldn't help himself from wondering if the person he was talking to ever lay their hands on his Nightmare.
   Perhaps it was better to assume that everyone did at some point, rather than accidentally treat certain people differently than others.

   Lord Dream knew these people well enough to guess who was more likely to start fights or spread lies. Before it was just about the rumours they spread about Nightmare. He always knew toxicity ran through the village as they spread those rumours.
   But somehow the fact that they had physically hurt Nightmare without a proper reason. It was different now.
   Maybe they were only children back then, but it's not like children have no control over their actions.

   They followed the music until they found where a few number of people were dancing a traditional Dreamtale folk dance, where everyone switched partners throughout the song.
   They placed down their baskets somewhere before joining in on the dance floor together.

   They danced in each other's arms happily, this was the one dance where they could be seen together without it being too suspicious.
   After people noticed their Lord Dream dancing, many others joined in on the dance floor until no one else could join without it being overly crowded.

   Nightmare couldn't help but notice Dream peeking over his shoulder at everyone else.
   "Remember that they still love you." Nightmare started, "Just because your heart has changed, doesn't mean that theirs have. They are the same as you knew them."
   "But now I know them more." Dream explained.
   "Do not let them get to you..." Nightmare pressed his head against Dream's before they had to switch partners.
   They turned from each other at the sound cue and were matched with someone different.

   Lord Dream was matched with:
   "Niel! You're here!" Dream smiled with relief.
   "I'd never miss the Moon Festival! Or any Dreamtale Festival at that." Mr. Niel had to admit, he loved these parties. It wasn't difficult to re-adjust themselves to compensate for Niel's missing arm. He was all cleaned up for the festival, or as cleaned up as he could be given his exceedingly limited wardrobe.

   Neil would be the one commoner that Lord Dream would take in to live in the castle, he was also the one commoner who refused such a generous offer.
   "I will say that I was surprised to see Lord Nightmare here however." Niel smiled at him genuinely.
   The horrible thought of Niel possibly contributing to Nightmare's abuse horrified Dream. But Niel didn't smell shameful of anything, he had no guilt at the topic of Nightmare, only pure curiosity. And upon doing the approximate math in his head, Neil would've been too old to be one of the teenagers who beat Nightmare.
   "Lord Nightmare said himself that he wanted to give back to the community. It's no secret that he's not exactly popular down here." Lord Dream was relieved to at least come to the decision that Niel absolutely did not hurt Nightmare. Even if he was lying to himself, it was easier on his heart to decide a kinder truth.
   Perhaps one day Lord Dream will confront Mr. Neil on the topic.

   Meanwhile, Lord Nightmare was paired with a woman. They both danced in uncomfortable silence for a while until Nightmare saw Dream dancing and smiling with Neil over the woman's shoulder.
   The woman giggled, making Nightmare wonder what could possibly be so funny.
   "What?" Lord Nightmare asked.
   "Apologies for saying so my Lord, but you're not nearly as scary as I thought you were up close." She giggled.
   "Is that so," Lord Nightmare wasn't sure what to do with that information, it's not like he was trying to scare her anyway.
   "It's just that, I've never seen you smile before." She admitted shyly.
   "I was smiling?" Nightmare hadn't even noticed. She nodded in affirmation, biting her lip in attempt to stop herself from laughing at Lord Nightmare any more than she had.

   Everyone switched partners.
   Lord Nightmare was paired with another young woman, though this one was more familiar to him.
   "You again," Lord Nightmare looked down to the petite young woman who had given him a lit candle earlier.
   "Me again," she sang with a growing blush on her cheeks, clearly nervous, though she got more confident as they danced.

   "So... I never got an answer..." She was shy to ask.
   "Answer for what?" Lord Nightmare asked back.
   "For my candle... my proposal of a relationship with... each other..." She blushed.
   "Ah, yes." Nightmare wasn't looking farward to this conversation.
   "Yes?" She repeated.
   "No! I mean, I'm not looking to be in a relationship at the moment." Nightmare tried to be clear without being soul-crushing to the poor young woman.
   "Oh..." she shrunk sadly. "Why not? Are you already engaged with someone else?" She asked.
   "Not- I will not say." Lord Nightmare couldn't exactly say anything about his relationship with Lord Dream.

   "Then why not?" She was getting to be a little pushy, "It is your duty to marry someone and make an heir for Dreamtale!" The one-eighty in her persistence gave Lord Nightmare whiplash.
   "Let me handle my own duties to Dreamtale." He stood his ground.
   "I will be a quiet wife! I won't ever bother you! Now that I know for sure you're not a vampire I will be very good to you and your family name!" What she said seemed odd to Lord Nightmare.
   It was then that he remembered the lit candle she gave him, it was held in a silver candle holder when she handed it to him.
   "You thought I was a vampire and tried to burn me with silver!" He growled.
   "I was only testing if you were a vampire! But you're not!" She flinched as she realized how unhappy she made Lord Nightmare.

   Meanwhile, Lord Dream had been paired with a woman from the Silkers family.
   "Mis. Silk! Good evening!" Lord Dream greeted, feeling much better about talking with the village people after having talked with Neil.
   "Happy Solstice my Lord! I hope you have been well and healthy!" She smiled,
   "Of course! You as well!" He nodded to her as they danced.
   "That is good to hear, I only wanted to make sure seen as Lord Nightmare seems to have returned from his travels." She grumbled about that, practically saying "And I thought we were free of him."
   "Mis. Silk, I'm not sure I like your tone regarding my brother." Lord Dream dropped his smile. It was something to note that Mis. Silk was a notorious gossiper.

   "Whether you see it or not my Lord, the rest of us are praying for you down here. Just say the word and we will call the vampire hunters ourselves." She just about pleaded as she gripped Lord Dream's hands.
   Truth was, she was a concerned mother, looking out for her beloved Lord Dream. Without Lady Nim in the castle anymore, Lord Nightmare could be doing any awful thing to Lord Dream without anyone in the village knowing.

   Oh, what little the gossipers knew of what things Lord Nightmare was doing to Dream in that castle.

   "Lord Nightmare won't know until the hunters are here and you would be rid of him for good!" She felt that she was saving Lord Dream from a beast of hell.
   "Mis. Silk, I am not in need of saving. My Nightmare is not a vampire! And I will not hear another word of it, understood?!" Lord Dream snapped at her with every sentence until she shrunk in utter shame.
   "Yes my Lord..." She whimpered.

   "Devil!!" A man's voice yelled through the crowd as the music suddenly stopped and people yelped as they were pushed aside.
   "Stay the hell away from my sister you Vampire!!" A man darted at Lord Nightmare dancing with the young woman who tried to pursue him.