Little Glitch

Little Nightmare

It was currently midnight and Marvin was still awake working on the antidote. He was skimming through his books again when he suddenly heard a scream coming from Anti's room. Marvin quickly got up from his desk and ran out of his room running towards Anti's room. When the magician busted through the doors he saw Anti on his bed in tears and shaking violently. Marvin couldn't help but feel bad. Anti looked so vulnerable right now and he needed to be there to comfort him.

"He must've had a nightmare..." Marvin thought, walking over to the small demon.

He went to sit down only for Anti to scream at him and glitched violently.

Marvin frowned at his reaction, but remained calm. He had to calm him down before he woke everyone else up.

"Anti, it's okay it's just me. I'm not going to hurt you buddy. Take deep breaths and relax." Marvin said calmly, kneeling down next to his bed.

"N-NO! The monster is going t-to get me! GET AWAY!" Anti screamed out, hugging himself tightly.

"Anti, I promise you there is no monster and even if there was I wouldn't let it hurt you. I promise." Marvin said, smiling softly.

That seemed to calm Anti down a bit which Marvin was happy about. He got up from the floor to sit on Anti's bed causing the small demon to flinch. Marvin didn't blame him though he was just scared at the moment. Marvin smiled softly at the small demon trying to reassure him that everything was alright that nothing was going to hurt him.

"It's going to be okay, Anti. Nothing is going to hurt you, not while I'm here. Would you like to sleep in my room? You'll feel more safe when you're with me." Marvin said, softly rubbing small circles around Anti's back.

Anti only nodded. He wasn't in the mood to talk right now, he was too scared and he didn't understand why. He was so used to having nightmares, but this time it was different. It was scarier to him and he didn't like it. Marvin gently picked Anti up carrying him to his bedroom. When they entered Anti looked up at the fairy lights he was glad that there was some source of light in Marvin's room if there wasn't he'd be even more scared. Marvin gently placed Anti on his bed and covered him up in his blankets which Anti immediately snuggled up in. Marvin smiled softly at the sight he then crawled in bed laying next to Anti covering himself up as well. He felt the small glitch shift closer to him, nuzzling up close to him. Marvin wasn't expecting that, but he didn't mind one bit. All he wanted was to make sure Anti felt safe. He decided that the antidote was going to have to wait until morning right now Anti needed a bigger brother to comfort him. Marvin cuddled close to Anti, running his fingers through his soft green hair. He watched as the small demon drifted off to sleep.

"I promise, Anti. I won't let anything happen to you." Marvin whispered softly.

Once Anti was fully asleep Marvin decided to fall asleep as well. He sighed softly and closed his eyes as he slowly drifted off into slumber.

             ~The next morning~

Marvin woke up and looked over at Anti to see that he was still sleeping. He smiled and carefully got out of bed being careful not to wake the small demon. He opened his bedroom door, exiting his room, making his way down the stairs. He entered the kitchen and saw that Chase was making breakfast. Marvin sat down and sighed softly trying to figure out what nightmare Anti had last night. He was so deep in thought he didn't realize Chase was calling him.

"Hey bro, you doing alright? Are you thinking about something?" Chase asked, putting a finished omelet on a plate.

"I'm fine...it's just Anti had a nightmare last night and I wanna know what kind he had. I don't want to ask him because that would be too insensitive. I care about Anti. I just want to know what the dream was about..." Marvin said, frowning a bit.

"That's understandable dude. I go through that with my kids all the time. When they have a nightmare it's best to talk to them about it and listen. It helps them know that the nightmare they have won't hurt them." Chase said, picking up the plate and walking over to Marvin placing it down in front of him.

Marvin nodded, "Maybe I should talk to him about it. Thanks, Chase."

"No problem bro! Now stuff your face with my famous omelet!" Chase said, smiling happily.

Once everyone was finished eating Marvin decided it was time to go speak with Anti about his nightmare. Marvin was already standing in front of his door ready to enter. He took a deep breath in and out.

"Here goes nothing." Marvin thought to himself, before entering Anti's room.

He saw Anti lying on the floor drawing a picture. The little demon looked up once he heard his bedroom and smiled happily when he saw Marvin standing there. He got up from the floor to go hug the magician. Marvin smiled softly and kneeled down on one knee so Anti could give a proper hug. Anti hugged him tightly and Marvin hugged him back.

"Marvin! I'm drawing a picture, do you wanna see?" Anti asked, smiling happily, bouncing up and down in excitement.

Marvin chuckled a bit, "Sure! Show me bud."

Anti ran back over to where he was lying on the floor to retrieve the drawing. He then ran back over to Marvin and handed it to him Marvin took the picture to examine it.

"It's us at the park! Do you like it?" Anti asked, giggling happily.

Marvin smiled happily, "This is a work of art! This needs to be hung up on the fridge." Marvin said, ruffling Anti's hair.

Anti giggled and ran back over to his spot laying back down. Marvin got up off his knee and walked over to him. He sat down in front of him and smiled happily watching Anti draw another picture when suddenly a certain drawing caught his eye. He picked it up and frowned as he examined the drawing closely. It was a drawing of a tall black figure with glowing red eyes. Anti looked up from his drawing and noticed the drawing Marvin was looking at.

"T-That's the monster I dreamt o-of..." Anti said softly, whimpering a bit.

Marvin frowned more and set the drawing back down, "Do you want to talk about it? It's okay if you don't. I won't force you, Anti."

That question caused Anti to glitch a bit. Anti didn't really want to talk about his nightmare; it was just too scary for him to talk about. Marvin noticed Anti glitching and knew it wasn't a bad time for him to talk about it. Marvin smiled softly and ruffled the small demon's hair.

"It's okay, Anti. If you're not ready to talk about it you can always talk to me when you're ready. I'll always be here for you and I'll listen." Marvin said, smiling happily.

Anti only nodded going back to his drawing. Marvin decided to stay with Anti and draw pictures with him, but he couldn't help but glance over at the drawing he drew of 'the monster'. He can't help but admit that thing was kind of creepy.

"He'll tell me eventually. I just gotta give him time to tell me. In the meantime he needs comfort."