I'm... I'm tired now, I'm going to sleep. I'll clean that up in the morning." Dream continued robotically, pulling away from the artist as he slowly inched his way back to his room.
"Dream, wait-!" Ink frowned as the door closed behind him, clicking to signify the lock. Dream never locked his door, not unless he genuinely needed privacy. Ink gave a long sigh, rubbing the back of his neck and staring down at the shattered lamp on the floor.
Dream leaned against the door after locking it, wincing and gasping. His chest felt so full, like there was someone sitting on his ribs. He winced as he concentrated, willing his soul forward with a call of magic. The golden apple appeared in his hands, still bright and glowing as always. The apple seemed to pulsate in his hands, taut and almost swollen as Dream pressed his thumb gently to it. There were flecks of brown around the surface, which concerned him. He quickly pressed it back into his chest, panting and stumbling back over to his bed.
He collapsed onto the mattress; exhausted, emotionally spent, and chest filled to near bursting.
He couldn't sleep the entire night, the screams of his twin ringing in his skull ceaselessly.
Notes:
Oops, my hand slipped again. I should get them looked at. (っ◔◡◔)っ
Chapter 9: Bitter pit
Summary:
While Cross adjusts back into the home, Error finally corners Nightmare.
Notes:
WHOOPS. So I might have broken a few hearts last chapter, my bad ya'll. I'm glad you're so invested though lmao.
Would you believe we're encroaching in on the end? Wild. Anyway, here's so more angst for ya since I've had no less than four mental breakdowns this week.
Enjoy(?)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Nightmare actually awoke the next morning, much to his relief. While the numbing, blank bliss of whatever sleep coma he had been in before was nice, he didn't want to go through the grogginess of being forced awake. He already felt drained the way it was and he was seriously contemplating not getting out of bed at all now. Still, he knew he had to keep pushing through, just for a little longer.
Fully having talked himself into it, he forced himself out of bed and into a new loose sweater. He finished it off by wrapping his new scarf around himself, momentarily closing his eye and basking in the warmth. Just as he was ready to conquer the dreaded stairs, a glitching portal opened up in the middle of his room. He gave Error a confused look as the glitching monster stepped through, hand on his forehead and eyes closed in annoyance.
"Okay, we need to talk later, but currently there are more pressing matters." Error spoke as he grabbed Nightmare by the wrist, causing a series of harsh glitches for him.
Nightmare frowned in confusion as he was dragged along through the portal. "Error, could you at least tell me what's-?"
He trailed off as he was met with nothing but disaster.
"What happened?!" He looked around at the mess that had once been the dining room. The table was turned on its side with shattered plates littering the floor. The chairs that weren't piles of splinters and useless timber were overturned as well. He turned his head as he heard shouts and sounds of more furniture being destroyed in the next room. He quickly moved from the dining room into the main lounge, where he got a good look at the vandals.
