Confession Time

Plans and Decisions

warnings: cursing, fighting, murder

Dream woke slowly, yawning a little and stretching happily before he cuddled into his beloved, purring quietly as he turned his eye lights off again. The sun had just barely started to rise over the horizon, starting to paint the sky in a brilliant show of colors that Dream never got tired of. It was a little bit cloudy today, the positive spirit noted. There were some scattered, puffy bits of what looked like cotton in the sky, painted in bright pinks and yellows on one side, the other a dark shadow. Part of him wanted to wake Nighty up - but he knew that the other preferred to sleep in a little longer, rather than seeing the sun rise if he wasn't up on his own. Dream didn't mind accommodating for that.

They'd been playing Confession Time for years now, and it really did seem to be helping his beloved. While Nightmare would still come home to their tree distressingly covered in scrapes and bruises more often than he should, the other would more openly talk about what had happened to him, rather than brushing it off and saying that he'd just tripped and fallen onto a particularly pointed patch of rocks. Nightmare was also less resistant to Dream healing him and cuddling. Now, if only the positive spirit could come up with a way to stop the villagers from going after his beloved. Simply asking them to stop didn't work... Or it would work for a couple of days, a few weeks maybe, but not for longer than that.

It was getting to the point where Dream was strongly reminded of one of the reasons why the previous guardian of the Tree of Feelings had driven off everyone who had attempted to come within dozens of miles of the Tree - whether because they wanted the fruit or simply to stay close to both the tree and to the previous guardian. Not that he would demand something so drastic without running it by Nightmare first, and the two of them coming up with several plans to implement it... Which would likely start with them politely asking the villagers to leave and to never return... Dream didn't imagine that such things would end well - and it would be a lot more difficult for them to get the books that Nightmare enjoyed reading - but teleportation made such trips much faster than the walking or horse-back riding that the mortals had to do in order to travel long distances. They'd have to go disguised as the mortals wouldn't take kindly to their presence after kicking them out of their homes.

But mortals didn't live very long, and though it might be a tense and unsure for the handful of decades that it took for the current set of mortals to live and die, things might settle down for the both of them. And then Nightmare would be much safer. It might be a little lonely, especially at first, but Dream would rather bare a little bit of loneliness, than to see his beloved suffer like this almost every day.

Part of him wanted to get up and barter for a couple of those pastries the bakery that had recently opened up made - a sweet one for himself, and one of those savory cheese ones for Nightmare - who liked those sorts of things best, but Nightmare's arms were draped around his waist, and he didn't want to potentially wake the other up. That and as his mind drifted off to their last game of Confession Time last night...

"Confession time - I... I know that you mean well when you get up before me in the mornings and leave to get food for us or books, but I... It really distresses me when I wake up and I can't see or sense you in the immediate area. It worries me and sometimes I... I worry that you left me f-for good and I..." Nightmare's voice broke and Dream could feel sadness and pain in the other's aura. He could also hear the other sobbing quietly. "I... I d-don't l-like those a-awful worries. E-Even though you always c-come back I just... P-please don't leave me while I'm sleeping."

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't know that it upset you. I promise that I won't do that anymore." Dream responded, feeling guilty. He had noticed that the other would sometimes get unsettled or hug him closer, grumbling about not being able to sleep when he left... But he didn't realize that it upset the other so much to wake up alone. Determination filled the positive spirit, he would be the best mate that he could be for his other half.