Of a Better World

Something Worth Keeping

The first time he had ever considered it, the thought had come as a shock to Horror. The idea of keeping Lust.

For the most part, or at least for what Horror was willing to admit, the idea came from nowhere. To him, there was no rhyme or reason to why such a bizarre thought would suddenly summon itself with no reasonable logic behind it. It squeezed itself into his mind, disrupted his train of thought, and ran amuck in his head.

But there was still a start to it, and, like most things, it started innocently enough.

Developing slowly, Horror could trace its beginning to the early morning and him keeping an eye on Lust as he carried out his usual shenanigans. He had taken up the day by trying to teach the dog of his tricks while Horror passively watched from the sidelines. Lust had laid splayed on his belly down on the floor attempting to teach the clueless thing to roll over, with little success.

That was when, idly, he thought that it was cute how Lust's uninjured foot kicked back and forth behind him. 

Horror allowed himself the guilty thought, having been one of the rare times he dwelled on the positive aspects of Lust rather than his annoyances. There were many endearing quirks Lust had, and for a moment Horror let himself wonder how many more Lust had that he simply hadn't seen or noticed yet. And maybe he thought about how he wouldn't mind seeing more of them. About how he even actually wanted to, perhaps.

But he hadn't been left to think of the implications of such a thought for long as Lust decided to recruit him in his training efforts. He played along as he often did, only stopping to mutter about how the thing would have been lucky to have more than half a ping pong ball rattling around in it's skull once or twice.

Then the day moved sluggishly onwards and so too did his thoughts.

Fetch was Lust's next plan of action and probably the worst one as well. The dog had little concept of the idea that it was actually supposed to bring back the things Lust threw and so Horror bid farewell and parted with more than a few objects. Balls, spoons, shoes, and a screwdriver were all lost as it absorbed anything Lust indicated it was supposed to retrieve.

Horror mourned the loss of a very useful screwdriver as Lust commented that maybe the dog was a touch more dense than he had initially thought.

Just as unperturbed by his pet's stupidity, he had bent down and laughed as the air headed canine bounced into his arms.

His smile was wide and goofy as he nuzzled into the soft white fur and peals of laughter bubbled out of him. Genuine and a soothing balm to Horror's soul, his irritation tucked tail and fled him in face of such unadulterated delight.

"well at least he always comes back!"

Ever the optimist.

And since he wasn't wrong, Horror was only left with the choice to agree with him. So enraptured with the joy of the smaller skeleton, he allowed invasive thoughts to proceed unhindered. Letting himself think of all the things he would do to contain such authentic happiness in his life.

The day drew to a close with Lust attempting to teach the mutt how to spin, his determination reduced to trying one of the simplest tricks either of them knew.

The dog chased it's tail readily enough, so it should have been easy. Still Horror, having long since dubbed the class a lost cause, spent it sitting down on the sidelines. It wasn't productive, but it sure was one hell of a show.

Lust, maybe at fault for over estimating the thing's intelligence, led by example, spinning himself, then manually twirling the small dog in the circle to its endless enjoyment. For a minute, it seemed to be working as the canine began to associate the command "spin" with the action of Lust spinning it in a circle.

Where Lust went wrong most likely, was by underestimating how short the animal's attention span was. Halfway through their "lesson" and so close to success, it suddenly decided that one of Lust's loose bandages was a decent enough plaything.

Having come loose during all of their activity, the bandages were descended upon instantly and without mercy. Lust was forced to hop around in panic as the dog ran about circles, seemingly intent on playing a game of tug of war as it unravelled them.

Horror, having been more than happy enough to watch the clown show, was finally forced to act as Lust became dangerously unstable on his feet. It was a second instinct, and all too surprising when he suddenly caught the smaller monster.

The close proximity made Horror all too aware of the fact that it was one of the handful of times he'd actually touched Lust since he arrived. After weeks of staying just out of reach and dodging the grabby skeleton, there Lust was, warm and small and wobbly in his grip as Horror helped him and delicate hands steadied themselves by gripping onto his chest.

His first feeling was that of wrongness, how unnatural it was that a creature such as him should be holding something so fragile, so kind. Like a wolf letting a rabbit climb all over it, or in this case, more like an annoyingly tame house cat.

Lust swore in a display of utter and adorable annoyance.

"i'm good i think, my leg's a lot better," he stabled himself a bit more before sending an exhausted look at the ignorant dog. "i think dog training is better left to crooks, it listens to him better."

The second feeling was much stronger and it was an aching for the moment to never end. Knowing the moment would stop all too soon and Lust would pull away and this painted illusion of domesticity would disperse. He wanted this, Horror wanted Lust and all of the mischief and playfulness he brought to always be there.

And, at their feet, as if to quell Lust's frustration and add just a tinge of irony to the too perfect moment he never wanted to end, the dog spun around before promptly depositing the previously lost screwdriver.

Lust, thinking not too much of it, buried his face into Horror's chest and made a muffled remark about not being too bad of a dog trainer.

It wasn't until long after the moment ended and magic released Horror that the realization of what he thought truly hit him, followed by the idea of it coming true, and Lust staying. Played with the idea even.

It was a thought that made itself much too comfortable in his mind and followed him to bed that night. Perhaps digging from just his mind to his heart.

And perhaps the worst thing about that was that he hardly minded at all.

A/N: Where in which Horror thinks of  Lust as cute twice in one chapter.

I finished a rough outline for the story and it has about twenty more chapters give or take any filler chapters i add to pace the story. Things should move more quickly now.

I'm starting another story too! I've decided on a pretty cliche yandere blue story to write cuz im a sucker for for writing dark characters, horror would be a lot darker in this story if it weren't for lust and my love of fluff. It'll be a lot shorter chapter wise and overall cuz this story ended up a pretty big  commitment overall. First chapter will be posted once i finish the story outline so that im not just starting a story blind again. I have a good grasp on the characters and stuff but im struggling with that outline because, as this story clearly shows, i'm scared of actual plots :'(

Sorry for the long author's note.