Averse

Chapter 6 - Relax

"Nightmare and his gang have been completely absent from the Multiverse for days now," Dream spoke, a tinge of anxiety lacing his commanding voice. He sat at his place in the dining room across from Ink, Blue watching him intently from his right side. "Either they're dedicating all of their energy to something huge, or..." His expression grew distant as he trailed off, gaze drifting to the floor. The squeak of a chair stirred him to look back up, staring at the culprit with frustration. "Ink, are you even listening to me?!" The creator looked up sharply from his lap at Dream's harsh tone, slightly shifting under the combined gazes of the other two skeletons at the table. He blinked a few times, staring up at Dream with a blank face. "Yeah, yeah. The Multiverse is in danger, blah blah blah. Right?"

An exasperated sigh echoed through the room as Dream pinched his brow ridge between his thumb and index finger. It was a wonder he even attempted to hold these meetings anymore since it seemed Ink didn't even care. "Ink," Blue began tiredly. "You would be a lot more productive as a Star if you bothered to pay attention!" The creator scoffed at this, lifting up the sketchbook that had been resting in his lap as he pressed a hand to his chest in offense. "I will have you know that I'm being very productive right now! I've gotten five drawings done already!" Dream let his skull collide with the tablecloth, a thud resonating as ivory met silk. He could practically hear Blue rolling his eyelights as Ink confusedly exclaimed, "What?! What did I say?!"

Dream tuned out Blue's disapproving rant as he tried to let his aching head dull. He faintly heard the scraping of a chair against the floor and the gentle pitter-patter of feet approaching him. He could still hear Blue speaking heatedly, though continued to tune out his words. He felt a hand caress the back of his skull before reaching towards his chin, lifting it up so he could look Ink in the eyes. The shape-changing pupils that resided in his sockets were soft and kind, unlike they had been moments prior. "This meeting seems to be stressing you out a great deal, Sunshine. Are you sure you don't want to reschedule it?" Dream pulled away from his touch, tears threatening to prick the corners of his eyes as his skull continued to pound. "If you'd take this seriously it would be a lot less taxing on me, Ink." The creative skeleton hummed in annoyance, rubbing his thumb against Dream's cheek in an attempt at comfort. "He's right, Ink," Blue said flatly, arms crossed as he remained in the same spot at the table. Ink waved him off, returning his attention to Dream, much to Blue's annoyance. "C'mon, Sunshine. Why don't we do this another time, hm? You and I can spend the afternoon together, how's that sound?" A scoff resounded from the recently ignored skeleton, earning no reaction from either Ink or Dream. The guardian let his skull drop back to the table as he thought. Eventually, he raised his head again, reaching out to take hold of one of Ink's hands. "Alright, love," he murmured quietly. "Sounds nice."

"Excuse me?!" Dream turned his attention to Blue, who was standing with his arms thrown out in surprise. "You're just gonna back down that easy?! Dream, this really isn't like you–" The agitated skeleton was cut off as Dream shook his head, speaking softly. "I'm really stressed right now, Blue. We... really should do this some other time. I-I'm sure it can wait... plus my skull is pounding right now, it's a bit hard to think straight I'll admit." He watched as Blue's anger fell away to concern, reaching out a hand towards Dream as he stepped a bit closer. "Dream," he whispered. "Is everything okay...?"

Oh man, how could he even begin to answer that?! He wanted to screech at the top of his lungs, exclaim 'NO!' and break down into tears right there. He wanted, so badly, to have a plan– any idea of what he was doing. But all he could manage to do was force a smile and nod, humming a quiet, "Mmh hmm," as his tired eyes held back his tears. Blue clearly noticed something was obviously very wrong, yet retracted his hand nonetheless. With a sigh he agreed to reschedule their meeting and left the room, no doubt heading back to his own AU. Dream leaned closer to Ink, squeezing his sockets shut tight as he felt a hand caress the back of his head. The creator murmured gently against his skull, though Dream didn't have the energy to parse out the words. For all he knew, Ink was simply whispering gibberish. In fact... that was rather likely considering it was Ink. It didn't matter if there were even words at all, Dream knew that none of them carried any weight.