From Murder to Dust

ALP - 4 - Routine

"D-Dust?" Cross stuttered.

"Yeah?" I yawned quietly; I didn't want thim to think I didn't care.

"I-I had a n-nightmare.."

"Take your time."

"W-well, i-it was about I-Ink.."

"I understand."

"I-it was h-horrible!" Cross began to cry; I put an arm around him and soothed him.

"Shh, it's okay now. You're safe. You're safe."

"B-but..what about.."

"Don't think about it. Just focus on something else; anything will do."

"O-okay..th-thanks, Dust."

"No problem. You're always welcome to take some time t- agh!" I gripped my left arm.

"Wh-what's wrong?" Cross was worried.

"What are you doing up at this hour?" Ink had set off the bracelet I was forced to wear, and it hurt. He turned it off to allow me to explain.

"He had a nightmare!" I rubbed my arm. "What was I supposed to do? Not help him?!"

"I see. Cross had a nightmare. Why did he come to you?"

"Be-because Dust is good at h-helping with nightmares!" Cross explained.

"Hm. Fine, I'll let this slide. There are going to be a few regulations on nightmares in the future. Go back to bed, now." 

"O-okay.." Cross dejectedly walked to his soft bed and prepared to go back to sleep.

"All right.." I lay back down in my bed and pulled the warm blanket over me.

"Good night." Ink left the room.

I closed my eyesockets once more, and I fell asleep again. I found myself more tired after the pain shot up my arm, and I descended into a dusty nightmare rather quickly. I enjoyed seeing the dust float around, and the screams made me feel safe; I was weird, but I was aware of it, which made it okay. I knew I was tired when I felt it even in my dream; I got more sleep when we were home, and the lack of it now was taking a toll on me. I couldn't control the amount of rest I got, which was unfortunate, but I could make the most of what I did get during the day. During my nightmare, something odd happened; the dust..cleared? I wasn't sure what was happening, but my nightmare simply disappeared, and it was weird! If I was going to guess what happened, I would have said Dream sensed my nightmare and decided to help with it; I hoped it was just that, anyway. When morning eventually came, I was still tired, and I didn't want to get out of bed; I required at least ten hours of sleep at night, but I had only been receiving eight, which was ridiculous. I had to get out of bed, though; Ink would have gotten angry if I hadn't. When Ink entered the room, we were lined up once more, and Ink searched the room and us again. 

Ink was very thorough in his searches, making sure to check under mattresses, pillows, and even holes in the carpet; the carpet was actually almost as soft as the blankets and pillows, which made me want to sleep more. I was yawning as Ink performed his search, and he didn't seem very happy about it, glaring at me; I couldn't help the fact that I was tired! He should have allowed us to get more sleep! When he finished his search of the room, he came up to us and began to search our pockets and hiding places; he was probably more thorough than he needed to be. When he reached me, I was half asleep; I had not gotten enough rest during the night, and it was showing. In return for my obvious lack of sleep, Ink responded with the 'compassionate' act of striking me with his brush; that hurt. I didn't really care too much, though; I was now on the floor, and that was soft. Instead of doing the smart thing and getting up, I decided to remain lying on the floor; that didn't go over well. Ink turned off the magic restorer, making me cry out in pain; I was awake now, and Ink allowed me to stand up, joining the others in line. After he turned the restorer back on, he spoke.