Of a Better World

A Shared Day

He was tempted to retreat for a moment. To sit somewhere else and avoid conflict, to enjoy his day in peace- if Lust wanted this spot then so be it. But this was his spot, and the thought of just abandoning it sounded absurd even in his head. This was the same place he'd sat in every snowy day for years, and he wouldn't be chased away in his own home dammit.

"Shame you didn't say that the first time. i'm already committed now."

"why are you here?" Horror bit out.

Lust shrugged and scratched his skull. "well the tv doesn't work, working on puzzles all the time with crooks gets tiring, and i get sick of reading day and night too," He counted on his fingers.

"and so you decided to make your boredom my issue?"

"well yeah, i just wanted to talk and get on good terms-"

"if you're trying to be friends with me i'm gonna stop you right there. if it weren't for pap's you'd be dead already. i don't know how or why you're here but i sure as hell don't want you here."

"stars knows i don't want to be here, so get the stick out of your ass and at least try to make this time more enjoyable," Lust snapped. "it's like you want to be miserable."

He had a right to be angry didn't he? He had a right to be miserable because he was randomly forced to share his home with a stranger he knew nothing of and that had the nerve to scold him for it.

It was perfectly fine for him to be upset… even if he didn't need to.

The little voice in the back of his head that always felt the need to be right, to be in control was on the brink of convulsions because Lust was… right. The situation was unchangeable, he couldn't magically get rid of Lust, so why was he wasting energy being annoyed by it?

"so… can we get off on the right hand?"

They could. They should. Horror almost wanted to, not that he'd ever admit it.

"as long as you leave me alone after."

"deal."

Lust stuck out a hand that Horror stared at in mild distugust, he retracted with the realization that his offer had been refused.

"okay," horror said. "start with how you got here."

Lust furrowed his eyebrows as an idle hand of his played with the bandages that secured his splint. His leg must have been doing well, because he had stopped his constant whining about the pain sometime ago.

"there's not much more to tell. i came from underlust and i was searching for dream and ink for help. the coordinates on my machine must have been off or it might have been broken in some way. everything had been going fine but then i blacked out and i was here. something odd must have happened."

"help with what?"

Lust averted his eyes and became more focused on winding and unwinding a length of banaged around his finger. "an issue. in my universe.

Horror nodded, he knew better than to push. The state of someone's universe was their business. "yeah. and you know dipshit one and dipshit two?"

"well not exactly- but i heard they're reliable for that kinda thing y'know? helping people. not too many other sanses like me so i thought maybe i could go to them instead."

Horror snorted." you were probably blacklisted."

"blacklisted?" Lust parroted.

"it's this thing where you can't travel to certain universes, dream's headquarters included. if you try it glitches your machine. one too many complaints file in about you and you get added to the list."

"oh." His voice was hollow with an echo that suggested he wasn't all that surprised. His face was set into a firm look of indifference. "I guess you were too?"

Horror nodded, unwilling to elaborate. It was a known fact to him that the self declared "good sanses" were inherently selfish in their morals. They picked and chose who to aid and then gave themselves a pat on the back at the end of the day for doing it.

They cherry picked tale and outer and swap universes- "harmless" universes- to help and then turned a blind eye at the ones that actually needed help. It was common knowledge for those who weren't blessed enough to come from a favorable universe.

Still, it was strange that Lust had been rejected by them. For how much Horror couldn't stand him he still was personable and charismatic. Friendly, charming, and non-aggressive, the guy had the whole package, so what if he dressed oddly?

"fuck 'em. it's not like they ever did anything to begin with."

"i guess so. i'll get home without their help. stars i never thought i'd miss working so much."

Horror chuckled internally at the comment, sharing the sentiment in his own way. Remembering the days before starvation was hard, most memories blurred and distorted but there were still things he remembered about his job. 

Sleeping at his sentry station with his brother's endless nagging. Stashing shelves of condiments at each of his posts. Selling hotdogs. Greeting passerbys. He silently agreed; he missed working too.

"what's your job?"

"i'm a... independent contractor."

"a prostitute you mean?"

Lust blushed.

"escort," he corrected. "was it really that obvious?"

"...you wear heeled boots, leather pants, and a crop top underneath a vest. i'd be concerned if you worked any other job wearing that."

"don't judge. you know i'd make one hell of an accountant," Lust teased.

"i'm not exactly in much of a place to judge. you fuck people for a living and i eat them. we're even now."

"i could argue that one is a lesser evil."

"i'm sure you could, hypocrite."

The conversation trailed off and faded into comfortable silence.

Sitting shoulder to shoulder Horror could feel the warmth that Lust radiated like a heater through the blank wrapped around his shoulders. It seeped into his chilled bones and made him feel relaxed and drowsy as he fought off sleep. He could almost forget the gnawing hunger that ate at his soul for just a moment. Horror didn't bother asking himself why Lust might be so warm because in all honesty it didn't matter to him as long as the skeleton didn't move. And Lust, seemingly clung to him like velcro, had no plans of doing such

He had just previously been in a scramble to get away from him, yet now, as they sat in front of frost covered windows comforted by the dull roar of the weather outside, he found himself almost okay with it.

It was most certainly one of those days. But this time it didn't seem too bad.