Brush your teeth before you cross the road
Nightmare lay sprawled out on his bed, staring up at the glow-in-the-dark stars that dotted his ceiling. They didn't interest him like they used to. Nothing really interested him anymore. He blinked, shifting his focus onto the clock that hung on the wall in front of him. It was light enough for him to be able to make out the time- It was almost five in the morning. He sighed quietly. He can't even remember if he slept last night. It feels as if he's slowly losing control of his life and it's scaring him. Lots of things seem to be scaring him now yet he doesn't know what to do about it. Nothing makes sense to him anymore.
'I can help you.' The voice whispered and Nightmare's blood ran cold.
He could see him- the thing in the corner of the room holding a finger up to it's grinning mouth as if it was silencing the guardian. Nightmare stared at it with wide eyes, unable to form words. How had it escaped his mind? He didn't have much time to dwell on it as the bedroom door was swung open and Dream happily entered the room, yelling "good morning, brother!"
Nightmare winced at the volume, momentarily glancing at the other guardian. When he looked back at the corner of the room where the thing had been, it was gone. He remained unmoving for a few seconds before releasing another sigh and turning back to face Dream.
"Good morning." He mumbled softly, giving the other a weak smile.
Dream frowned and padded over towards the other, taking a seat on the edge of the bed.
"Night, are you alright?" He asked, voice laced with concern.
Nightmare simply nodded in response, doing a quick scan of his bedroom just to make sure the thing was not hiding anywhere. Dream noticed his frantic searching and frowned deeper.
"You seem distressed."
Nightmare halted his searching and faced Dream again. A bubble of guilt rose up in him when he noticed the worry in those golden-yellow eyes. He sat up and stretched his arms before giving the other a small smile.
"I'm fine, really." He lied. "I just thought I saw a spider and had to make sure."
Dream made a weird noise of disgust at the mention of a spider and shuddered. Nightmare chuckled at the reaction, shuffling out from under the bed cover. He threw it at the other guardian who let out a cry of confusion.
"Hey- what was that for?" Dream whined, fumbling under the blanket before tossing it away and jumping up off the bed.
The small smile on Nightmare's face turned genuine for a few moments and his lilac eyes faintly glowed.
"You were in my way."
"You had plenty of space to get up!"
"I wanted to specifically get up where you were sat."
Dream huffed, watching as Nightmare proceeded to get out of bed in a completely different place to where he was sat. The guardian of negativity yawned loudly and stretched his arms again, flicking Dream's forehead in the process.
"You're mean." Dream grumbled.
"I know." Nightmare answered.
Dream frowned, shaking his head.
"I was joking- you're not mean, you're awesome."
"People can be awesome yet mean."
"Not you, you can only be awesome."
Nightmare chuckled again and for a few seconds he forgot about the thing in his mind and all the paranoia. He felt at ease. Dream smiled softly, his eyes widening a fraction when he remembered something.
"Oh- yesterday when I went into the village to get groceries I saw Bonnie and he was sad you weren't there."
Nightmare blinked, registering the information.
"He said he misses hanging out with you and hopes that he'll see you soon."
Nightmare felt something he hadn't felt for a while now- happiness. It's been a few weeks- almost a month since he last went into the village, not including the cat-monster incident. He missed hanging out with Bonnie too. But he didn't want to set foot in the village again. He was too scared.
'You really are pathetic.' The voice seethed.
Nightmare's eye twitched.
"I miss him too." he mumbled, smile fading.
Dream frowned- he didn't mean to upset his brother! He quickly pulled the other into a warm hug. Nightmare jumped in surprise, tentatively returning the hug after a few seconds.
"Do you want to go and see him?" Dream asked after a moment of silence, releasing the hug.
Nightmare hummed thoughtfully. He would like to see Bonnie but that would mean having to go into the village.
'Are you seriously afraid of them?' The voice questioned incredulously, barking out a laugh. 'That's hilarious- you really are a fool.'
"Night?" Dream asked, tilting his head.
Nightmare blinked, meeting Dream's eyes and remembering the question.
"Oh, I uh." He stammered. "Yeah, let's go."
"Right now? He might be asleep still, it's pretty early in the morning."
Nightmare glimpsed at the clock, shocked to realise only fifteen minutes had passed. He could barely grasp the concept of time anymore- it was moving too slow yet too fast and it freaked the guardian out.
"We can go later if you want?" Dream suggested after being certain that Nightmare wasn't going to reply.
The guardian of negativity turned back to face Dream and nodded, muttering a quiet "okay."
Dream smiled brightly, earning a small smile from his brother in response.
"What shall we do until then?" The guardian of positivity asked.
Nightmare shrugged.
"We could draw?"
Dream smiled and nodded.
A few hours had passed. The two brothers had spent the time drawing whatever came to mind- Dream had drawn many animals and a picture of him, Nightmare and Bonnie watching fireworks (though the fireworks just looked like massive stars in the sky). Nightmare had drawn their pet rock Keith, him and Dream and a terrible drawing of Error hanging from the ceiling eating chocolate. The two chucked over the crudely scribbled drawing for a while before they decided they should probably go pay the purple rabbit a visit now. They tidied up the crayons and paper, collecting the drawings into a neat stack and leaving them on the coffee table.
"Do you want to walk or teleport?" Dream asked, adjusting his crown slightly.
Nightmare would rather just teleport, but at the same time he always enjoyed walking with Dream.
"We'll walk." He finally answered.
Dream grinned and nodded, turning away and heading towards the front door. Nightmare trailed after him, feeling slightly uneasy. Dream swung open the door and hopped out through it, almost tumbling face-first onto the ground. Nightmare snorted, stepping out and closing the door behind him.
The walk wasn't so bad. The sky was overcast and there was a brisk wind but the brothers didn't mind. Days like these were nice. Nightmare watched as the wind carried a surge of leaves through the air, making him smile. It didn't take long for the village to eventually come into view and the genuine smile shifted into a forced smile. Dream didn't notice, he was just glad his brother seemed alright.
The two stepped into the village and their presence immediately became known. A few villagers came to smile and wave at Dream, completely disregarding Nightmare. He didn't mind. Dream did though. He protectively grabbed his brother's hand and led him by the now glaring villagers towards the fruit and vegetable store that Bonnie and his mom worked at. Nightmare could feel their eyes on him and he hated it. Eyes so full of hate and resentment.
'Look at them all glowering at you.' The voice growled. 'Make them feel the same pain they make you feel.'
Nightmare ignored the voice, instead focusing on the fruit and vegetable store that had gradually started to come into view. Dream led him up to the door and pushed it open, stepping into the store with the other guardian close by. Nightmare closed the door, releasing a yelp when he felt a sudden weight latch onto him.
"Nightmare!" Bonnie cheered, hugging the guardian.
Nightmare smiled and laughed lightly, patting Bonnie on the head.
"Hello." He greeted, watching as Bonnie jumped away and began to hop excitedly around the guardian of negativity in a circle. Dream watched with a soft smile, turning away to spare a glance at the apples in store. It wouldn't hurt to buy some more- plus, they couldn't just enter and not buy anything.
"Night, Night, Nightmare!" Bonnie chanted, continuing to hop around the guardian.
"Bon, Bon, Bonnie." Nightmare replied, a genuine smile once again plastered on his face.
Bonnie halted his hopping and burst into a fit of laughter. The two of them began to talk about whatever came to mind and Dream's golden-yellow eyes glowed cheerily. He was glad to see his brother looking happy and relaxed. He turned away from the two after a moment and headed over towards the crate of apples, picking a few out. He carried them over towards the counter where Bonnie's mom stood staring at her son and Nightmare in defeat.
"What's with that look?" Dream chuckled, placing the apples down.
The blue rabbit simply sighed, weighing the apples and calculating a price. Dream payed her and she scooped the apples up into a paper bag, handing it to him.
"I just can't understand." She mumbled, sparing another glance at her son and the guardian of negativity playfully interacting. Bonnie seemed to be telling a story about a space adventure he dreamt about.
"What's there not to understand?" Dream asked. "Your son is happy and my brother is happy. I don't see anything wrong."
The blue rabbit narrowed her eyes however remained silent. Dream turned away from her with the bag of apples and approached Nightmare and Bonnie.
"What are you talking about?" He asked curiously.
"I had a dream where I went to space in a rocket and met a space pirate!" Bonnie exclaimed. "And you and Nightmare were there too- we all went to Saturn!"
Dream grinned widely.
"Woah, that sounds awesome. What did we do on Saturn?"
"You and Nightmare built a house and the space pirate showed me how to fish!"
"You fished on Saturn?" Nightmare asked, chuckling.
"Yup!" Bonnie proudly confirmed.
The trio laughed together and talked a little longer before Dream and Nightmare decided to leave.
"Bye Bonnie." Nightmare said, patting the rabbit's head affectionately.
Bonnie grinned, his ears drooping slightly now that they were leaving.
"Bye bye!" He replied, waving as the two guardians exited the store.
"Bonnie, they're gone you can stop waving now." The blue rabbit sighed.
"Never!" Bonnie huffed, pressing his face against the window and continuing to wave until the two were out of sight.
Dream and Nightmare slowly wandered through the village, talking about apples.
"I like apples." Dream stated.
"Me too."
The two walked in a comfortable silence together, though it soon became uncomfortable for the guardian of negativity. He could feel the villagers glaring daggers at him again. I tried his best to ignore it however made the mistake of glancing up and locking eyes with one of them. Those cursed, nightmare eyes. They were filled with so much bitterness and hostility. He wasn't welcome here. He turned away only to be met with more nightmare eyes. He felt himself freeze and Dream frowned, giving him a worried look.
"Night- what's wrong?" He asked, voice laced with concern.
Nightmare observed his surroundings frantically. Those eyes were all around him. He felt his breath hitch in fear and without a second thought he instinctually bolted away, leaving Dream on his own confused and worried.
Nightmare ran past loads of seething villagers, trying to erase the memory of those nightmare eyes from his mind.
'You're running away?' The voice snarled.
Nightmare covered his non-existent ears as he ran, tears building up in his eye-sockets and spilling down his cheekbones.
'Are you trying to block me out?' The voice snorted, bursting out into a fit of laughter. 'I'm in your head, you can't get rid of me. I will always be a part of you.'
Nightmare clenched his teeth, continuing to run with no sense of direction. He could see the nightmare eyes all around him even though he was no longer in the village. He could picture them. Glaring at him with hate, hate, hate. So much hate and resentment. He wheezed and fell to the ground, unable to run any further. He let out a dismal sob, covering his eyes with his hands.
There's only so much he can take.
Dream had found him half an hour later. He had been frantically searching for his brother everywhere until he came across the sleeping guardian somewhere in the forest. It was a weird, eerie part of the forest that made Dream nervous. The trees were warped and had twisted branches that looked like hands and there was always a thin layer of mist. He shrugged it off and carefully scooped up Nightmare, beginning to carry him home. He must have cried himself to sleep, Dream realises.
Once he arrived back home he carried Nightmare up to his bedroom and gently placed him down onto the bed, covering him with the lilac bed cover. He wouldn't leave until Nightmare awoke. He'd be there for him.
--End--
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