Nightmare rubbed his temples. "Could you shut up?" He glanced at the uncorrupted version of him freaking out over his shoulder, whose face was glowing purple. Nightmare had had to leave the dining hall with his food to eat in his library, because the figure in his head was so loud.
'But he was wearing--and you were, and we--who let--agh!' He screamed into his hands. 'Your lack of concern is appalling!'
"Oh, shut up, you baby," Nightmare scolded, "I'm not concerned because there is no reason to be."
'Oh, really?' The former guardian asked, floating over to antagonize Nightmare, 'you're not at all concerned that smiley, shiny, general-ray-of-sunshine Dream is walking around wearing his cape and the emblem of the empire?'
Nightmare put down his plate on a table. "That is concerning, why?"
The guardian sat on the air in front of Nightmare. 'What is the sun?"
"You know--ugh, the 'sun' is supposed to be my other half, a kind, benevolent person who is presumed... to be the..."
'Uncrowned Monarch-Sovereign consort. And what is the rule with the symbol?'
"That only I or people of the royal family--oh void and stars!" The realization hit Nightmare like a sack of bricks. "Shit."
'Shit, indeed. And just what did you tell Rose yesterday?'
Nightmare shot a glare at the floating skeleton, "we told Rose that he was the sun."
The figure clapped. "Congratulations! You figured out why we're fucked!'
"What did you want me to do? Lie to her? Aren't you the one always telling me not to lie?" Nightmare growled out, his food forgotten.
'No, but you could have told her that the staff's assumptions about the sun--moon dynamic is false.'
"Oh, bullshit, you try to explain to Rose that 'the sun--moon symbol was intended to display the balance in the multiverse between positivity and negativity, and their subsequently aligned worlds--and although the sun and moon are Dream and me respectively, it is not intended to imply we are to wed, even though the fucking ghost in my head wouldn't mind ruling beside the dumbass.'"
The uncorrupted version of Nightmare's flush returned. 'That's not--you're an ass,' he mumbled, burying his skull in his hands. 'You could have at least told her that--'
"That what?" Nightmare interrupted with a glare, "what could I have said that would have changed the ideas of the entire manor? If you've forgotten, they all think the sun is supposed to be our fucking consort! And everyone is going to assume that Dream is the sun even without Rose saying anything because he's fucking everything they think the sun is! It doesn't help that his fucking cape is a sun and that that damn servant let him wear--or worse, put him in--a fucking coat with the symbol on it!"
The figure dropped his hands from his face. 'She knows the rules with the symbol, so why...' he turned his gaze accusingly to Nightmare. 'You told Lucinda that Dream was the sun, didn't you?'
"She kept asking!" Nightmare defended as he threw his hands in the air. "The bitch wouldn't shut up about it! So I told her any of the clothes in the closet would work and that, yes, he is the sun to shut her up!"
'Any of the clothes in the...' the floating Nightmare froze, then deadpanned at the octopus. 'You knew there were clothes with the symbol in there, didn't you?'
"I didn't think she'd pick them!"
The figure smacked a hand over his face, before a realization dawned on him. 'Why where there clothes with the symbol in that wardrobe? Void, why do we even have extra clothes with the symbol on them?'
Nightmare dug his skull into his hands, elbows on his lower femurs. "You liked it," he murmured.
'What?'
"You liked seeing him in the fucking clothes!" Nightmare restated angrily.
'I didn't--that's not--' the floating skeleton floundered for an answer--'don't change the subject!'
The tentacles on Nightmare's back lashed around him as he spoke, "I'm not changing shit, I felt the fucking embarrassment and disgusting positivity when you saw him. As for why we have extra clothes with the symbol, they're from our damn closet, remember? Or did you tap out before you saw me put them in?"
'I wasn't--ugh' he rubbed his temples, trying to keep the purple off of his face, 'yes, I did, and I call bull, we would never wear clothes that light. Even if we wanted to, you wouldn't ask the tailors without worrying about your damn reputation.'
"We're the fucking Emperor--of course I have a reputation to worry about. I don't remember that specific coat, but it's slightly too big on him, meaning it's ours."
A light flush presented itself on both Nightmares' cheeks. Unsaid words filled the room, and the two sat in silence.
'In defense of my embarrassment,' the figure said, 'you saw his blush. Plus, you waved at him.'
"That's not in defense of anything," Nightmare shot back, "you're just proving my point." He leaned back against the couch he had sat on, staring at the library ceiling in thought. "what are we going to do with him?"
'What do you mean?'
Nightmare glanced at the floating specter. "He's gonna be here for an indeterminate amount of time. We're going to have to introduce him eventually. Say something eventually, or the smiley bastard will drown in the judgment and negativity."
The floating Nightmare hummed. 'I'm not sure. Will he just stay in the manor? Is he just going to sit around all day? Can we trust him with the boys? Can we trust him alone? Are we going to keep him in the Master Guest Suite or move him into Error's, Hearts', or an empty room? How much can we tell him? Are we going to let him keep wearing the symbol? Are we going to introduce him? If so, how? We can't exactly say that this is our dual-guardian who we beat into a pulp and are now healing--he is the sun, but not in the way you're thinking, and he's going to be here for a while--they won't take that very well.' He shrugged, 'we didn't exactly have a plan when we brought him here, and we still don't have one now.
Nightmare rubbed his temples. "This is going to suck."
-------
"Why can't you keep your mouth shut?" Horror growled while rubbing his temples.
Killer smirked and winked. "Why should I? I call it like I see it, and no one can deny Little Light was staring at the Boss."
Dream broke through his flustered silence to defend himself. "I-I wasn't staring! I've j-just never seen Night w-wear things like that before!"
"But cha liked whatcha saw," Killer teased.
Cross came to the rescue. "Let's finish the tour." He began to walk up the stairs again, and Dream followed, albeit slowly. He noticed the drop in speed and fell back. "Are you alright?"
Forcing a smile, Dream nodded. "I'm fine, but help would be nice--just as soon as they can't see us," he spoke quietly back, jerking his head towards the crowd below.
Upon reaching the second landing, Dream moved to rest slightly on the banister. His gaze drifted back to where Nightmare had been sitting, and was surprised to find the seat empty. Huh? Where'd he go?
Dream turned around to almost collide with Killer, who was running past him. "Heya, Sunny!"
The guardian clutched at his chest and tried to steady his breathing. He gripped the banister in a vice, and noticed another running skeleton shooting up the stairs.
"I'm going to fucking murder you, Killer!" Dust shouted as he went past, eye flared and purple bone in hand. Dream noticed the embarrassment and resentment that swirled in his emotions as he raced up to catch Killer.
The empty-socketed skeleton laughed. "I'm pretty sure the only one who's going to be fucking Murder is Horror, Dusty!" He shouted from the top of the stairs, "because something tells me you're the bottom~"
An indignant scream was ripped from Dust's throat, and his flush only grew. Fuck it, he decided, hopping onto a summoned blaster to sail towards Killer. "Shut the fuck up!" He screeched when the other skeleton dashed away.
"That's not a no~" Killer called, ever-present grin-widening.
Dust's face was engulfed in purple. "Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up!"
At some point during the calamity, Horror had approached Cross and Dream. The two turned confused gazes upon the axe-wielding skeleton, who simply sighed. "Something about Killer getting Dust a body pillow of someone?"
"That'll do it," Cross agreed, watching the two run around the room. He sighed, but continued moving up the stairs with Dream setting the pace.
The trio made small talk, speaking of the castle's layout and schedule, trying to ignore the sound of blasters around them.
As soon as all those in the dinning hall were out of sight, Dream visibly sagged. His spine was starting to ache and burn, but at the same time as the crisp and bold pain, he felt like his body was disconnected--numbing.
Both Cross and Horror picked this up, and quickly supported Dream as they walked. Horror frowned. "Ya aren't looking too hot at the moment. Do you need to rest or see Rose?"
Dream put on a smile, and tried to right his thoughts and suppress the panic welling inside him at the floaty feeling. "I don't need to do either--I'm fine, really. I just didn't want to look weak in front of a crowd."
The two knights looked unconvinced, but a shouting match drew their attention. "Oh, don't look so horrified Dusty! It'd be easier to tell 'em!" Killer shouted, standing atop a blaster and zooming it high in the hallways.
Dust was in hot pursuit, atop a blaster of his own. "No, it wouldn't, asshole! Don't think I didn't catch that pun!" Dust sent a volley of spears at Killer, trying to knock the other off of his blaster.
Killer easily dodged. "Oo, wouldn't want to use those, Mur! Don't want to scare 'em off!"
Dust quickly glanced down to where Horror, Cross, and Dream were standing before sending a torrent of fireballs towards Killer. The inky-teared skeleton dodged and raced down the hallway, with Dust giving chase.
As soon as the squabbling pair were out of sight, Cross turned to Dream. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, Cross, I'm quite alright," Dream reassured, although his voice gave him away.
"Yer shakin' like a leaf, Dream," Horror countered, "just tell us what's wrong."
Dream glanced to the side, trying to avoid their eyes. "I'm just feeling a little disconnected, is all. My spine... burns? Not badly!" Dream added, meeting their eyes, when he noticed concern shoot through their auras. "I'm fine, really! It's an odd sensation, but we cam continue the tour."
Horror froze in place, icy fear running through his bones. Dream quickly used his aura to calm him down. The axe wielding skeleton balanced his axe on its head and placed his hands on Dream's shoulders. "Dream..." he trailed off, obviously questioning his next words. He sighed, then continued, "do you know how I got the hole in my skull?"
Dream blinked a couple of times in confusion. "It was an attack from your Undyne, right?"
"When I first got that injury, even after the actual wound was healed, my body felt numb and tingly and unresponsive," he explained, watching to make sure Dream was following. "When I first got to the manor, I had trouble doing anything that required both sides of my body. It's kind of amazing I wasn't picked off in my home AU, because I would have died if anyone tried anything. Your injury might be like mine, based on what you're telling me. If it is, you don't want to strain your body or magic at all. If you do, you're going to need therapy to regain use of your body."
Dream's eyelights shrunk to pinpricks. "I'm... I'm sure that there's no cause for alarm."
When both Cross and Horror deadpanned him, he conceded, indulging himself in a little bit of his own panic. "There may be cause for alarm."
After a beat of irritated silence from the two knights, Cross scooped up Dream, careful to avoid where he knows the fracture is.
Dream flailed in surprise. "Cr-Cross!" He shouted, a yellow flush peppering his cheeks, "put me down! I can walk!"
Cross was unfazed though. "Horror said that you shouldn't strain your spine, so walking is out of the question."
"Plus," he said, meeting Dream's flustered gaze, "I was trained as a royal guard. This is second nature for me."
A slow stomping rang through the hallway from the direction that Killer and Dust had disappeared, drawing the trio's attention.
"Who..." Dream got out, before the person turned the corner.
With a scowl, Nightmare dragged Dust and Killer by the ankle towards Dream, Cross, and Horror.
-----------------------
AHHH, I'M DONE!
Thank you all so much for your patience and kind words! I'll try to update more consistently from now on!